Custom Packaging Guide: Tips and Tactics Every Business Should Know
Custom packaging offers something rare these days: pure brand focus.
When a customer receives a package, it’s one of the few remaining brand-controlled channels that guarantees undivided attention.
That kind of focus is hard to find these days, which is why more brands are rethinking what their packaging can do. It's the perfect time, too. Prototyping, personalizing, and producing custom packaging is easier than you might think thanks to advancements in digital printing technology.
If you’re looking to think outside the generic box and explore custom packaging for your brand, you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s what you need to know.
- How Custom Packaging Benefits Brands.
- 3 Modern Printing Technologies for Custom Packaging.
- How to Get Started with Custom Packaging.
How Custom Packaging Benefits Brands
Given that a person can form an opinion about a business in as little as 0.1 seconds after their first impression, the importance of custom packaging applies to businesses across all sectors.
Consider the following:
- In the CPG sector, where choices are abundant and competition is fierce, packaging is often the first physical interaction consumers have with a product.
- For B2B, the presentation of print marketing collateral directly impacts the perceived quality of the business.
- In e-commerce, where online purchasing delays the physical interaction with the product, packaging is the first tangible experience a customer has with the brand.
- In manufacturing, a well-designed and promptly fulfilled product sample offer on a website can increase organic qualified leads by 246%. Further, 73% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after trying a sample compared to just 25% who only viewed an advertisement.
Keep in mind that custom packaging is more than just adding a logo or branding to a box. The size and shape of packaging can be customized, too. This not only ensures the package contents are protected during transit, it can also reduce shipping costs since the box size can be optimized for DIM weight.
3 Modern Printing Technologies for Custom Packaging
1. Digital Die-Cutting Technology Makes Prototyping Faster
Package prototyping is the process of creating a physical or digital mockup of a product’s packaging before it goes into full production. The goal is to test and refine how the packaging looks, feels, functions, and performs before committing to larger print run.
Digital printing technologies like digital die-cutting have drastically expedited the package prototyping process. What used to take weeks to complete now takes just a few days (or even same day) thanks to digital die-cutting. Here's what makes the process so fast and ideal for custom packaging.
No physical dies required.
Traditional die-cutting involves manufacturing a custom steel rule die, which can take days or weeks and adds cost. Digital die-cutting eliminates that step by using a blade or laser controlled by a digital file.
Faster iterations.
Designers can tweak die lines, artwork, or structure and output revised prototypes quickly, sometimes as fast as the same-day, because there’s no need to remanufacture tooling.
Short-run friendly.
Digital printing presses can produce one-off or small-batch prototypes with full-color, production-quality results, making it easy to test multiple concepts without minimum order requirements.
2. Variable Data Printing Technology for Personalized Packaging
Another digital printing technology, known as variable data printing, makes it fast and easy to personalize each package within a single print run.
Instead of printing one package design in bulk, variable data printing lets you change specific elements—like text, images, barcodes, or QR codes—on each individual package based on data inputs.
Here are three ways variable data printing can power up your packaging.
Personalization at Scale
Variable data printing allows you to customize packaging for individual customers, geographic regions, or product variants without stopping the press, including:
- Personalized packaging with names or messages.
- Regionalized campaigns with localized language or imagery.
- Seasonal or limited-edition designs based on real-time demand.
More Efficient SKU Management
Traditional packaging often requires a separate print run for every SKU or version. With variable data printing, you can consolidate runs and reduce setup time, storage needs, and waste. You’re no longer locked into large MOQs (minimum order quantities) for each variant.
Dynamic Promotional Campaigns
VDP makes it easy to run targeted promotions where packaging itself becomes the marketing vehicle.
You can:
- Add unique coupon codes or QR codes that drive to personalized landing pages.
- Track response rates by version or region.
- Swap out artwork or language based on campaign segments.
3. QR Codes
QR codes are one of the top print marketing and packaging trends for their ability to connect to digital content.
For example, Gregory Rozdeba, CEO of Dundas Life, uses QR codes in marketing collateral and packaging to maximize engagement.
“Dundas Life leverages QR codes to provide access to exclusive content, such as behind-the-scenes videos, special discounts, or interactive experiences. This engages our customers and drives them to take action, whether it’s visiting our website, participating in a survey, or exploring new offerings.”
Adding QR codes to custom packaging offers another major benefit: flexibility.
Since the content that a QR code links to can be changed anytime, it's easy to update content.
Note: content can only be updated when a dynamic QR code is used.
How to Create Custom Packaging for Your Business
Your packaging speaks volumes about your brand and the experts at Artisan Colour will make sure it says all the right things. We have provided award-winning print and packaging solutions to businesses across the nation for more than 27 years and are ready to get to work for your brad.
From concept to completion, our in-house packaging experts are here to create the perfect packaging solution for your brand. We offer a comprehensive menu of custom packaging services, including:
- Product packaging.
- Branded packaging.
- Mailer boxes and gift boxes.
- Stickers and labels.
- Packaging sleeves and belly bands.
- Personalized printing (variable data printing).
- Packaging design and rapid prototyping.
- Packaging inserts and marketing collateral.
- Product sample fulfillment.
- Marketing fulfillment.
Contact us today to get started.
