7 Packaging and Design Tips That Will Increase Your Sales
Running a successful workplace and improving sales by making changes is a multifaceted problem.
What works for one business might not work for another.
Still, there are ways to get yourself out there that transcend the different genres of business. One of the best ways to push your brand in this way is to focus on packaging and design.
Join us today as we look into seven ways that what you wrap your product in makes all the difference.
Keep It Simple
Your packaging is an extension of your marketing.
And if there’s one thing that drives people off of any advertising, it’s having to wade through some overly-complicated design or piece of copy.
The secret is to keep your designs simple, with a no more than three colors to a package, and a short, effective name and logo combination. You might be tempted to think, “My product is more complex than that. You can’t describe my product in three words.”
You’re probably wrong. There’s always more you can do to break your product down into more easily-digestible pieces.
Slight variations between one shade of green in your logo and another shade in its background might not seem like a big deal, but they are noticeable. Similarly with fonts, which should complement each other, be easy to read at a glance, and not vary too much.
Keep it simple, and see how your product starts to sell better.
Remember to Show Off Your Product
One avoidable mistake is packaging your product in materials with no window on what you’re selling.
After all: if nobody can see it, how will they know they want it?
Previewing your product isn’t a new idea in packaging and design. It’s older than most brands, and every bit as important now as it’s ever been.
With a few rare exceptions, you should always show off your product in some way, via the packaging.
You could opt for a window, built into your box, bag, or vacuum-sealed package. A swatch of clear plastic or a simple hard plastic cube built onto the side of your on-card packaging will give buyers a clear look at what they’re buying.
If this level of packaging is outside of your budget, there are options as well. A professionally-shot picture of your product, simply printed on the side of your packaging works as well as a window. Make sure it’s positioned in a way that makes it visible, and make it large enough to spot at a glance.
Be Ready to Have a Little Fun
There’s a song lyric that goes, “If you’re bored, then you’re boring.”
Possibly one of the simplest methods of creating truly fun, creative advertising is to have fun while you’re creating it.
Ask yourself, “What would I enjoy looking at? What would attract me? What’s fun?”
Take some moments out to enjoy your work. Could you eschew the Times New Roman for something cleaner, simpler, more attractive to you? Could you integrate elements from your favorite product ads into the ad?
If you love it in that fun, non-business way that makes things go viral and sells new products, it might be worth giving a go.
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Don’t Waste Space
Negative space on a piece of packaging is one of the greatest crimes in production.
Have a look at your packaging and design. Are there any blank areas where the packaging is left unused? If you’ve got a backboard that’s a solid color, or a bag with a uniform pattern and nothing else on it, there’s more you could be doing.
Use images of your product, logos, graphics and design elements to fill up space, as needed, and diminish your wasted space. If you can use imagery in areas where users aren’t expecting to see something attention-grabbing, you stand a better chance of standing out.
And, in marketing, more than anywhere else, if you can stand out, you can win.
Why Make Something with Just One Use?
Speaking of standing out, a reliable way to set your product apart from the others ones is come up with additional uses for its packaging.
Try to think outside the box (pun intended).
If your product is a food item, could your packaging and design be used as a knife and fork? If you’re selling cologne or perfume, could your packaging be used as an applicator?
Even if the only other use your packaging serves is to hold the product after it’s been opened, it might help to keep your brand in the minds of your buyers.
If your packaging makes its business recycling, playing games, creating art or having fun, you’ve created two products. The one you’re packaging, and the packaging itself.
Shelf Appeal
Something obvious that many people don’t consider is how their package is going to look on a shelf next to other products.
On a shelf with twenty other products with similar, safe packaging choices, does your packaging stand out in any way? If you’ve made the same muted design choices as everyone else in your industry, what are the odds people passing by would stop to look at yours?
Go for distinct design choices. If your competitors use pastels, go for blacks, electric blues, oranges. If you’re competing with boxes with cheesy mascots, opt for something more mature.
If they have circular boxes, get octagonals. If they use serif fonts, you go sans serif.
Whatever you can do (within reason) to make your product look distinct on a shelf is worth some consideration.
Practicality Is Attractive
Everybody loves a product that saves them time, trouble, or some combination of the two.
Have you considered changing your product’s packaging? Perhaps you’ve had yours for many years, but if you implement a change that makes your product handy, you can also make it indispensable.
Squeeze bottles over traditionally pouring glass containers. Peel tops over solid cardboard boxes.
Whatever the design, making your product practical as well as attractive will go a long way towards bringing in new buyers.
Get Better Packaging and Design
Whether you’re a small business or a huge corporation looking to change up your products after many years, packaging matters.
Ready to learn more about using design, psychology, and other innovations to change the way you do business?
Check out a few of our other fantastic blog pieces and start turning your business around today.
