How to sell merchandise on YouTube?

Selling merchandise on YouTube can be a powerful way to engage with your audience while generating additional income.Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to sell merchandise effectively on YouTube:

1. Meet YouTube Eligibility Requirements

YouTube Partner Program: To sell merchandise directly through YouTube, you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program. This typically requires:

• 1,000 subscribers
• 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months
• No active Community Guidelines strikes

Age and Location: You must be 18 years old or older, and in a region where the YouTube Merchandise Shelf is available.

How to sell merchandise on YouTube

2. Create a Merchandise Store

Use an Approved Partner: YouTube supports several merchandise partners like Teespring, Spreadshop, and Merchbar. These platforms allow you to design and sell your own branded products such as t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and more.

• Sign up on one of these platforms and create your designs.
• Upload your products to your store and set your prices.

Choose the Right Products: Offer products that reflect your brand and are appealing to your audience. Popular items include apparel, accessories, and fan-related products.

3. Link Your Merchandise Store to YouTube

Connect to Your YouTube Channel: After creating your store, link it to your YouTube channel. You can do this through YouTube Studio:

• Go to YouTube Studio → Monetization → Merchandise.
• Choose your partner store and follow the steps to integrate your products.

Merchandise Shelf: Once connected, your merchandise will appear below your videos as a shelf or as a popup.

4. Promote Your Merchandise

• Create Engaging Content: Incorporate your merchandise into your videos by wearing or showcasing it in your videos.
• Mention the Products: Actively promote your merchandise by mentioning it in your videos, providing call-to-actions (CTA) like “Check out the new merch below!”
• Link in Descriptions: Add direct links to your merchandise in your video descriptions for easier access.
• Create Dedicated Merch Videos: You can create unboxing or reveal videos that are dedicated to introducing your merchandise to your audience.

5. Use YouTube’s Merch Cards and End Screens

• Cards: You can add merch cards to your videos that link to your store. This allows viewers to click and purchase while watching your content.
• End Screens: Add links to your merchandise at the end of your videos using the end screen feature. This provides a final CTA for viewers to explore your products.

6. Engage Your Community

• Offer Limited-Time Promotions: Create urgency by offering limited-time deals or exclusive products.
• Run Giveaways: Engage your audience with merchandise giveaways. This can increase brand awareness and lead to more purchases.
• Collaborate with Other Creators: Partnering with other YouTubers to co-promote merchandise can expose your products to a wider audience.

Engage with the Community

7. Analyze Your Sales and Audience Engagement

• Monitor Performance: Use YouTube Analytics to track how well your merchandise is performing. Look at the traffic sources and sales data to see what content leads to purchases.
• Optimize: Based on the data, tweak your promotional strategy and design to maximize engagement and revenue.

By following these steps and integrating your merchandise into your content strategy, you can successfully sell and promote products to your YouTube audience.