While it’s normal to focus the majority of your time as a business owner on your product itself, it pays to also pays attention to your product packaging. A reported 72% of American consumers say that packaging influenced their purchase decisions. Whether they’re shopping in-store or online, the product packaging impacts the overall experience.
Your product packaging impacts how your customers or clients view the product, how they feel about your brand, and whether they’ll purchase from you again. How can you boost your product packaging to have a stronger impact? Try these ideas below.
1. Place Practicality First
There are a lot of things to consider when choosing your product packaging: your colors, branding elements, fonts, and materials, just to name a few. That being said, you need to place practicality first. What does this mean? It’s about aligning your packaging with the product inside.
In addition, you’ll want your packaging to reflect the way consumers handle the product. If it’s shipped, it needs to be durable enough to handle whatever is inside. If it’s in-stores, it needs to be eye-catching and memorable. By choosing practical packaging, you choose something that fits your customer journey and product durability.
2. Be Clear
Similar to practicality, you also want your product packaging to be as clear as possible. There should be no confusion about what’s inside, how it works, and what it looks like. When packaging relies on misleading text or imagery, this only leads to a negative experience for the customer.
How can you be as clear as possible? Make sure your product package design reflects what the product is. If you choose to use any images, be sure these depict the product accurately. If there are any special features, this is a great place to include them so it’s easy to stand apart from the competition.
3. Go Sustainable
Sustainability has come a long way in the world of packaging. Customers today are more eco-focused than ever before. If you’re selling an eco-product with a branded design that shows your brand is green-focused, you’ll want to make sure your packaging matches this as well.
You can go sustainable with your packaging by choosing sustainable, recycled materials and avoiding single-use plastics. These might be a bit more expensive (or not), but they help improve the overall customer experience. When customers feel like they’re doing good by choosing your brand over the competition, that results in more money for your business.
4. Leverage Branded Prints
Print marketing has come a long way, and you can use this in your product packaging to stand out. What do we mean by this? While most packaging is only related to the product, you can also include extra printed elements to promote your brand, other products, and promotions. Here are some ideas:
Include branded stickers inside your box
Give your customers custom business cards within your packaging to hold onto
Add flyers to promote new offers or special deals
Use branded paper, wrapping, or branded colors
All of these small details stand out in a big way. Not only are they easy for customers to keep for the future, but they show that you’re passionate about connecting with your audience.
5. Quality Matters
Last but not least, the quality of your packaging matters just as much as the product itself. You can have the nicest product in the world, but if the packaging is cheap or falling apart, this won’t leave the right impression on your target audience.
There’s more competition than ever before. It’s not always easy to stand out and get noticed whether you’re selling in-person or online. Using high-quality printing, branded elements, and packaging materials shows your business is serious about its brand and customer interactions.
Your Packaging Is an Advertisement
Think of your packaging as more than just a way to get the product home with your customer safely. It’s actually an advertisement in itself. It’s like a billboard, whether it’s on a shelf, mailed, or online. It’s a way to show your product’s benefits, features, and what makes it special.
Your packaging is also a way to promote your brand, share a story, and communicate with your customers. How are you using your packaging to say something meaningful about your business? This might be the best way to stand out in this day and age.