How To Advertise Shirts On Instagram

How To Advertise Shirts On Instagram (2024 Guideline)

Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms for businesses to promote their products, and shirts are no exception. With over one billion active users, Instagram provides businesses with a massive audience to tap into and drive engagement with their products. However, with so many brands competing for attention on the platform, it can be challenging to create an effective advertising campaign for your shirts. In this guide, we will provide you with expert tips and strategies on how to advertise shirts on Instagram.

Why Should You Sell T-Shirts On Instagram?

Facebook is incredibly successful at creating communities through Facebook groups, however, users are not satisfied with the changes made to the Facebook newsfeed. Too many advertisements, infant photographs, political stuff, etc. Simply put, it seems as though Facebook’s ship has sailed.

On the contrary, Instagram is currently at its best. Not to mention the significant role that influencer marketing plays on Instagram. According to Statista (2022), Instagram was the most popular platform for over 1800 influencer campaigns, incorporating 94% of analyzed campaigns.

selling shirts on Instagram

Therefore, many attractive, fascinating, and highly outgoing Instagram users have made the decision to monetize their social media and communication abilities in order to connect with their tribes and establish themselves as influencers, as we now know them. 

Instagram is undeniably a powerful tool for discovering new products, making it a logical choice for promoting T-shirts. With the influence of social media on our purchasing decisions, it’s likely that you’ve bought something recently based on what you saw online. So, let’s prepare your T-shirt business for Instagram.

How To Sell T-Shirts On Instagram?

Instagram Shopping

how to sell t shirts on instagram

Instagram Shopping is a feature that allows businesses to tag products in their posts and stories, making it easier for customers to discover and purchase products directly from the app. With Instagram Shopping, businesses can create a virtual storefront where customers can browse their products and make purchases without ever leaving the app. 

Businesses can add “Shoppable Tags" in addition to the well-known “Tag People" feature with Instagram Shopping. With the help of the shoppable tags, Instagram Business Page owners may tag products in their photographs, display the item’s price, and guide customers through the remaining steps of the purchase process without having them leave Instagram. 

On the other hand, Instagram is able to focus its new service offering first on established merchants who already have a store running on the aforementioned platforms thanks to its collaboration with Shopify and BigCommerce. Instagram will no longer have to deal with potential fraudulent transaction drama, customer support issues, and other similar business-related issues associated with e-commerce.

Setting Instagram T-shirt Business Shop

Before jumping into how to advertise your T-shirt on Instagram, you need to set up your Instagram T-shirt business first. Here are the steps to follow to set up your Instagram T-shirt Business Shop:
  1. Create a Professional Account: If you haven’t already, create a professional account to sell T-shirts on Instagram. This will give you access to features such as Instagram Shopping and analytics.
  2. Link a Facebook Page: Link your Instagram account to a Facebook page for your T-shirt business. This is necessary to access Instagram Shopping.
  3. Set Up Instagram Shopping: This feature is currently available to approved businesses in a few selected countries, you can check the list here. Once approved, you can start tagging your shirts in Instagram posts and stories.
  4. Add Product Information: Add price description and availability to your tagged posts and stories.

How To Advertise Shirts On Instagram

t shirt ads on instagram

There are a number of justifications for not spending money on advertising. Perhaps you believe that regularly publishing on social media is sufficient, but that is untrue. When you first start your t-shirt business, Instagram advertising can help you get things going. It will also help you steadily increase sales and gain more followers. 

The following are just a few of the many benefits of advertising shirts on Instagram:

  • Being able to communicate with people other than your following.
  • Including a clickable link in your advertisement will allow you to direct customers to your store.
  • Find a group of people who will actually buy your t-shirts.

Before coming to know how to set up an Instagram Ad, let’s go with some factors that will help you have an effective advertising campaign.

Understanding Audience

  • Identifying Your Target Audience: This involves considering factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviors. By specifying your target audience, you can create content that is highly relevant to their needs and interests.
  • Gathering Data on Your Audience: You can use tools such as Instagram Insights, Google Analytics, and social listening tools. This can help you understand your audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviors, as well as their engagement levels with your content.
  • Crafting Messages That Resonate With Your Audience: This is crucial to driving engagement and conversions on Instagram. This involves creating content that speaks to your audience’s needs and interests and aligns with your brand’s value and messaging.

