The actual products—and the solutions they deliver—are the most important part of any product-based business, but even the best product will only be successful if it stands apart from competitors. To get that attention you’re going to need eye-catching and creative packaging that draws people in and shows them why your product is amazing.
Use these four strategies to make your products stand out on the shelves:
1. Know your target demographic
If you’ve created an excellent product you should already know who your target demographic—the group of people you want to turn into customers—is. You understand what their problems are and how to solve them. You probably even know what other types of products they buy and what technology they prefer.
Now you’re going to study how to get their attention. How are other products packaged to attract your target demographic? What are the common shapes, materials, and colours? What fonts are used to convey information? What information is provided?
Start with products similar to your own, then branch out to look at other products built for your target demographics. You never know where a good idea might come from.
Pro Tip: Never, ever skip this step. Neither of the strategies I’m about to provide will work if you don’t do the research first. And if you created a similar product last year, you still need to pay attention to what people are putting out this year.
2. Combine packaging ideas to create something new
Take a look at the list of traits you created while researching product packaging in step one. What are the most common traits? The most unique? What trends appeal to you, and which ones do you hate?
Create a new list with all the ideas you actually like, putting an asterisk beside any completely unique traits on the list. Then look for ways to combine two or three ideas and create something new.
The most effective way to do this is to combine common traits with unique traits. This makes your product recognizable to the right demographic while also making it stand out from the crowd. But watch out for those completely unique traits—if you copy them too closely people will notice, costing you customers and maybe even a lawsuit.
3. Make it useful for multiple uses or purposes
The best customers are repeat customers, and the only way to get return customers is to make sure they remember you the first time. One of the best ways to do that is to make your product packaging something they actually want to keep.
You can do this in a few different ways. Packaging your products in reusable bags or boxes and make them so attractive that people actually want to reuse them is one relatively simple way to do this. Offering refills at a discount price if people bring back the original packaging is another excellent, albeit more complicated, strategy.
4. Make it simple and easy to describe
One of the most common mistakes businesses make is wanting to include too many things on their packaging. Stick with one or two images, three fonts (title font, subheader font, and main font for ingredients and directions), and a limited range of colours. People want to be able to make a snap judgement about purchasing your product, not to spend extra time figuring out what it is.
A great way to determine whether or not your packaging is simple enough is to use the “five year old test”: if you explain it to a five year old, will they understand it well enough to bring you the right product?
There are many other strategies you can use to make your packaging stand out, but these are the most effective methods, proven time and time again by dozens of brands. Try them out for yourself and discover how the right packaging can improve your sales.
