Last updated on March 9th, 2023 at 10:32 am
When it comes to marketing for your business, you should invest in both digital and print marketing materials, but don’t stop at just flyers and brochures. Think about the presentation of your product. Your product packaging is an extension of your brand and should work as another marketing material aiming to grab your audience’s attention.
What message do you want to convey to your audience? Do you want to elicit certain emotions?
You can go beyond traditional marketing materials to connect with your audience by taking advantage of your packaging to create connections as well. There are a lot of things to keep in mind when planning how you will present your product. From where it is going to be on display, to what you should include in your design, here are our tips for small business product packaging.
Provide sufficient information about the product
If you want someone to make the financial commitment of purchasing your product, make sure you give them all of the information they need to know and if they might benefit from it. When someone is making the decision to spend their hard earned money on something, they are going to want to know what it will do for them. Will it make their life easier in some way? Will it save them money down the line? Whatever it is that your product does, make sure to include that on the packaging. Make it easy for your potential customer to pick up your product and figure out what it does and why they might want it in their life.
Be consistent with your designs
The number one design rule for marketing materials should be to maintain consistency across all of your materials. One of the main goals of any marketing material, whether it be a flyer or a social media ad, is to create brand awareness. You can’t create brand awareness if you have completely different design styles between your online presence and your print marketing materials.
You want to create as seamless an experience as possible for your audience when they encounter your brand in different places such as on social media, your website, and in person. Each item you put out in the world that is tied to your brand should be an extension of your brand. While you don’t want your brochure to be a direct print out of your website, you want it to feel like a physical piece of your website. If someone finds your brochure at the supermarket and then visits your website the next day, you wouldn’t want them to question whether or not it’s the same brand from the brochure.
Consider your target audience
Knowing who and where you are trying to sell your product is an important aspect to consider when you are designing the packaging. Are you stocking your product on shelves or selling it via an online store? You’ll want to think about where your product is going to be and how to best display it in that location. How will it feel when people pick it up to look at it? Will it stand out from other similar products? Keep these questions in mind, along with your brands values and branding guidelines and you should be able to come up with a product package design that fits your business.
Make your product stand out
Odds are you are not the only business selling a certain product. With all of the competing products and companies out there, it can be hard to gain your audience’s attention. People are creatures of habit, they like to stick with what is safe and what they know. Why would someone choose to buy your product all of a sudden after years of purchasing the same thing from another company? Start by researching your competition to see what common factors you can find in your industry. Are there certain colors that stand out? Is there a particular message that seems to be working more than others? Understanding the competition is key to your success.
Take care in selecting your packaging supplies
The material you decide to use for your product packaging is an important decision that should not be made lightly. Make sure you only choose options that you need to avoid wasting money on unnecessary packaging. Also consider the environmental impact of your product packaging. Society is becoming increasingly concerned and invested in ways to lessen our impact on the environment. Taking care to consider what waste your packaging may bring to the world and taking steps to minimize that will speak volumes to your audience.
Have you ever purchased a small item online, but received a giant box in the mail containing that small item? It’s a waste of material when you use a package that is 5 times bigger than the item inside. No one wants to receive an unnecessarily oversized package in the mail as that experience can leave them with a negative feeling after interacting with your brand. More and more people are looking for sustainable brands that take measures to find recyclable and sustainable packaging for their products. By cutting back on unnecessary materials, not only are you decreasing your impact on the environment, you’re also saving money by having less wasted materials.
Printing with Printivity
If you’re struggling with how to design your product packaging, let Printivity help! Printivity offers a free box design service to help you bring your vision to life. Box printing is more complex than your average print job with the various panels and folds. If you don’t have the time or resources to navigate this difficulty, take advantage of this free service.
