Promotional products are a great way for any business, large or small, to advertise and get their name out there and keep their names in front of people. Pens, koozies, cups — think of all the items you’ve collected from trade shows, conferences, and other social events you may have attended that remind you of a business whenever you use them. While these products are great for promoting a business, what about using apparel?

A company logo on a garment, or even items like backpacks and totes, is like having a walking billboard. Unlike a pen or cup that has limited visibility or is maybe even thrown away, when someone walks around wearing an item with your logo on it, there’s so much more opportunity for people to see it.

But don’t just go the traditional route here.

Sure, a T-shirt with a left chest logo and maybe even a full back is great and people will see it, but you want them to remember it. Creating promotional apparel for employees to wear, selling apparel at your place of business such as a restaurant, using it as giveaways, or using it for branding for a design collection are ways to use apparel to promote your business. But what are some ways to really make a logo stand out and catch someone’s attention, making them remember it and want to wear the item over and over again?

Image 1. All images courtesy STAHLS’.

While corporate logos may not lend themselves to full-color layouts for the business itself, a simple logo can be turned into something spectacular with the use of patches and emblems. For corporate apparel, you often see polo shirts printed or embroidered with the logo as a left chest. Those options work well, but today there are numerous options that provide a little more pizzazz.

There are dimensional patches and emblems that are beveled, domed, holographic, embroidered, metallic, leather, and more that can really take the look of a simple logo to the next level (Image 2). Not only does it make the garment look like a premium product, but it gives you the opportunity to charge more.

Image 2

Use the same patch or emblem on multiple products or in other locations. Put it on caps or beanies, backpacks or scarves, or any other product to create entire cohesive collections for your clients’ business or even your own for your employees to wear and to give away to clients (Images 3 and 4).

Besides incorporating color or using unique decorating methods like emblems and patches, placing the layouts or logos in unique locations on apparel creates a memorable product that helps people remember your company (Images 5, 6, and 7). Even a simple printed logo in a unique position makes it memorable.

Using T-shirts with removable tags and printing company logos in place of the tag is a great way to promote a business. Get small DTF transfers made and press them on the inside of the shirts. Using a heat press with a platen like the Tag Along HP, you can press the design and tag at the same time, saving you time and money (Image 8). When someone buys and wears one of the shirts, they can look at the tag and remember where they got it. This is a great way for branding a line of designs or putting your company name on a garment that you may have printed for a customer.

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The last thing to consider is the type of garment or product you are using. Granted, if you are creating products that are going to be used as giveaway items, you don’t want to spend a lot of money. However, if the client is giving away something that is nice quality, the recipient is more likely to use or wear it, which will keep their name out there.

If you are printing garments to be used as uniforms or creating a line of designs for your own brand, then consider using unique garments. Go beyond the standard T-shirt, sweatshirt, or canvas tote for your promotional apparel. Using a premium product along with a full-color image or emblem with your company name or logo, and incorporating unique placement will not only attract attention, but it will also make your product and company memorable (Image 9).

Image 9

Whether you create items to promote your own business, or you are looking for ways to offer your clients ways to promote theirs and generate income for yourself, remember that printing company logos on garments is great advertisement. Things that catch the eye are memorable. Meshing the two together is the perfect promotional tool to get a company name in the face of others and help get orders in your door.