Did you know around 95% of new products launched each year fail? Many of these cases aren’t because of their quality. A lot of high-quality products go unnoticed while lesser brands enjoy the spotlight.

You can say it’s because of a bad marketing strategy or because of brand loyalty. However, what you may not consider is the failure of the packaging to draw in the customers.

Customers don’t have the time to research every product before going to the store. Instead, they look at the packaging to determine whether it’s worth buying. This highlights the importance of packaging.

You must have the right packaging strategies to get these customers to choose your product and take it home.  Experts from companies like Zenpack can help your business develop an end-to-end packaging strategy in order to increase your brand presence.

1. Make the Design Stand Out

When on the shelves, your product has to win a battle with the other products. You must catch the eye of the consumers. After all, they’ll never know how good your product is if you can’t make them reach out for it first.

To design a product package for their taste, you must know your customers.

How old are they? What’s their income? Are they single or are they a parent?

All these answers factor into your packaging strategies. Knowing them gives you insight into what interests your customers.

Kids prefer bright colors, for instance, and an older person will appreciate a product with bold letters they can see well.

At the same time, think of your competitors. How will your product look next to theirs on the shelf? Try and set your product apart from the usual with vibrant colors, a unique design, or bold typography.

But that’s only the beginning. Your product must then make it to the cart and onto the check-out counter. This is where the other aspects of your packaging design come in; aside from the price, consumers will use the following to decide which product goes into their cart.

2. Think of How You Show the Product Information

Here’s one thing you have to keep in mind during each step of designing your product: Clarity.

Choosing a typography style? Make sure it’s legible. That fancy font won’t be useful if your customers can read it.

Choosing a color scheme? Make sure it doesn’t blur out the important details. It might not create a good contrast, making the brand or product name fade into the background.

At the least, your product must be clear about its contents. Poor packaging makes the customers guess about what the product could be.

3. Display Your Cause

Consumers love supporting a cause, so if you do, display that clearly in your packaging. This sets you apart from your competitors; it might be the difference that puts your product in the cart, especially in these times when big brands are going under public scrutiny for their environmental and humanitarian blunders.

If your product is organic, for example, make sure that information is in an easy-to-spot location.

It’s easy to show this information to the buyers by printing it, but that’s not enough. Show rather than tell. If your cause is to reduce the waste that ends up in landfills, make your packaging recyclable.

Whatever your cause is, be honest. It’s easy to fact-check every claim nowadays. Putting false claims on your packaging will damage your brand reputation.

4. Choose Practical Over Ingenuity

Do what you can to stand out, be creative, and don’t conform to the usual packaging design. A glass bottle can have a different shape -- a box it doesn’t always have to be box-shaped. You can catch a lot of attention by changing even one aspect of what’s expected.

Make sure you don’t think too far outside the box, though. Practicality wins over creativity in product packaging, especially if it affects functionality.

A glass bottle with a unique design is okay as long as it doesn’t interfere with your grip or its ability to release its contents. If you play it right, the design element can even add to its practicality if it allows for a firmer grip.

However, the cost to produce thousands of such bottles - is it practical?

It may not be practical for you or your customers if your target demographic has a low budget. The cost to produce the design will translate to the retail price, which may place your product in the higher end.

That said, a design can be both unique and practical.

The upside-down ketchup bottles, for instance, make it easier to get the ketchup out. It’s easy to store in the pantry as well, so being unique doesn't interfere with its function.

5. Keep It Clear and Simple

Above all else, every bit of information must be clear. From your brand name to the recommended serving size, everything must be readable.

Just make sure you aren't blasting information from all sides of the packaging if it's not important. Ask yourself, do all the details in the packaging add value to the overall look of your product? If not, you might gain from losing some of the elements in it.

Some products have gone as far as taking away all but the most important details. This gives the customers a much-needed sensory break.

If all the other products are screaming at you, won’t a clean design provide a much welcome rest for your eyes?

In this case, less is more. People only spend a few seconds to decide whether a product is worth buying or not.

You only have a moment convince a potential customer. Make sure their eyes go to the more important details by focusing on them instead.

Learn More Packaging Strategies

Great, effective packaging requires research, focus groups, and a lot of trial and error. It helps to have a deep understanding of your brand identity, what you sell, and who your customers are to develop effective packaging strategies. Consider these tips above to stand out amongst the crowd.

Why stop with these packaging strategies when there is a lot more to discover? We’ve got you covered. Check out our other blog posts today to learn more about packaging and marketing.

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