You don’t need a Marketing degree to design good packaging for your products. All you need to know is that the secret of selling is to design everything keeping the customer in mind. Knowing your customers’ requirements and preferences, you can focus on creating packaging that hits all the right buttons with them. Additionally, you need to consider the nature of your product and the external factors that can influence it. Here is a selection of useful tips for designing great packaging:
Don’t be afriad to stand out
Your product competes with that of your competitors all the time. In a shop, it sits next to tens and hundreds of products in the same category. In such situations (common across stores worldwide), how do you increase your product’s chances of being selected by your target customers? You do so by increasing its visibility. Packaging is one of the most effective mediums for making your product stand out from the crowd and making an instant impression. Research has shown that if potential customers are attracted to your product’s packaging, they take the time to look closely at your product and pick it up from the shelf to find out more about it. All that remains then is to complete the sale! With such a great advantage to be had, you must spare no expense in making sure that your product packaging is unique, attractive and memorable.
Design accordingly
Your packaging should be attractive by all means- but what constitutes as ‘attractive’ is highly subjective. Before you create packaging for your products, do an analysis on your customers. Are they mostly female or male? What age bracket do they belong to? What are the tastes and preferences of this demographic? With answering a number of such questions, you will not only be able to know your costumer base better but also design packaging that is attractive to them. If your customers are young people and women, past trends have shown that they will approve of flashy and colorful designs. But if your costumers are largely men and senior citizens, you should probably stick to mature designs and somber colors. Of course, you can only make these decisions if you do an evaluation of your target customers.
Print useful information
If your product is of a nature that requires a step-by-step for its usage, make sure your packaging includes printed directions. For instance, if your product is hair extensions, your packaging can include printed directions for putting them on.
If your product is ‘green’ (environment friendly) and your customer is conscious about such attributes, make sure your packaging highlights this admirable feature. You can also include information on the product/packaging recyclability.
Keep it convenient and legally compliant
Your product packaging should be strong enough to protect its contents and designed for convenience. It should not be unnecessarily large or made of a material that is not appropriate for your product. Your choice in size, type of material and other attributes should be in accordance with the legal restrictions of your market. Equipping yourself with knowledge of legal guidelines is essential before designing the packaging.
A good packaging not only protects your product but can also play a vital role in selling it. Planning your packaging design while keeping your product, customer and environment in mind will help you go a long way in making your product a success.