Nothing sells better than an image. Once you have the basis of making a professional brand perception, you want people to see you as a genuine, valued asset. While very few brands can be luxury names like Louis Vuitton, every entrepreneur has what it takes to be premium; still affordable, but definitely high-shelf and high-quality. Even if you don’t have a lot of resources, there are still plenty of affordable ways to turn your custom merch into a premium brand.  

How though? The first steps can be found in the simple guide to branding, but once you have that covered, you may want to experiment more. Today, we’ll talk about small tips you can do to make a more compelling image for your up-and-coming premium brand.

1.Use color theory

Don’t worry–you won’t need to go through design school to learn how to use colors. In fact, you can probably sense this unconsciously in your day-to-day life. Think about the last time you went to a department store or a clothing aisle: at a glance, what were the first objects that screamed ‘high-quality’ or ‘expensive’ to you?

Chances are these brands and clothes have very similar color schemes: somewhat undersaturated tones, one strong primary color (typically red), or dark mixes of purples and blacks, all topped with gold or white accents. 

These are the common signifiers of class and expertise. Each color has its significance, of course–reds for passion and drive, blues for calm and concentration, greens for wealth and growth, and so on. Ultimately, which color you choose should best reflect your brand’s own values and determination, but still reflect quality in their saturation or shade.

Color is the first thing your audience will see when they’re glancing over a screen or a department aisle. It’s always important to make a captivating first impression.

2. Create compelling designs

Beyond just choosing the right color schemes, you’ll want to equip yourself with a comprehensive and sensible design guideline. These things encompass everything from your signature font, logos, common shapes and symbols, and so on and so forth.

Generally speaking, premium brands often have old-fashioned serif fonts (think Baskerville or Bodoni) to communicate style and attainable luxury. A modernist premium brand with a younger lean may instead opt for bold sans serifs, like Din or Akzidenz-Grotesk. There are still even more wild font options you can choose from, but the underlying thread in all of them is consistency. 

Custom designs also greatly help with the image of a brand. Whether you’re going for a trendy minimalist look or an out-of-this-world, ambitious maximalist vision, you should strive to be unique enough to stand out from a crowd while still using the same visual language and imagery customers use to recognize a premium brand.

Once you have a compelling design, keep a record of common repetitive themes like fonts and colors. These will have to stay consistent throughout your branding, from new products to social media posts.  

Speaking of social media–

3. Be professional and present on social media

There’s not much use in being a premium brand if you’re not well-known. Social media engagement and activity can easily give a better impression of what your brand is and what it specializes in, cultivating notoriety in your respective circles.

Post regularly and frequently. Having a consistent source of content on feeds like Instagram or YouTube gives your audience a better chance to see you through the algorithm and build an expectation of your level of quality. 

Different social media sites have different ideal posting times, but a good rule of thumb is to post once or twice a week on any social media platform you’re advertising on. 

However, you’ll want to be careful in how your brand presents itself within the public sphere. It’s not just to avoid PR disasters, either–most premium brands have a nonchalant, polite reputation to keep up. While it’s good to be engaged with customers’ daily activities when you’re starting out, you won’t find many premium brands participating in larger online discourses that may alienate their audiences. 

In general, keep customer interaction private and respectful, redirecting to more professional customer service contacts. 

4. Carefully consider pricing and rollout strategies

When you’re a premium brand, everything from your design to social media following to reputation affects customers’ perception of you–including your costs. While everyone loves discounts, frequent sales build a different expectation than you’d likely desire.

In the end, people pay for the product they receive, and they appreciate the product for the price they pay. While a customer will be pleased to receive a custom or premium product on sale during special occasions, those occasions won’t feel as special if a sale happens every few weeks. 

Studies also show that clients perceive higher-priced items as higher quality, so lowering the costs of the product through frequent sales may affect the product’s long-term perception.

Don’t misunderstand, though–a few big-end sales every year (usually during holiday events) are to be expected. Christmas, anniversaries, and some other holidays that your target audience celebrates will be more than welcome. Just keep in mind when and how those sales will be conducted.

5. Work with high-quality merch services

The last piece of the puzzle rests entirely on the quality of your merchandise. While the other tips can be done at a low or relatively affordable cost, this one tends to be the sticking point for most brands. It’s easy to get caught up in the aesthetics of your brand, and then forgetting how to assemble a worthwhile product.

Customers care about variety, quality, and value when it comes to their final product. You don’t want to give them good options to choose from, all while knowing all options fit the standard of your premium brand. However, finding the right fabrics, hiring people to specialize in sewing and patterns, and maintaining that quality is a lot to juggle for a single brand.

Luckily, there are many merch services you can collaborate with to handle the intricate details more thoroughly. Our Shirtual services provide everything from print and fabric selection to robust international distribution at affordable rates. 

Modern times mean modern measures, and you can get the best of all worlds within just a few clicks.