Creating Visual Content

  • High-quality Images and Videos: It is essential to showcase the quality and design of your shirts on Instagram. This can help your products stand out from the competition and capture the attention of potential customers. 
  • Using Models to Showcase the Shirts: This can help customers envision how the shirts will look on them and give them a better idea of the fit and style. This also can increase the chances of converting them into customers.
  • Creating Visually Appealing Graphics: This can help your shirts stand out on Instagram and capture the attention of potential customers. This also can include using bold colors, typography, and graphics that align with your brand’s messaging and aesthetics. 

Using Hashtags

  • Creating a Branded Hashtag: This can help you build brand awareness and encourage user-generated content. This can include using your brand name or a unique phrase that is associated with your brand. By using your branded hashtag consistently in your posts, you can encourage your followers to use it as well, increasing the visibility of your brand on Instagram.
  • Using Relevant Hashtags to Reach a Wider Audience: This can include using hashtags that are relevant to your target audience, industry, or specific products. By using relevant hashtags, you can increase the chances of your content being discovered by potential customers who are interested in the products you are promoting.

Engaging with Your Followers

  • Responding to Comments and Messages: It is crucial to engage with your followers and build a loyal fan base on Instagram. This involves responding to comments and messages in a timely manner and addressing any questions or concerns they may have. By engaging with your followers in this way, you can build a relationship with them and increase brand loyalty.
  • Using Instagram Stories to Showcase New Products and Promotions: Using Instagram Stories is a great way to showcase new products and promotions and keep your followers engaged. This can involve sharing behind-the-scenes content, sneak peeks of new products, or promoting limited-time offers or discounts. By using Instagram Stories in this way, you can create a sense of exclusivity and urgency, encouraging your followers to take action.

Set Up An Instagram Ad For Your Shirts Business

Instagram Ads Types

how to sell t shirts on instagram

Instagram offers different types of ads that can help you sell shirts on Instagram more effectively. Here are the main types of Instagram ads:

  • Photo Ads: There are single images that appear in users’ feeds. They can include a call-to-action button such as “Shop Now” or “Learn More”.  
  • Video Ads: There are single images that appear in users’ feeds. They can be up to 60 seconds long and can include a call-to-action button.
  • Carousel Ads: These are a series of images or videos that users can swipe through. Each image or video can have its own call-to-action button.
  • Stories Ads: These are full-screen ads that appear in between users’ stories. They can include images or videos and can have a call-to-action button.
  • Collection Ads: These are ads that showcase multiple products in a single ad. Users can click on the ad to view a full-screen catalog of products.
  • Explore Ads: These are ads that appear when users are browsing the Explore Page. They can include images or videos and can have a call-to-action button.

Setting a Shirt Instagram Ads

This is the most straightforward method of advertising shirts on Instagram. You will notice a white button with the label “Promote" on your Instagram profile. You cannot create a new post from this point; however, by tapping on it, you will be able to quickly promote one of your recently published pieces.

You can decide whether you want to translate engagements into visits to your profile or to your website depending on your goal.

Instagram Ads Outcome Tab

how to advertise shirts on Instagram

If you want to direct individuals who connect with your ads to your Instagram account so they can view the many t-shirt designs there and follow your account, use the More Profile Visits option.

But let’s say you spend money on Instagram advertisements to sell the final few t-shirt designs. Then, direct the ones that are curious to your website using an image or a video of the t-shirt design. To accomplish this, click on the More Website Traffic option and copy and paste the model URL for the t-shirt. The visitor will then be just a few clicks away from completing the main goal of our campaign—buying your t-shirt.

Instagram Ads Audience Tab

advertise on Instagram

By using the Automatic Target Audience option, you give Facebook’s algorithm complete control over who sees your promoted post. Fear not; have faith in the robots! Instagram Ads automation can function rather well even though you might feel like you’re losing control. Facebook will try its best to target users who are more likely to be interested in your offer because, as was already established, it is quite knowledgeable about its user base.

Now suppose you have a specialized t-shirt design idea and want to market it to male NY Yankees supporters by selling them cool baseball t-shirts. Then, selecting the Local Target Audience option and concentrating on male Instagram users within a 5-mile radius of the stadium wouldn’t be a completely absurd notion. Really not too bad, huh? Use the same reasoning to market your t-shirts to people in a particular region.

The Manual Target Audience option allows you to entirely choose how your shirts ad is delivered. Users can be chosen to be targeted based on one or more geographic places and one or more distinct (or not so distinct) interests. Keep in mind that advertising is easier the more well-defined your ideal customer is. To find out as much as you can about your present audience, check the Insights page.

