Let’s get one thing straight: Marketing is not sales and sales is not marketing. They’re not even two different breeds of the same animal — they’re more like two different species. Sales is about converting potential buyers into actual buyers — but that can’t happen unless you first build awareness about you and/or your products to attract those potential buyers in the first place.
That’s where marketing comes in.
What are we marketing? Personally, I specialize in branded merch. You know: those coffee cups, phone cases, posters and calendars with your name and photo plastered all over them. But no matter what the product, the rules are the same.
Perception Is Everything
You just posted a photo and caption to your Instagram, TikTok, Twitter or other social media page? Congratulations, you are now marketing. That was easy! But was it effective? Well, if your account is comprised of real, organic followers and your “like” numbers are getting anywhere near 6% of your total following, then yes, that post was definitely effective. In most cases, even 3% is considered successful.
Why is it so important to know which posts and approaches are effective? Because that tells you how your potential merch customers feel about and respond to you and your brand. It tells you how they perceive you.
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” The idea is that you want people talking about you, regardless of what they might be saying. But does that really hold up? Consider a restaurant with a bad Yelp review, not to mention anyone who has been wrongly accused of a crime. I mention this to emphasize that while getting your name and products out there is paramount to your success, how you get your name and products out there also plays a huge role in how the public sees you. “How” can mean the medium — whether you are promoting yourself on social media, in blogs, magazines, TV, etc. — or it can mean the message, as in “What are you saying and how are you saying it?”
Association Is Also Everything
With whom do you want to be aligned? That up-and-coming company, model, personality or larger-than-life good-deed-doer… or that person or brand that just got nailed for fraud or some other scam? You might not have played a personal role, but if you’re involved in any way shape or form with the second type of scenario, you’re going to spend a lot of time explaining yourself and living down whatever conclusions people jump to. So be uber-careful about whom you jump into bed with. And yes, in this industry that sometimes means literally.
Get Creative
It’s poor showmanship simply to stick up a picture with a caption that reads, “Hey, buy my coffee cup” or phone case, or calendar. There’s nothing unique about that, and certainly nothing that’s going to excite your fans or followers.
Instead, get your hands on one of your super-special custom coffee cups with the sexy lingerie or motorcycle photo. Shoot a 15-second clip of you actually being excited to hold it and drink out of it. Talk about how much better your coffee tastes in your cup — or how it’s so much more convenient than pouring hot coffee into your bare, cupped hands. In other words, Barnum-and-Bailey the bejeezus out of your physical products. When you’re excited, your fans are excited, so make it fun. You can probably get a handful of your own merch at a discounted price and showcase your projects across your social media; trust me, it makes all the difference in the world.
Make It Easy to Find
People can’t buy what they can’t find, so make it easy for them to do so. Remember the saying, “If you build it, they will come”? Okay, but first you need to tell them where “it” is, don’t you? It’s the same with your branded merch; if people don’t know about it, how are they going to buy it?
You’ve got to promote it, talk about it, sing about it, demonstrate it and do whatever else you can to spread the word about your products. Remember, it costs you nothing to post on your social platforms. You don’t have to force your merch down anybody’s throat, but marketing is how you give yourself a chance to succeed.
Danny Ferretti has over 25 years in the marketing industry and is the co-founder of GFE Model Services and Fangear.vip, a company that specializes in collectible calendars, branded merchandise and other model-centric printed products. He also offers free branding consultation to influencers of all sizes. For more information, contact sales@gfemodelservices.com or visit GFEModelServices.com.
