Marketing Corner: On Packaging

Brainstorming. Hard work. Creating and crafting. Taking pictures. Editing pictures. Taking more pictures. Listing. Renewing. And finally...a sale!!! But alas, that's not the end! What happens after you get the sale is equally important to you business as branding and product quality. Excellent customer service leads to happy customers, and happy customers can become return customers.

We all love packages. In today's high tech world, snail mail feels like a blast from the past, a nice one too. When I receive a well packaged order, it always feels like opening presents, which makes me appreciate the seller even more. Etsy is becoming more and more saturated and it gets harder to single your craft out amongst so many sellers with similar products. Packaging is one way to set yourself apart.

One of my weaknesses on Etsy is bath and body products - handmade soaps, lotions, and candles. I've made purchases from several different sellers and their packaging has been wonderful. Below are some pictures of their lovely products.

So, you ask, how can you put that little extra touch to your packaging at a low cost? Here are some suggestions:

Use tissue paper to wrap your items. Even if you've already packed your products in plastic bags, wrap them with an additional layer of tissue paper, and maybe even add a nice tie around it.

If you're selling jewelry, invest in jewelry boxes. They are just a few cents each, but make for a wonderful presentation!

Include a nice thank you note or a thank you tag. This makes the packaging a bit more personal. You can easily make hang tags at home at no cost too!

Reuse and recycle materials. This will cost you nothing! Reuse tissue paper and wrapping ribbons from gifts, shopping bags, or even flower bouquets that you've recently received. You can also recycle the beautiful paper bags from department stores and create your own boxes - they are thicker and have great colors and quality paper!

Make your own envelopes or package boxes, and use unique labels on your packages. Recycle paper to make some fun envelopes. Many sellers offer free PDFs for labels or envelope patterns on their blogs. You can find some in this Storque article. Here is another great tutorial to make your own unique package bags from envelopes using decorative tape. You can also find get some great and affordable patterns on Etsy.

Include awesome business cards.  This could be expensive but will definitely set you apart!

If you are one of those people who always puts an extra touch to their packaging, feel free to comment and share what you do :)