Why product packaging matters for your handmade business
Never underestimate the power of good packaging. Whether that’s recycled packaging that conveys your eco-credentials or a custom-made box featuring your logo, illustrations and mission statement, packaging can communicate your values, make a memorable first impression, offer marketing opportunities, build brand loyalty and more. Phil Forbes explains how it can make a difference to your craft business…
Remember the last time that you bought a cheap phone cover or some kind of gadget from eBay? It arrived on your doorstep in a jiffy bag, or if you were lucky, in a flimsy, stark white cardboard box. What do you remember about the brand you bought your little gizmo from?
Absolutely nothing.
Sure, the purchase itself was just a minor expense, you didn’t hand over a lot of cash for it. But the fact is that your experience with that brand was forgettable and dull.
This happened for a number of reasons:
- The product was probably cheap and easy to replace
- The product was mass produced
- The seller made a small profit margin on the product
Let’s take a look at the other side of the coin. As an artist, designer or maker, the above problems probably don’t relate to you and your craft brand. You spend a lot of time, energy and love taking the things you create from an idea to a product. You make sure that every little detail is perfect and that your customer is nothing short of blown away when they receive your purchase. That’s you. That’s why your brand is special – you love what you do and you put that love into your products.
So here’s the million dollar question: do you also delivery your products in the same jiffy bag or flimsy cardboard box that your phone case arrived in?
If you’re not delivering your product in a box that’s equally as unique as your product, expect your products to be as memorable as your cheap phone cover. There’s also a copious amount of other reasons you should use a unique box for your brand – and in this article, you’re going to see a handful of them!
1. Make a grand entrance
First impressions last and you only get one chance at a first impression!
Not only is your packaging the only part of your brand that reaches 100% of its customers, but it’s also the first time that your customers are physically in contact with your brand.
An initial impression goes a very long way in how us humans perceive just about anything. For example, the first handshake with someone that’s overly strong is more than likely going to affect your overall opinion of them. And that’s what your product packaging is – it’s the first greeting, the initial handshake that says “hey, nice to meet you”. Not only is your packaging the only part of your brand that reaches 100% of its customers, but it’s also the first time that your customers are physically in contact with your brand.
Making such a meeting dull, boring and forgettable is a detriment to yourself!
Not only is your packaging the only part of your brand that reaches 100% of its customers, but it’s also the first time that your customers are physically in contact with your brand.
2. It’s easier than you think
Getting a box printed for yourself – you’d probably have to order a few hundred as a minimum order, and even then it’d be hard to get the design exactly as you’d like, wouldn’t it?
Wrong.
Creating packaging e.x.a.c.t.l.y as you’d like is a breeze. Folksy has teamed up with Packhelp to bring you your packaging, exactly as you like it. First of all, you can order as little as 30 pieces to test the idea of custom packaging to see if it works for your brand. Secondly, delivery is free to the UK, whether you buy 30 pieces or 30,000. Finally, you can use the Packhelp online designer to drag and drop your logo, pick your colours and design your box exactly as you’d like.
Pick the box, then take a look at it in a 3D environment. Pick the colour of your box and then drag and drop your images exactly where you’d like them. When you’re ready, submit your order and get them delivered in 14 days.
Bonus: As a Folksy user, you can 10% off the entire range. Not just boxes, but also paper bags, poly mailers, wine boxes and tissue paper! Just click here to get started!
3. It complements your sustainable image
We all consume and throw away a little too much. If you’re worried that using extra packaging is only going to add to that consumption and wastage, fear not. Packhelp packaging is made from a minimum of 80% recycled material. This means that your custom packaging was a kid’s school book, an empty toilet roll or a cereal box in a previous life. The remaining 20% is glue and ink that can’t be reused.
If your brand is aligned around sustainability and being environmentally friendly, consider sending your items in an eco mailer box. Eco mailer boxes are made from the same recycled cardboard but lack the additional layers for full solid colour.
The result is a simple, kraft or ‘natural’ cardboard texture, with either black or white print on top. Many larger brands use the natural texture of cardboard to with their natural, organic, sustainable and/or environmentally friendly image.
Bonus points: If you’re worried about your box only being used once and then thrown away, get creative about how your customers can reuse it. Above, you can see how Ole Candy have made a box that doubles as a colouring activity for their customers – kids!
4. The unboxing experience
If you’ve not already heard about it, the unboxing experience is a powerful and underused way of building a relationship with your customer. It’s about the experience you create in the time between your customer getting their box and using the product for the first time.
If you’re familiar with influencer marketing, a world-class unboxing experience is crucial to getting the most out of your influencer. The last thing you want is to have your product front and centre in an influencer’s unboxing video, and your packaging is unbranded, generic and dull.
5. It adds value
Have you ever gone out to a restaurant for the first time and thought ‘I got a lot of food for my money’. You’re impressed and surprised, not necessarily at the quality of food, but at the amount. You feel like you well and truly got your money’s worth – if not more!
