In the competitive world of small businesses, standing out is SO important. One powerful way to leave a lasting impression is through branded packaging. A carefully crafted package not only protects your products as they make their way to their new home but can reinforce your brand identity and help with brand recognition. Especially if you are working with a marketplace site like Etsy, since it website itself isn’t specific to you, you need to work doubly hard to make a branded impact so when someone asks where they got it they say YOUR shop name and not just “on Etsy”. But even for those of us with standalone site brand recognition is crucial to scaling your brand in the long run. If you have the budget, and market, for it I absolutely recommend getting your packaging custom made (I have another blog naming where I get mine made!) BUT, those options are all decently pricey if you’re just starting out or still working on scaling. Here are some DIY options that can help make an impact without breaking the bank.
- Branded Stamps
- One of the simplest and least expensive ways to brand your packaging is through stamps. You can add them easily to plain mailer, envelopes, boxes, canvas bags, ribbon, and more. You can use them to imprint your logo, a catchy slogan, or a fun design announcing a new product line.
- Stickers
- Stickers fall in the same vein as the custom stamps and can achieve a lot of the same results. I would recommend getting a thermal label printer and printing your logo onto some thermal labels. Thermal printers don’t use any ink, just heat, to print onto the labels so it really keeps down the per item cost of the stickers. These are great for the outside of shipping materials, or even as product labels.
- Printed Branded Tissue Paper
- Yes, you can absolutely get this done through several different websites but they all have pretty high minimums and aren’t cheap. Get some vellum (tracing paper) off amazon and print your design onto it with your printer at home to get small quantities!
- Branded Tape
- This one is only half a DIY because you’ll still need to get the water activated branded tape made. You can get some pretty inexpensive through vista print but it allows you to brand your shipping materials without having to splurge on actual branded shipping materials.
- Thank You Cards
- You can download tons of templates of Etsy, or you can make your own with Canva. But having a branded packaging insert helps reiterate your brand and brand message once your customer has opened their package and has their order in-hand. It’s also a great way to ask for reviews!