How to make and sell YouTuber merch that fans love.
Learn how to design and create your own YouTube merch to sell online.
If you’ve built a fan base on YouTube, now might be the time to start offering merchandise your followers will love. More and more influencers and YouTube creators are offering a range of branded merch for their fans, letting them show their support away from the screen.
This guide will take you through the key steps to creating your own YouTuber merchandise, and give you a few tips along the way.
Why sell YouTube merchandise?
Becoming a content creator can be a demanding job. Sharing your life online and having to entertain your audience can have you working more than the average 9 to 5. However, selling YouTube merchandise can have a range of benefits:
Diversify your income.
YouTube merchandise can be another way to generate income. If you’re already making money from YouTube Ads and sponsorships, adding merchandise can be another effective option without depending on one source. So, if one week you don’t have a sponsor for a video, you can fall back on the income made from merch.
Own your audience.
YouTube has many rules and regulations, which can mean you can’t always make the content you want. However, creating merch is another way to exercise your creativity, take back control and have a stream of income away from the platform.
Help your fans to support you.
Income from YouTube can fluctuate depending on views, sponsors and ads. Offering your fans merchandise means they can directly support you and can decide how much to spend on your brand.
Build brand awareness.
If someone sees one of your followers wearing merch with your branding, they may be inclined to take a look, or even research your channel. This could help you gain more followers, who may then buy merch themselves – and the process repeats.
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What are the main types of YouTuber merchandise?
There are a couple of different types of YouTube merchandise that you can offer fans. For example:
- Fan merchandise. This merchandise is designed for fans and uses you, the creator, as the inspiration. For ideas, think about the different band merch you can get. Consider branded water bottles, mugs, posters or t-shirts. These are likely to carry a design featuring you, your slogan, or a phrase or logo that’s associated with your YouTube channel.
- Your products or services. This type of YouTuber merchandise is specifically related to your channel. For example, a makeup artist who regularly does product reviews and ‘get ready with me’ videos may produce their own beauty line. Alternatively, a fitness channel might sell workout plans, or a fashion YouTuber may create their own clothing line.
10 YouTuber merch ideas you can sell.
There are plenty of YouTuber merch options you can use to support your channel. From apparel to homeware, it’s best to create a variety of items so fans of all budgets can support your channel. Some merchandise options might include:
- Stickers
- T-shirts
- Hoodies
- Hats
- Phone cases
- Mugs
- Water bottles
- Keyrings
- Tote bags
- Stationery.
How to start selling YouTuber merch in 8 steps.
There are a few steps to selling YouTuber merch online. Below, we’ve detailed each step to help make the process easier.
1. Know your audience.
You want to create merch that you know your fans, specifically, will love. Read their comments, see which videos they interact with most, and try to get an idea of what they like. If you need to learn more, you can set up polls on YouTube and social media asking questions like, “Would you prefer a hoodie or a t-shirt?”.
2. Choose your products.
Deciding which products to make can be fun. You can choose to start with just one type of merch and expand from there, or offer a range of different items that will appeal to a wider audience.
3. Create eye-catching designs.
Now the fun part can start. You can create images for posters, or pick quotes and logos to display across your merch. Do you have a line that you use as your intro, or an item that features in every video? You can create bright, colourful, eye-catching designs that will entertain your fans while they await your next video.
4. Produce your merch.
Once you’ve confirmed that there is a demand, and you’ve settled on your designs, it’s time to produce your merch. You can do this easily by using a print-on-demand service (so you’re not having to bulk buy products).
5. Consider the packaging.
A well-packaged product can impress your customers as much as the product itself. You could also consider including a thank you note. This can be a card from you to say how much you appreciate them making a purchase.
6. Select a sales channel.
How do you want to sell your YouTube merch? You can sell on social media, or a marketplace such as Etsy – or create your own website and sell directly there. You can also set up a pop-up shop to not only sell your merchandise, but also offer fans a meet-and-greet.
7. Set up your shop.
When it’s time to set up your shop, you’ll need to take high-quality images of your merchandise that capture them perfectly. Take close-ups of any details you want to highlight and write your product descriptions.
8. Promote your YouTube merch.
Once you’ve launched your shop, you can share and promote your merchandise however you like. It’s good to share on any social media channels you have such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. And, of course, you can also mention it on your YouTube channel!
Editable YouTube merch template ideas for your channel.
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How to bring your YouTuber merch to life.
How can Adobe Express help you create and sell YouTuber merch?
With Adobe Express, you can have a wealth of features and tools at your fingertips. From editing software to easy-to-edit templates, here’s how Adobe can help you create your YouTube merchandise.
1. Create your logo.
Easily create a logo for your brand. Your logo can be printed directly onto any merch you choose to make. Make sure it’s something recognisable and relevant to your YouTube channel.
2. Build a brand identity.
It’s likely you already have some form of brand identity on your channel, but now is a chance to build on it. Use colours, fonts and images that are relevant to your channel. If you have a tagline, you can feature this too. Take a look at the range of templates on Adobe Express to help you build your brand identity.
3. Design YouTube merch products.
Use Adobe Express to design your YouTube merch. With our image editing software, you can remove backgrounds and add in any extra details you want to feature on your merch.
4. Create advertisements.
Once the products are made, you can then use Adobe Express to create a marketing and advertising plan. Create collages of all your products to easily share what you have to offer.
5. Schedule content.
Save time by using Adobe Express to schedule and plan your content. You’ll never miss a post and ensure everything that should get shared does – and at the right time too.
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