Offline marketing - having my url on shirts

I have 6 employees currently and I would like to have shirts with my company's logo and my url on the back below the collar. Has anyone else done this? Is it worth the cost? Would love to hear some feedback on this.

 

I bought custom polos for my employees last December. To answer your questions, its really a mixed bag. Will it drive enough traffic to your website to cover the cost? Probably not. It does, however, add quite a bit of credibility to your company (especially if you deal with clients in person like we do). Overall I would recommend it for most companies as it somewhat builds pride in your company and others are likely to view you as more legitimate. I shopped around and found gearone.com for embroidered polos, if you are t-shirts (less expensive) to give out for free then you'll need to look for one of the cheaper screen printers (there are lots). If they are just for a select few people, embroidery looks much more professional and lasts longer.

Anyway, hope this helps somewhat.

 

There are lots of screen print websites out there, but if you're looking for a URL on the back collar (the guy I ordered my shirts from calls it a "Locker Patch Embroidery" but not sure if that is the standard name) you need to have an embroidered shirt. T-Shirts cannot be embroidered but polos, jackets, etc can. I have to second the recommendation of www.gearone.com, I called because I had a special order I wanted and they were very helpful about it. If you don't like them there are plenty of other places online to get this stuff done, just gotta look around.

It makes you look more professional and trustworthy, but don't expect it to drive a lot of traffic.

Edit: Found an example on their website of what you're talking about: Locker Patch embroidery

 

lol, it is a good idea!

 

It does not work well, it works well for branding though

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I ended up going with evanlambda's recommendation of gearone.com. I picked out a style and submitted my artwork, seems like a professional place. I will report back with my experiences if other people are interested in getting the same type thing done.

 

I would think that, if done on a nice looking shirt, it could do well on a local level. Paired with a nice company logo, it becomes walking advertising. How can it hurt?

 

I think it can't hurt in terms of branding but, like the PPs have said, I don't think it will drive traffic to your site. I can't recall a time I've ever seen a url offline and was motivated enough to remember it and then also hop on my computer when I got home and go to the site.

 

We were debating on having the url for the local business printed on the tote bags; we ended up printing a phone # instead. Just like Max Bounty said, people will hardly memorize a url if they can't link to it.

 

Really , really makes your brand look credible....it is the brand of the company. Very smart.

 

When I have seen this done before it's nice if the url is catchy, something people can remember easily. Also if your design is kind of cool, handing out T shirts to customers isn't a bad idea either. I know of a really popular website that deals in live music events and they have always handed out T-shirts to guest artists, etc. Eventually those artists wear the T-shirts on stage and the whole thing becomes very organic marketing. Granted, that was live music performances but even a more conservative company could have well designed T-shirts that people would just naturally want to wear.

 

D- what was the name of the company that was putting their info on shirts and giving it to music artists?

 

It makes you look more professional, but don't expect it to drive a lot of traffic.

 

I think it's a great idea to have your url on any offline source, traditional modes of advertising like these work a treat

 

That's nice idea to make your brand famous. But I think you will not get many visitors with this, only make your brand trustworthy.

 

Well i got shirts made from queens borough shirt company here in the US cost me $13 for one shirt including shipping

 

What business are you running?It would help if you are in a restaurant business or anything that involves constant and unending interaction with customers and potential customers. Otherwise it is but a passive marketing strategy that could be a simple waste of time if it doesn't work well.

 

Yes agree with "icomEric" Its only makes you to see as a professional, Not that much beneficial in creating traffic for a site....

 

That is a good idea, but do not expect to immediately transform that marketing strategy into sales or ranking. Actually, I just saw last Saturday a t-shirt of a salon with its company URL. It creates awareness and hold interest; however, we are not 100 percent sure about getting an action. But try it, no one knows what will really happen. Sometimes we have to be a risk taker yet pro-active. Good luck.

 

If you can do it eye catchy then some thing will be going to affect (publicity) your website. Be sure, that your employees are roaming in the areas/locations where many people are around use sparkling colors, keep some attractive quote along with the URL. Once i have tried this, but not exactly for the website promotion but to give our team members an identity.