How to Make Money with Podcast Merchandise?
Merchandise is a wholly under-utilized strategy to make money podcasting. By offering high-quality products at an affordable price, you can open the floodgates to an entirely new stream of revenue. Read on to learn more about the best ways to approach this income-generating method below.
✴ Monetizing Content Through Merchandise
While simply adding official podcast logos and slogans can make for great merchandise, it's wise to take a deeper look into your podcast and the purchasing actions of your audience.
Some of the most successful lines of podcast merchandise don't include any show titles and cover art whatsoever. Instead, they feature quotes and running jokes from within the content that a dedicated audience would better connect with.
The Girl in Space show is excellent at monetizing podcast content through merchandising. Rather than selling t-shirts and mugs with a simple, logo-centric design, fans can purchase a range of items with ''NOMURDERING'' and other inside jokes placed front and center.
The McElroy Brothers offer another example of unorthodox merchandising. They produce enamel pins once a month that are dedicated to a memorable moment from the show.
No matter which strategy you choose to employ, it's crucial to ensure that your merchandise represents the voice and personality of your podcast. By catering to your core fan-base, you can foster a stronger community around your content.
When you're in the initial design phase of producing show merchandise, consider what your fans might like to see. This way, you can ensure listeners will be willing to make a purchase and increase your chances of boosting sales.
✴ Consider Your Audience
Different audience demographics have individual wants and needs when it comes to podcast merchandise. While most novice podcasters are under the preconception that t-shirts are the most cost-effective merchandise option for fans, the truth is that most podcast listeners would disagree.
T-shirts may be a versatile merchandise option, but they cost much more than stickers, buttons, and posters to name a few. This is not to mention the range of sizing options when it comes to clothing products.
A good strategy to employ is to use a more direct approach with your audience. Put out polls that ask what kind of merchandise they'd like to see and also get an idea of what they’d be willing to pay for it. This allows you to build your designs around the wants of your listeners, which helps to drive potential sales.
✴ Optimize Your Design
Logos and cover art nowadays are generally intended to look good on screens. But when you're developing your merch designs, you also need to ensure that it fits the shape and size of the base product.
✴ Cater to Your Niche
Although standard merchandise such as t-shirts, enamel pins, and stickers are great ways to make money with podcast content, catering merch to your niche market, can also make your podcast stand out from competitors.
The horror/comedy audio series A Scottish Podcast does an exceptional job of accommodating their niche. For instance, during a hugely successful guerilla marketing campaign, the hosts created beer mats that displayed the 2/5 iTunes review of a disgruntled ex-listener.
Critical Role, a beloved Dungeons & Dragons action role-play podcast have also made use of their niche market. Rather than creating traditional t-shirts, they sell custom-made die to their listeners – something that works with their market segment.
✴ How Much Should You Charge?
Podcast merchandise tends to fall under the impulse buying category. As such, you need to carefully consider your price point to achieve higher sales. That’s because most people won’t make expensive purchases without a second thought. But when products are below $20 you can increase your chances of boosting income since your audience is more likely to buy without a great deal of consideration.
✴ Making Merchandise for the Fans
It shouldn't be financially or creatively draining to produce great merchandise. You simply have to listen to your audience, consider their wants and needs, and offer products that are a great fit within your niche. By keeping these basic principles of merch design in mind, you could soon see yourself leveraging your show to make money podcasting.
For more information on monetizing your content using different methods, check out The Wave’s free guide to growth and monetization.
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