Whether the product that you’re selling is edible or not, bespoke packaging adds that ‘value’ factor to your brand. Your customer ordered a product, but when they get it in an elegant box with custom tissue paper, that same thought goes through their mind: ‘Wow, I got a lot more than I thought I would’.
The result? Your customer is happier with their purchase and you stay in their mind that little bit more.
6. You build brand loyalty
One of the biggest problems that many small brands like you face is low sales. You work so darn hard to get every sale. You want to be sure that each customer stays loyal and comes back to you.
Copy your brand’s mission on to your product packaging. Then when a customer opens a box, they see the product and are reminded of your mission. This helps build a rapport, trust and a relationship your customer wants to stay loyal to.
7. It helps to persuade people to buy
Why not use a box with your brand’s logo to show off your range at the next craft fair?
If you’ve ever sold at a craft fair, you’ve probably put a fair bit of thought into the way that your products are presented. Your customers (and people in general) are visual creatures, we consume a lot with our eyes. Even the smallest box with your brand’s logo and colour palette on it can tie into your entire craft fair set-up. Use your boxes as literal building blocks and sit products on top of them. Show your more expensive products off in their packaging, so that buyers and see that added value you give.
8. It’s more than just a box
Custom packaging isn’t just a box. Sure, a square or rectangular box with a lid is the most common packaging solution but there’s more to it than that. If you sell something a little delicate, it may need a little extra cushion. So bring your entire packaging set-up together with custom-printed tissue paper. This adds a little extra ‘wow factor’ when your customer first lays eyes on their purchase.
If you’re selling textiles or something that’s durable, you mightn’t need a box. A simple polymailer with your brand’s logo can play the role, with minimal wastage.
Polymail bags have the added advantage of being waterproof. If you’re sending a product in a box but you’re worried about it getting wet, put it inside a custom polymail bag.
If you regularly sell at craft fairs and really want to wow your customers with your packaging, hand over your products in a branded paper bag.
These paper bags are made from fully biodegradable and recycled materials. If sustainability and recyclability are important to you (and they should be), then these bags align perfectly with your brand’s image.
9. It solidifies your branding
Your branding consists of your logo, your choice of colours and a few other visual elements that you use regularly. These ‘design elements’ can be seen in your Folksy shop and on your website, if you’ve got one. Your logo is also on your business card and at a craft fair, it’s also shown off in all its glory. So why not put it on your packaging?
By having your logo and branding in as many places as you can, you deliver the image of a professional brand that knows how to best present itself to the world. Selling unique, handmade products but doing it with a professional brand image is a potent way to get (and keep) customers.
10. It’s another form of marketing
Believe it or not, your packaging is a great way to market your brand to your customer. Packaging is a visual medium that you can use to reassure your customer they have made the right choice.
What are your brand’s unique selling points? Are you ethically sourced? Do you donate to charity? Whatever it may be, put these points on your packaging. The result is that the moment your customer holds their new purchase, they’re reminded why they bought from you.
They’re reminded about what makes your brand special and unique. Ultimately, they’re reminded that by purchasing from you, they made the right choice. Reaffirming these things is marketing in its essence – your packaging is a marketing channel.
11. It’s where form and function meet
When designing just about anything, you often have to sacrifice function or form for the benefit of the other. One of the joys about product packaging is that it’s where these two elements come together and work harmoniously. Your packaging plays the role of keeping your product safe during transportation but does so in a way that it’s also the stage where your product is presented to your customer.
Form and function in relation to your packaging can go a little further than this, too. Below, you can see how Scent by Mail has printed a little ‘hello and thank you’ on the inside of their box.
The result? Firstly, the product is secure during transportation (function), but the customer is also greeted as soon as they open the box (form).
Creative packaging like this can solve two problems in one fell swoop.
Wrapping up
As you’ve just seen, there’s so much more to packaging than just a plain box.
Quality packaging is the first thing that makes your customer think ‘wow’ rather than ‘ahh’. With competition and sales in the handmade industry being as fierce as they are, you want to be sure that your customer is absolutely blown away with their purchase. And delivering your product in a box that shows off your brand is the first step to doing exactly that.
If you’re considering testing out custom packaging, you’re in luck. Folksy has just teamed up with Packhelp to bring you your custom packaging exactly as you’d like it – at a price that won’t send you broke and in a timeframe that you can rely on.
Whether it’s a box with a separate lid for jewellery or a paper bag for craft fairs, Folksy and Packhelp can give you exactly what you need. Just click this link and head over to the Packhelp store. As a Folksy user, a 10% discount on the first order will automatically be applied to your total cost (this will be happen at the last ‘payment’ stage)! Check out the details here https://blog.folksy.com/2018/12/06/packaging-offer
What are your thoughts on using custom packaging? Have you had any experience using bespoke boxes? Let us know in the comments!
Phil is a hairy Australian living in Warsaw, Poland. At Packhelp, he’s responsible for getting the idea of custom packaging into the minds of those that need it most. He loves his dog, Star Wars and dinosaurs – in no particular order.
