Alongside the value of your product offering, well-designed packaging can significantly boost consumer trust, engagement, and sales. Packaging should entice the customer in and stand out from your competitors, while also providing all the relevant details like ingredients/materials and its origin. Not only this, but brands can use packaging to capture data so that they can learn more about their customers and their preferences to build loyal customer relationships.
Packaging, when done well, is at one with the product. In fact, research shows that 30% of consumers feel that packaging design is more important than the brand itself.
Here are 8 ways to increase your customer engagement through product packaging.
1. Personalisation
Personalisation has taken the world by storm, with the customer-facing environment now thinking of new and innovative ways of integrating it as part of their service offering.
This type of packaging allows brands to offer additional features, such as including names, messages and images. As it will feel more unique and tailored to new and existing customers, it helps to increase their emotional connection to your brand and therefore drives engagement and repeat custom. For example, Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign saw their soda bottles branded with around 250 names, with the company seeing a 19% increase in its sales.
The personalised packaging market is expected to have a CAGR of 5.28% by 2033 and so brands need to be keeping up to date with the best ways to personalise their offering to reach and engage their customers. As packaging becomes more competitive in this age of personalisation, going above the norm will help you distinguish your products from your rivals and stand out in competitive sectors.
2. Sustainability and Eco- Friendliness
Customers are now more eco-conscious than at any point in living memory and so it’s vital for brands to ensure their packaging is sustainable for their customers and for the planet. According to Deloitte, a quarter of customers are more likely to pay more for enhanced sustainable services, extending to the product, packaging, and supply chain.
Brands that use sustainable materials and showcase this on their packaging will likely see increased custom as consumers will be able to verify their commitment to the environment. Some great ways to implement this include sharing the best ways to dispose of materials sustainably, opting for smaller packaging, or using compostable, eco-friendly packaging.
3. Multi-Functional Packaging
Most packaging may have been seen as single-use in the past, but brands are now looking at ways to increase reusability. Not only does this make it less wasteful, but it helps to keep your branding within their line of vision for a longer period, which could lead to increased retention. Brands can educate their customers by putting other potential uses on their packaging to encourage reusing, and encourage user generated content on social with customers sharing their own reuse ideas.
Some simple ways that customers could give products a new life include using them as storage, planters, or other decorative items.
Packaging that is refillable or returnable allows customers to reuse items, with the knowledge that they’re contributing to the circular economy. This is also more cost-effective in the long run for brands, as it means they aren’t spending as much on single-use packaging.
Lastly, the multi-functional packaging market is expected to grow from $12.9m USD in 2024 to $16.7m by 2032, so brands that aren’t yet making their packaging reusable need to consider it in the near future.
4. Exclusive Packaging
Seasonal or limited edition packaging presents customers with a unique offering that they can only purchase for a short window of time. Creating a sense of scarcity can encourage immediate purchases, as consumers don’t want to miss out on something rare or unique. This can lead to a spike in sales.
Limited edition designs can create buzz and attract attention in a crowded market, making the brand more memorable. Exclusive packaging also offers your brand a chance to distinguish itself from your competitors, while showing the brand as one that is eager to innovate and adapt its designs to stay hyper relevant.
Tying limited edition packaging to cultural events, holidays, or trends can make a product feel timely and relevant, capturing the attention of consumers during specific periods, enhancing brand positioning as creative and forward-thinking.
5. Sensory experience
A great way to engage customers is to consider the five senses, sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
Encouraging touch is a critical part of the consumer experience. Research in consumer psychology suggests that customers are significantly more likely to purchase a product once they physically interact with it. In some studies, customers who pick up or touch a product are up to 40% more likely to buy it compared to those who only look at it. Holograms are a great way to do this as consumer want to move the product to enable the animation and moving images within it. In addition, they can stand out on the shelf and be something that people want to keep as well as greatly adding to the visual appeal, changing with motions and movements.
Adding different textures, scents, and other sensory elements can build brand loyalty from customers. Sensory packaging often elevates the product’s status, making it appear more valuable or luxurious, with packaging influencing willingness to pay a premium price by consumers.
In the same way as exclusive packaging, offering something unique adds to the customer experience and can be a real talking point for your brand, encouraging word of month referrals and social media worthy experiences.
6. Social Media Integration
In the modern age, social media is imperative for all brands and packaging can be an effective way to promote your accounts. Even just having the symbols of the relevant social media profiles will allow your business to increase its following and engagements.
Brands can also encourage customers to share their experience of using your product or packaging on their own social media accounts. For example, this could be via reviews, commenting on your product with hashtags, or encouraging unboxing videos so that more customers become advocates for your brand. Furthermore, research has shown that 40% of customers are more likely to share a product image on social media if it comes in unique packaging.
Elsewhere, competitions can increase sharing, especially when paired with a strong call to action and hashtags.
7. Connected Packaging
Connected packaging refers to a type of smart packaging that incorporates digital services into physical objects. This year, the market is expected to rise, as 80% of people consider connected packaging to be important to the industry.
Examples of connected packaging include QR codes, augmented reality, and advanced barcodes.
In particular, features like QR codes can engage users by leading them to games, exclusive content, or in-depth product information when scanned, increasing the experience for the customer. QR codes are now extremely popular, with 79% of consumers having already interacted with a product via a QR code. Data gathered using these methods, can go on to add value to the consumer experience, provide a channel to upsell and cross sell direct to the end consumer and ensure that the product is genuine and being sold in the intended market.
8. Storytelling Through Packaging
Packaging can be an effective way to tell stories, whether that’s the brand’s own story, or the product’s story.
Stories can be displayed through text, graphics, and images, or within the packaging itself and it can create a deeper connection with your customers. This can include the actual history of the brand, a message from a leading figure, or an infographic showing the journey of the product from manufacture to the point of sale. Other things to include are your brand values and mission so that customers instantly understand your objectives.
Putting the Authentic into Authentication
Brands that implement these strategies will create packaging that goes beyond its functional purpose, delivering increased consumer engagement, brand loyalty, and word-of-mouth marketing.
Sleek, detailed, and considered packaging will provide customers with the confidence that the product they’re receiving is of high quality.
Alongside the visual elements, ensuring you adopt leading authentication techniques like holograms and QR codes allows customers to feel assured as it gives them insight into the product journey and certification that their product is genuine and the business actionable insight throughout the supply chain.
Here at De La Rue, we help to design packaging that factors in security, while enhancing your identity, values, heritage, and aspirations.
Discover more about our visually engaging holography here
