When you are going into business for yourself and are looking to create unique products of any kind, you need to do a great deal to ensure that your product is ready to sell and to sell well. While product development and design are, of course, important, one of the last steps that you will take before making your products available on the market may be one of the most important in distinguishing your products and helping them to sell. That step is designing and/or selecting the paper and packaging that you use for your products. Get to know a few tips for selecting the right packaging for your particular product so that you can be sure that everything is in place to make your new products a success.

Know Your Competition's Packaging

One of the most important factors to consider when designing your product packaging is the packaging that your competitor uses. You do not want your packaging to look too similar to your competitors' packaging because buyers may become confused. This could cause customer frustration and lose you sales.

Research the packaging that your competitors use and make sure that the choices you make are completely different and unique. Perhaps, for example, if your competition's packaging is white, you can make yours black or a bright and bold color that makes it pop when on the shelves next to the white packaging.

Decide If You Are Going To Make A Larger Statement With Your Packaging

Many companies and businesses use their product packaging as an opportunity to show off their company's social awareness and consciousness. In other words, the packaging conveys a larger message than "buy this product." In the early stages of your product packaging development, you will want to decide if making an additional statement is within your company goals and the message you want to send to consumers.

One example of such a message is the sustainable and eco-friendly trend in product packaging. Many consumers have grown tired of products that have excessive plastic and styrofoam packaging that is not biodegradable and generates large amounts of landfill waste. As such, you may want to consider making your packaging eco-friendly by using recycled materials, using less packaging, using biodegradable alternatives to styrofoam and plastic, and/or making your packaging 100% recyclable. 

Other companies that engage in social entrepreneurship (think Toms Shoes or other companies that donate money or items to a charity or cause with every product sold) use their packaging to convey their company's messages. And others still team up with foundations to support a specific cause (the Susan G. Koman Foundation for breast cancer and their pink ribbons, or the Alzheimer's Association and their purple ribbons). Choose whether you are going to take your business in that direction so that you can put it right out on your product packaging from the start if you do.

These are just a few of the ways that you can begin to ensure your product packaging stands out from all the rest and conveys the right message for your products and your business as a whole. With these tips to get you started, your product packaging design will proceed more easily. Contact a packaging company like Commonwealth Inc to get started today.