The marketplace is a difficult thing to conceptualize. Perhaps one of the best ways to view it is as a large party with lots of people in attendance. Those people represent your potential customers, and it’s your job to figure out a way to stand out among all the other debutantes hoping to catch someone’s eye.
The classic description of social events is to see and to be seen. Marketing fits in with that mentality. Businesses are always on the lookout for customers and suppliers, and they also want to be noticed by potential customers.
Commerce has become heavily one-sided in terms of physical materials. So much selling is done via e-commerce now that we rarely see hard-copy catalogs or other marketing items. Instead, people find businesses via social marketing or search engines, then order products for delivery.
Because the front end is largely electronic now, companies need to do more than ever on the delivery end. As a result, the value of custom printed shipping boxes is higher than ever. A distinctive logo along with a simple, memorable web address or toll-free number is a great way to draw other customers to you. Shipments that are delivered to the customer’s workplace need to be even more noticeable today, because there are no longer shared catalogs passed around the office or even product parties in the numbers there used to be.
Yet there seems to be some skepticism about the value of such marketing items today. Many businesses believe that cheaper is better, and the cost of personalization doesn’t cover itself with expanded sales. They also feel like most marketing is done through technology today.
That thinking is incomplete, at best. Personalized goods are hotter than ever right now, with products getting customized in huge numbers today. Monograms and other personalization are incredibly popular. Everything from apparel to license plates to cell phone cases bears the owner’s name or initials now.
If the consumer thinks it’s noticeable to others when they buy these products, it’s proof positive that the ordinary consumer understands fully that the names we display–whether our own or another company’s–are seen and noticed by other people. And it’s that endorsement that makes it perfectly logical to utilize customized items in a company.
The most important thing to remember is that boxes and other shipping containers go in front of a lot of eyes. It can be easy to forget that when we mostly see them in our own warehouses, where customers rarely venture. But from the time they leave there, they move into the view of shipping workers in several stages, then arrive at the final consumer.
And to reflect back a few paragraphs, this can sometimes take place in a very public venue where many other like-minded customers may be present. The box goes from the truck to the building to the individual, and even after it’s empty it is seen by potential customers. Even your garbage markets you!
The amazing growth of social media makes it easy to forget the old methods. But things like word of mouth and old-fashioned billboards still bring in customers. Custom boxes fit right in with those methods as the mainstays of marketing. Don’t neglect them!
