So, YouTube users are watching more on their TVs than on their phones. Yeah, you read that right. For the first time ever, more people are streaming YouTube on their living room TVs than on mobile devices, according to YouTube CEO Neil Mohan. That’s over 1 billion hours of YouTube content being watched on TVs every single day—more than Netflix and Disney+ combined. Let that sink in.
What does this mean for your print shop and how you should be marketing your t-shirts and branded merchandise? Simple. If your marketing videos are still optimized for mobile-first, you might be missing out on the biggest audience shift since streaming took over cable. Your customers are sitting back, watching your content on big screens, not just scrolling on their phones. If your videos aren’t built for that experience, you’re losing engagement, sales, and brand credibility.
The Shift: YouTube Users Watch More On TV
Once upon a time, YouTube was the ultimate mobile video app. Now? It’s the #1 streaming platform in the world, beating out Netflix and Disney+. YouTube has fully embraced TV screens, upgrading its app to look and feel like a premium streaming service. If you’ve fired up YouTube on your smart TV lately, you’ll notice it’s less like a social media app and more like Amazon Prime Video. And people are treating it that way—binge-watching content, sitting through long-form videos, and engaging more deeply than ever before.
Big brands are already making the shift. Look at how companies like Nike and Red Bull produce YouTube content—it’s built for TV-quality viewing. Meanwhile, many print shops are still stuck making quick social media clips that look great on a phone but don’t hold up on a big screen. If you want your t-shirt business to stand out, you need to start thinking like the pros.
What This Means For Your Print Shop’s Marketing Strategy
If you’re a print shop pushing out marketing videos on YouTube, you need to start thinking about TV screens first, not last. That means a few things:
- Shoot for High Quality – Low-res, shaky, vertical mobile videos won’t cut it. If your competition is dropping crisp, well-lit, professionally edited content, and you’re pushing out stuff that looks like an Instagram Story, guess which brand gets taken seriously? You need your videos to look amazing on a 50-inch screen.
- Longer Content Wins – People aren’t just watching five-second clips on repeat. They’re sitting through full-length videos. This means storytelling matters. Instead of short, forgettable ads, make engaging product showcases, behind-the-scenes content, and customer testimonials that pull people in.
- Think Like a TV Show, Not a Social Media Post – If your print shop is just posting quick sales announcements or TikTok-style clips, you’re not taking full advantage of YouTube’s TV dominance. The best YouTube marketing today feels like binge-worthy entertainment. You need episodes, series, and content that keeps people coming back.
- Optimize for TV – This means bigger text, better audio, and proper framing. If your marketing videos rely on tiny captions and weak sound mixing, they’re getting lost on big screens. Make sure your branding, message, and calls-to-action are crystal clear even from across the room.
How DecoNetwork Helps Print Shops Sell More
DecoNetwork is the all-in-one e-commerce and business management platform built for print shops and t-shirt businesses. With DecoNetwork, you can create professional online stores, automate order processing, and manage your print production workflow—all in one place. More importantly, your DecoNetwork store can be used as a powerful call-to-action (CTA) in your YouTube marketing. Whether it’s adding your store link to YouTube video descriptions, embedding it in your channel homepage, or using clickable CTAs in video overlays, DecoNetwork makes it easy to drive YouTube viewers directly to your products. If your customers are watching on their big screens, make sure they can seamlessly find and purchase your merch with just a few clicks.
YouTube Desktop And Mobile Still Matter, But TV Is King
Let’s not forget—you still need your YouTube videos to work on mobile and desktop. But TV is where the real engagement is happening. Studies show that when people watch YouTube on their TVs, they pay more attention, watch longer, and are more likely to take action. That’s gold for your t-shirt printing business.
The takeaway? Your print shop’s marketing game needs to evolve. Think bigger. Think TV. Your audience already has. If your YouTube videos don’t look great on the big screen, you’re losing potential customers who are already sitting on their couch, remote in hand, ready to watch your next video. Start optimizing your content now and own that space before your competition does.
