5 Custom Packaging Tips for Small Business Owners

Custom noissue White Recycled Mailer Boxes and Packing Tape by @wild.and.funk

Custom packaging for small businesses allows brand leaders to literally and figuratively stamp their authority onto the marketplace with branded material to make potential customers aware of their products.

They should engage customers from the outset with captivating logos, patterns, and other visuals. They should also create seamless unboxing experiences for customers so that they easily handle their products and credit brands for taking care of the products they ordered. Custom packaging can turn curious customers into unapologetic brand loyalists by delivering personalization and quality in one.

Additionally, small businesses that emphasize sustainability with custom packaging are more likely to win purchases as more than 60% of consumers are willing to buy products from brands that use eco-friendly packaging.

The unique unboxing experiences that customized packaging provides lead to increased brand recognition promotes, improved functionality and can lead to more sales for small businesses looking to make a big impact in their respective industries.

Five Tips for Standing Out with Your Small Business Packaging

Here are five custom packaging tips that small business leaders should consider to improve their efficiency, quality, and reliability when shipping products.

1. Establish Your Packaging Needs First

Custom packaging for small business ideas should start with establishing the needs and objectives for your packaging design and presentation. If your small business is launching something new or undergoing a reset, the custom packaging design should reflect the direction you’re going as a business while also delivering on a clear marketing strategy and clearly communicating your brand identity.

Understand your products and their specifications before sorting out your custom packaging design. The product range you have will dictate the packaging elements most suitable for your needs, showcasing your brand with confidence. Also, evaluate the costs for custom packaging, which factor in various things such as materials, finishes, and branded artwork.

If your small business specializes in shipping fragile items, using custom boxes or tubes with void fillers are your best choices, using cushioned material to surround the items to prevent them from shifting around during transit. If your business sells lightweight goods like accessories, jewelry, or soaps, custom mailers would be the more appropriate and efficient option for packaging.

2. Understand Your Branding Elements

Branded packaging for small businesses is the visual pitch to entice customers that products are worth buying and that their business is worth staying loyal to. The aesthetics of your branding elements promote brand recognition, making people clear and aware of where products are coming from. As a result, brands make their respective logos the centerpiece of their custom packaging design.

The custom packaging design must be unique, engaging, and delightful, showing the creative side of your small business while also garnering appreciation for its simplicity.

Too much visual noise drowns out your brand messaging and sinks your marketing strategy simultaneously. Aim for some color and pattern, but ease back on the flashiness when creating custom packaging visuals. Use variations of your brand elements without making them look too obvious.

Also, focus on what makes you different as a small business. Whether your industry is concentrated like e-commerce or cosmetics, your brand has unique qualities because your offer different skills and experiences to your competitors.

The small business packaging aesthetic should communicate these unique aspects while staying on message. Around 30% of businesses see improved revenue when revamping product packaging, bringing the elements mentioned above together.

3. Establish Your Key Selling Channels

Custom packaging for small businesses succeeds when brand leaders determine the best selling channels, factoring in practical and business considerations when using your packaging. Determine how protective your packaging is and how well it holds fragile or lightweight items. Also, balance the importance of aesthetics outweighing that importance in some channels and vice versa in others.

For some small businesses within the ecommerce sector, for example, shipping considerations like weight and distance factor in with the custom packaging strategy and design. The design must facilitate the transportation of your products effectively and safely, ensuring seamless shipping/handling while satisfying customer needs.

Consider the customer experience in the context of the purchasing phase that they’re in when pushing your custom packaging. Customers will have the most prolonged engagement with your small business packaging. The anticipation and excitement customers have when unboxing items from custom packaging is well documented and marks an opportunity for small businesses to link back to their selling channels.

4. Picking Sustainable Packaging Materials for Small Business Packaging

Sustainable packaging for small businesses is the smart way to go because eco-friendly custom packaging improves efficiency and saves high costs compared to traditional packaging solutions. Around two-thirds of customers yearn for recycled packaging solutions when purchasing products, presenting an opportunity for small business to improve their customer experience metrics.

Packaging sustainability helps businesses increase their social impact and awareness as landfills are increasingly a concerning issue due to large amounts of packaging waste. Especially for younger generations, sustainable branded packaging for small businesses appeals to them as they don’t want to be saddled with packaging material that is hard to get rid of.

There are a plethora of sustainable custom packaging options available for small businesses to leverage, using water and plant-based inks, eco-friendly printing methods, and compostable material. Rather than using standard cardboard or plastic packaging, small business owners can use recyclable materials like recycled plastic or kraft, as well as custom boxes and mailers, to transport a wide variety of goods.

5. Encouraging Reuse With Small Business Packaging

Another advantage of sustainable packaging for small businesses is that it allows brand leaders to encourage the reuse of packaging materials after unboxing. Sustainable custom packaging is recyclable and biodegradable, meaning it can be used again and disposed of easily, depending on what the customer needs are. As customers increasingly watch their environmental footprint, they look to businesses that keep them on the right track through their packaging.

Packaging your products in custom boxes or mailers rather than soft plastic packaging, for example, reduces waste in the long haul while maximizing customer satisfaction and giving your brand some helpful free advertising. Sustainable packaging keeps you green and gets you seen.

Many businesses shy away from sustainable packaging because of the confusion between sustainable and zero-waste packaging, which isn’t a realistic concept, especially when needing to use more protective types of packaging. With sustainability, you’re reducing the impact packaging has on the environment and limiting waste where possible to protect the environment, the customers, and your reputation.

🎁 Wrapping it Up

Custom packaging for small businesses can vault your brand to unprecedented levels. Learn more about our compostable and recyclable packaging options and how they can fit your growing business!