If you are not taking care of your customers, your competitor will. –Bob Hooey
You’ve done it before, right? Visited a store or a website to purchase something you needed only to find it’s really difficult to spend your money? You weren’t able to find what you needed, or the process to buy it was just, well, awful.
Sadly, it’s a common reality for consumers. Creators and business owners spend whatever is required to produce a useful product, but the focus on the customer’s experience finding, purchasing, and utilizing it is often secondary, at best, or completely forgotten, at worst.
When designing for your project, your customer’s experience has to be just as important as the product design itself. While it certainly does not make up the whole of your customer's experience, your packaging can be a very important part of it (see the unboxing trend that began in 2006 and continues today).
Whether it’s a fully printed box or a special material pouch, the way that you package your product can aid or hinder the experience. Here are four helpful suggestions to help you design your packaging and delight your customers.
Unique Design
Your packaging will be the first thing your customer sees when they purchase your product—the first tangible interaction with it. Consider their experience—how it appears, how it feels in their hands, what it communicates. You'll want to mock it up and hold it in your hands. Open it. Play around with logo placement and any copy that might be on it. See how you feel opening it and imagine the experience you can create for your customer.
Your manufacturer should be able to provide templates and physical samples that can help you visualize your packaging in order to help create a pleasing experience for your consumers.
Unique Elements
Part of creating a unique design is finding ways to make your packaging stand out from your competitors. Foil stamping, embossing, and full-color elements can spark the interest of your customers and give your packaging an elegant look.
Those extra creative pops can also encourage excitement and activity in social media. Content that centers around reviews, unboxing, and grand reveals of products can be a huge win for your marketing, and a great—maybe even surprising—experience can fuel it.
Use and Function
Some of the most creative packaging stands on its own. It isn't just thrown away once the product is removed. Once your customers get their hands on your product, make sure that the packaging and any additional elements included with it can be utilized in some creative or useful way.
For instance, nice, unique boxes or pouches can be used as storage or decoration in your customer's homes, which will be a reminder of your brand each time they see or use it. And a creative enough use could even create opportunity for a conversation piece and possible new customers.
Safety During Shipping
Though aesthetics and functionality are important for your packaging design, the safety of your product can't be an afterthought. Beautiful packaging is great, but it loses its luster if it can't keep the actual product safe and sound. Packing products like bubble wrap and packing peanuts can be an option for protection during shipping, but well-designed, sturdy packaging that doesn't require those extras can keep it clean and elevate it much more.
If you're ready to create the perfect packaging to enhance your product, please your customers, and enhance your brand, contact us here, and let's create something great together.