You’ve already done the hard part of obtaining new customers, but how do you motivate them to keep coming back? Driving revenue from new clients is usually a priority for businesses, but it is important to not forget about the ones you already have. With custom packaging, your business can increase customer retention and ultimately build stronger brand loyalty!
You should be building the lifetime relationship and loyalty with your customers, starting from the second they come into contact with you.
The goal of having a customer retention program is to help your business retain as many customers as possible. It can cost five times more to acquire new customers than trying to retain your current ones! Think of all the costly marketing and advertising initiatives required as part of the acquisition process.
Understanding The Customer Life Cycle
Before diving deep into the content, it is important to understand the customer lifecycle and how to implement it into your business. Actually, your business should already be following it!
The customer life cycle is divided into five phases:
- Reach
- Acquisition
- Conversion
- Retention
- Loyalty
Your goal as a business is to maximize revenue by getting your customers from the beginning to the end of the customer lifecycle. The probability of selling your product to an existing customer is 60-70%, but the probability drops down to 5-20% for new prospects.
Check out some of the best digital marketing tactics for customer retention that can be implemented with your custom packaging to maximize the return on investment!
Increasing Customer Retention with Custom Packaging
By customizing your packaging instead of opting for a plain box or bag, you’re immediately showing the customer the quality of your product whether that’s on an eCommerce website or the shelves of a brick-and-mortar.
Imagine yourself browsing through an eCommerce website or walking through the aisles of your local grocery store. As a consumer, would you be more intailed to reach for a well-packaged product or one that looks like little effort was put into it?
Your business can easily implement a few packaging features to increase customer retention.
1. Know And Understand Your Target Market
The most important rule is to know and understand your target market. What is the demographic and how are you going to align your product with their needs and wants?
When you have a clear vision of your audience and have done the necessary research, you can figure out how to package your product towards them. Or even more, exceed their expectations.
There are many things to consider, such as:
- Typography
- Colors
- Visuals and graphics
- Copywriting
Having the right typography, colors, visuals, and copywriting can make all the difference in designing the perfect customized packaging for your product.
(Source: Lego)
For example, you would use bold, colorful, and bright typography and graphics to market a toy for children. Put yourself into the shoes of your target audience —what would you want to see in a product’s packaging?
2. Brand Storytelling Through Packaging Design
This is your opportunity to showcase your business value propositions. It is your chance to tell your brand’s story in an engaging and dynamic format to evoke an emotional response.
Tell your customers why they need your product and how it can benefit them —emphasize your brand’s promise to start building trust.
Brand storytelling doesn’t have to rely on text. Use your resources! Consider the design, shape, structural features, and size of your custom packaging to your advantage.
(Source: Design Week)
McDonald’s is a perfect example of a brand that beautifully executes storytelling with their packaging. With the paper bag as their canvas, they highlighted the key features of their brand. McDonald’s goal for the carryout bags was to challenge people’s perceptions of the restaurant.
With customized packaging, the possibilities are endless. You can take it to your advantage to create the ultimate story through the right combination of designs and copywriting.
3. Build Brand Loyalty with Personalization and Incentives
As a customer, there’s nothing like feeling appreciated by a brand you’re purchasing from. When a business sends relevant and meaningful messages to the customer, it increases the chances of future repurchases. Personalization goes beyond satisfying a customer’s need, but it shows that your brand cares.
There are many ways to make the packaging more personable, such as including a handwritten note or throwing in a small personalized gift. It is your way of saying thank you, we appreciate your business and wish to continue working with you!
Another way to increase customer retention with your custom packaging is to include incentives for being a valuable customer. You can throw in a discount card or referral bonuses! Not only will these tactics encourage them to repurchase from you again, but it makes the customer feel special.
4. Be Apart of the Unboxing Phenomenon
Being able to create an engaging unboxing experience is highly appreciated by customers. It’s no wonder unboxing videos get millions of views on YouTube! According to “Think With Google”, the amount of time people have spent watching unboxing videos on their mobile devices is equivalent of watching the movie, “Love Actually”, more than 20 million times.
By creating a good impression within the unboxing experience, you’re embedding your brand into the customer’s mind. It helps to create a positive mark towards your product and brand. If you create an experience that exceeds their expectations, it also works to increases customer retention.
There are so many ways to create a memorable unboxing experience for your brand. The great thing about custom packaging is that you can include custom inserts to enhance the experience.
(Source: Dollar Shave Club)
Not only will the packaging insert provide additional protection, but it allows you to showcase your product in an intriguing way. As said before, the possibilities are endless!
5. Emphasize Brand’s Approach To Sustainability
With custom packaging, you have the option of choosing sustainable materials such as cardboard or kraft paper bags. This helps to emphasize your brand’s approach and values to sustainability, which is becoming a big deal in the packaging industry.
The packaging industry has been under fire, with more pressure being placed on businesses to create more sustainable packaging. By creating packaging that can easily be reused or recycled, you’re creating a positive image for your brand.
It is crucial to think of how your packaging can affect the environment. By emphasizing your brand’s movement towards a more sustainable lifestyle, it will encourage customers to continue purchasing from you.
Conclusion
There is definitely a lot you can do with custom packaging —it is custom after all. By having a better understanding of your target market and the customer lifecycle, your brand can use custom packaging to increase customer retention.
It is the perfect opportunity to tell your brand’s story, build loyalty, be a part of the unboxing phenomenon, and emphasize your values.
Does your brand utilize custom packaging to increase customer retention? Comment below with your favorite tips and tricks!
