Insights: Articles & Resources by Oliver Inc.
What Are Packaging Inserts?
An overview:
- From brochures and flyers to discounts and catalogs, packaging inserts are a cost-effective way to further engage with consumers.
- Packaging inserts can be used to generate hype for new products, educate consumers, reinforce your brand narrative, and create a powerful bridge to digital experiences.
- A smart selection of decorative effects, such as foil stamping, embossing/debossing, coatings and laminates, and spot UV printing enhance packaging insert appeal.
Packaging Inserts Explained
Packaging inserts are typically paper items added to folding cartons and other shipment boxes to achieve numerous marketing goals.
Whether brochures, flyers, shelf talkers, guides, or catalogs, packaging inserts enhance the unboxing experience and leave consumers with a tangible part of your brand.
A popular form of marketing collateral, packaging inserts are a cost-effective way to engage your consumers further, educate about product benefits, or invite them to explore a website where their customer experiences continue into the digital realm.
Packaging inserts are powerful tools for elevating your brand—especially for e-commerce retailers.
Benefits of Packaging Inserts
Inform consumers. Inserts enable you to communicate additional information about your brand, product features, or usage guidelines. Rather than encumber secondary packaging with undersized and hard-to-read text, marketing collateral shifts information to a more user-friendly place while amplifying the effectiveness of visual elements on your folding cartons.
Reduce costs. Sure, you’re designing and printing, which increases costs per product. However, compared to other forms of advertising, these are much less. Your shipping chains immediately double as marketing channels for distributing messages to consumers and other household members—without paying for an additional marketing medium.
Reinforce your brand narrative. Inserting marketing collateral into your packaging grants you more ways to tell your story and communicate your brand’s values. Consumers are increasingly interested in purchasing from companies that align with their deepest-held beliefs, especially sustainability. For instance, a thoughtfully designed packaging insert detailing what your company does to counteract climate change or deforestation can further endear and elevate your brand in their eyes.
Bridge to digital experiences. By displaying barcodes, URLs, hashtags, or QR codes on marketing collateral, connected packaging encourages consumers to continue interacting with your brand once finished unboxing your product. You can encourage them to visit a website for instructional videos, participate in a social media campaign, download mobile apps, or connect with other brand followers online.
Generate hype for other products. Consumers just bought something from you. Why not include a packaging insert that highlights another product? This can create buzz for a new release or promote another related item, increasing sales.
Encourage referrals. This is a great way to convert a customer into a brand ambassador. Offer them a discount or reward for recommending your product to other people.
Highlight promotions and discounts. Similarly, adding coupons, discounts, or rebates entices consumers to make another purchase. It’s an effective way to target those already interested in your brand and encourage additional sales. Contrast that with building a costly pay-per-click campaign on social media hoping somebody interested in your particular industry will also want to purchase your specific product.
Decorative Effects for Packaging Inserts
For your packaging inserts to achieve their desired effect, you’ll want to collaborate closely with an experienced packaging and printing partner. They can assist you with material selection and visual elements to ensure your marketing collateral reflects your products’ high quality.
If your packaging insert requires greater durability and barrier protection, such as marketing collateral added to food packaging or something you intend consumers to display on a desk or wall, laminates and coatings strengthen them against abrasions and bending.
To highlight a particular portion of your packaging insert, such as a logo, spot UV printing adds a radiance that immediately attracts the eye.
For a tactile effect, debossing creates a depression in a piece of marketing collateral while embossing raises a design element out of the substrate. This three-dimensional feature suggests premium quality.
Foil stamping applies a glimmering, metallic-colored material to your packaging inserts, and is used selectively to highlight brand logos, important text, or other design elements.
Designing Packaging Inserts With Oliver
The options with packaging inserts are directly correlated to who you choose as a printing partner. Whether you prefer a traditional or digital press, Oliver expands the possibilities with a human-centric design approach powered by the most up-to-date printing technology.
Packaging inserts follow a design process similar to when producing folding cartons, entailing:
- The Discovery Phase: We’ll pepper you with loads of questions to ensure we understand your goals and what resonates with consumers. We’re curious about what excites you and animates your brand.
- Executing Your Design: Oliver enjoys all the advantages of a large print shop with the agility of a much smaller one. That means we’re nimble enough to create a packaging solution that suits your unique needs at an affordable cost. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to effective packaging. Our team of passionate designers is willing to help you whether you’re still in the ideation phase or already have a clear idea for your next packaging insert project.
- Proofing in One Secure, Easy-to-Access Place: Oliver employs a secure digital platform to organize printing projects, enabling you to proof and collaborate in one easy place. We can also accommodate working with hard proofs, as well—whichever works best for you!
- Communication Is Always Open: Inspiration and concerns arise at the most unexpected moments. That’s why Oliver remains available for you, even after your marketing collateral is printed and you’ve moved on to the next project. We’re happy to brainstorm ideas or help you resolve any lingering questions.
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