Instagram Budget & Duration Tab

advertise shirt on Instagram

On this final tab, you can decide the budget and duration of your shirt ad on Instagram. Don’t spend your entire advertising budget on a single advertisement. Perform the exact opposite. 

All advertising involves combining several variables and evaluating the outcomes. To test new images or material, different interests, or even targeted regions for your ads, you should conduct a number of different campaigns. Even if you choose the proper audience to reach, the imagery you utilized might not have connected with them, or it might have worked out just great the other way around.

Thankfully, Merchize can help you with that. Merchize offers lots of types of Shirts from T-shirts to Hawaiian Shirts and All Over Print Shirts. Besides Merchize also provides many shirt mockups with different styles, so you can easily create beautiful to use on ads and inexpensively give your shirt brand that pro look.

Merchize Products And Mockups To Upgrade Your Shirt Brand

Selling shirts on Instagram needs a high-quality product and a beautiful Instagram profile as well. Merchize can offer you both of them, a good product and a beautiful mockup.

Merchize Products

In terms of Shirts, Merchize offers a wide range of types, from classic T-shirts to All Over Print Shirts and Hawaiian Shirts, one of the best-selling all time of Merchize. These products will be the best choice for your brand for:

  • A reasonable base cost: We have continuously researched and elevated our products and materials to bring you the most competitive price. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to create custom apparel without breaking the bank. Our commitment to affordability ensures that you can order as many or as few shirts as you need without worrying about the cost. We are constantly striving to find ways to improve our products and materials without compromising on quality, so you can be confident that you are getting the best value for your money.
  • High-quality material: Each of our products has been researched carefully to find the most suitable materials. We use only the highest quality fabrics and construction techniques to ensure that your shirts are comfortable, durable, and long-lasting. We source our materials from reputable suppliers and test them rigorously to ensure that they meet our high standards.
  • Fast processing and shipping time: With 5 factories located in Vietnam, the United States, Australia, Europe, and China, we can optimize production time and shipping time to the shortest. Our efficient order fulfillment process ensures that your shirts are printed and shipped within the estimated timeframe. We also offer a variety of shipping options to meet your needs.
  • No minimum quantity required: Once your customer makes an order, it will be transferred directly to our facilities. This means that you don’t need to invest in inventory or stock and can avoid the risks of overstocking. Our print-on-demand model allows you to order as many or as few shirts as you need, so you can test out new designs without worrying about unsold inventory. This is a great way to reduce your upfront costs and minimize your risk.

Merchize Mockup

With each type of Shirt, Merchize offers more than 1 mockup for you to choose and use for your brand. It’s easy to use and doesn’t require any special skills. To get our mockups of your custom products to see how they’ll look once printed or for listing purposes, there are currently two options:

  • Using Merchize Mockup Generator inside your browser: This tool helps to quickly visualize your ideas, and you can easily create multiple products with the same design. Then, download the mockups to use on your Amazon store or other online storefronts, social media channels. For more detailed instructions, check out this Mockup Generator guide.
  • Using .PSD mockup version included in each product link: In our website catalog, you’ll find a wide range of products –apparel,  home decor, accessories, and more. For all the mockups you create, make sure that your design is created according to the Merchize Design Guide.

You can also use your own unique mockups as long as they are appropriate for Merchize product details & print specifications.

Forget about setting up photo shoots or waiting for your t-shirt designs to be printed on the actual garments. Your Instagram profile will be beautiful with Merchize mockups!

Wrapping Up

Without a doubt, Instagram is one of the most widely used social networking sites. Take the uncertainty out of making Instagram work for your business with the help of Merchize. 

It’s time for you to start selling shirts on Instagram if you aren’t already generating clients from this social media site. I sincerely hope you’ve found out how to advertise shirts on Instagram. Please feel free to share it and post any comments or inquiries below.

Team up with Merchize today and start a successful journey with us! 

is a professional copywriter, translator, and interpreter at Merchize. With 3+ years of experience in helping Merchize's customers, she's now at Merchize covering Print-on-Demand trends and tech information. Prior to Merchize, Mia was a graduate of Nottingham Trent University with a Master's Degree in Marketing. She's been working a good job in Marketing Department for 3 years and with her deep understanding about Print on Demand, now she's the main copywriter and excellent translator for all Merchize information in multiple languages. She loves kids, hangs out, and connects with her family.