The design of your packaging is not something to be thrown together at the last minute. Packaging has the potential to elevate the customer experience to another level. We all know what it feels like when a product arrives on our doorstep, which is packaged like a gift rather than a purchase. When the brand pays attention to detail, customers will often share photos on social media, which can massively boost brand awareness. Of course, you need to ensure that your packaging costs are viable, as there is little point putting your product in wonderful packaging if it costs you the margin.
Here are six tips to help start-ups make the right choices with their packaging design.
- Hand-made or mass-produced?
Will you be producing a lot of different versions (e.g., flavors) of the product in large quantities? If so, an automated digital label printer could save you a lot of time and hassle. If you are going for a more handmade and personal touch, using letter stencils to create quirky messages and designs on the packaging shows you have put real effort and passion into each one of your products.
- Give plenty of thought to the design
When creating the design for your packaging, it’s important to consider all the different factors. Will you use color, logo, images, or text to reinforce your brand and, if so, will you be using the same design for all different markets and retail settings? Will you stick with traditional shapes and labels or try to be more creative in your approach? Click here for some great packaging ideas which may inspire you.
- Speak to the customer
Your product packaging should resonate with your customer in some way, so consider what your brand offers, which others do not. For example, if your brand is committed to protecting the environment, you may want to ask that people recycle the packaging or to highlight that it was produced using recycled materials.
- Ensure key information is as accurate and clear as possible
If your product needs to display key facts such as ingredients or health and safety warnings, you need to ensure that these are displayed accurately and are easy to read.
- Consider packaging material options
When choosing the materials for your packaging, you need to consider whether the product will need to be chilled, and if it needs a protective coating. If you are mailing the product, will the packaging hold its integrity during the journey and arrive in the same condition as it did when it left you? You may want to choose labels, tags, or paper packaging, which is thicker to portray a luxury brand image. Some brands may be committed to running an environmentally friendly operation and so may choose to use only recyclable materials.
- Does the packaging need a finishing touch?
Finally, would the packaging benefit from that last touch of fairy dust, i.e., a little extra touch that will make it stand out from other products on the shelf. This could be a hot foil stamp, a sparkly varnish, or a simple ribbon tied as the handle on a simple paper bag. Often, it’s the attention to detail that sticks with customers, so try and make your packaging easy to notice.
