How to Build the Perfect Promotional Gift Boxes
There is a reason why many businesses, big and small, invest in promotional gift boxes – they work!
Part of building meaningful brand-client relationship is showing customer appreciation. And while there are several ways to elevate your customers’ experience, very few can match the brand recognition and recall impact of a promotional gift box.
Personalized gift boxes make a good marketing strategy great, and that is because customer appreciation relates to good customer experience, the new marketing battlefield. According to Gartner, “When it comes to making a purchase, 64% of people find customer experience more important than price.”
On that note,let’sget to building your perfect promotional gift box!
1. Highlight Your Brand’s Personality
Promotional gift boxes are gift-ready promotional packs that you give out to valued customers.
They can be branded gifts to send along with a purchase (think sample kits for new product launches), a welcome pack for new clients, or as corporate gift boxes for important celebrations such as the holidays and company anniversaries.
That’s right, they are the new and better gift baskets!
Every custom gift swag you send out is an opportunity to connect with your audience. But remember, you are not the only one doing it. So, how do you stand out?
Think about how your box will reflect your brand’s unique personality and communicate your message effectively. These questions might help you with those details.
How do I want my customers to perceive my business? Am I a fun brand? Do I want my products to be the face of luxury? What is my unique selling point? Will this message convey my story?
2. Set a Budget
Custom gift boxes give you cost flexibility. You can go for a small promotional swag box with a single item or go big on your promotional treats. Either way, make sure your preference supports your desired impression of your brand and communicates the aspect of the business that you want to underline.
While deciding on the expenses, it helps if you already have an idea of your box’s overall look and appeal as this will factor into your total printing cost.
Take for instance Boar and Leather. Their small box is the perfect size for their custom leather products. To save on printing cost, they kept the boxes plain with a simple yet striking two-tone inside print along with their logo.
As for going big on your promotional merch package, The Artistic Box’s free art box for a giveaway contest is filled with goodies for the lucky winner’s next art project.
Owner Lydia Slaton opted for a bigger size that can hold all the paint materials inside securely. Notice the creative print? It perfectly captures her brand’s personality as an online art box subscription company.
3. Make Your Design Stand Out
Did you know that 7 in 10 consumers agreethat packaging design can influence purchasing decision?
The same joint study by the Paper and Packaging Board and IPSOS also reveals that ”63% of consumers find paper and cardboard packaging makes a product seem premium or high quality”.
Your custom box design and packaging material are vital to building your perfect promotional gift box. Butdon’tlet that put more pressure on your design process. Instead, use these insights to better understand what your customers expect from youand then surprise them with something better.
This checklist might help!
- Weave your story into the design
- Incorporate brand colors, fonts, logo
- Maximizepackaging design space strategically
- Let your personality shine
Oh, you know us, we love showing offour customers’ custom boxes to provide examples.
Thisgorgeous promotional sample kit is by Creoworks, artisan makers of custom spaces and products with in-house manufacturing capabilities in wood, steel, and other mixed media.
The polished look and overall luxurious appeal seamlessly capture their brand as well as the high-end quality of their works. Remember the brand story bit? Check out the box interior design that highlights Creoworks’ company values.
In terms of maximizing design space, it’s really up to you. Other brands make use of every inch to communicate value props, a short company bio, contact details, and even promote their social media channels. It makes for an effective use of space when executed strategically and cohesively.
Some companies, however, choose a minimalist design approach to create a sense of mystery, which is often characteristic of luxury brands.
For seasonal promotional gift boxes, there is of course the event and holiday theme (Halloween, Christmas, Valentines just to name some) to consider and your box’s overall look might need to incorporate some popular design elements as well as colors.
To that we say, keep your customers, keep it simple or go all out. You know your community best.
4. Choose Your Promotional Swag
Custom box design covered; it is time to move on to your promotional items. What goes inside?
The best promotional gifts stand out with captivating storytelling – from the colors that prompt brand recognition to the personalized touches that encourage repeat business. And then there’s the actual swag inside your box that will speak volumes about the quality of your products or services.
Curate your items to complement the message you want your clients to receive and the experience you want them to remember you by.
If you are sending out your boxes for a special occasion or season, choose items that they can use time and time again. Say, a promotional beach towel during summer or a custom printed jacket to send out as a holiday gift package for your important clients. The possibilities are endless.
If you prefer to keep it classic, one can never go wrong with popular promotional items such as drinkware, T-shirts, desk accessories, and tote bags.
Here’s Nourmand Legal’s promotional welcome gift bundle for their clients and employees to give you inspiration.
5. Don't Forget Your Inserts
Take your customer’s promotional gift unboxing experience up a notch by topping your marketing swag pack with a thank you note. It can be in the form of a postcard, a greeting card, stickers, or even a calendar.
Little additions deliver the final punch that knocks out your competition. The best part? You can customize them to reinforce your branding.
One more thing: presentation. Arrange your promotional items like you are telling a story. Create excitement (your eye-catching box design), provide important details (your gift items), and wrap up with your audience looking forward to the next edition (positive experience equals customer retention aka SALES!).
A Run-Through on Promotional Gift Swag
The business landscape is shifting. With social media and online review sites, consumers have more avenues to share their experiences with a product or business.
Your client today could be your brand ambassador tomorrow. Take the possibility into consideration when it comes to your promotional gift boxes and even for your branded product packaging.
When done well, the benefitsof promotional gift boxesoutweigh the expenses a dozen times over.
- Boost product and brand value
- Allow customers to connect with your brand in a tangible way
- Improve customer experience
- Elevate customer appreciation strategy
- Increasesocial media engagement by way of shoutouts and recommendations
- Spur additional interest from brand visibility through shares and tags
- Generate new and repeat sales
But how effective are branded promotional gifts?
The Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) has your answer. According to a study by the PPAI, 85% of consumers who received promotional branded gifts decide to do business with the company who sent them.
See? Told you they work. And we do, too!
Packola offers high-quality custom packaging that entrepreneurs can call their own. Whether you run your business online or from a brick-and-mortar establishment, we offer a diverse array of options for your packaging needs.
Gift Boxes FAQ
How do I design custom gift boxes?
We have an Online Design Studio that makes it super easy to add your logo, text, and graphics within minutes. You may also design your boxes using a professional desktop application like Adobe Illustrator® and send us a complete artwork.
Where can I buy custom printed gift boxes?
You can order them from us. We offer high-quality custom box printing on product boxes, mailer boxes, and shipping boxes. Our products are available in custom dimensions, corrugated and cardstock materials, and full-color printing.
Is there a minimum order for gift boxes?
No. You can simply place an order for a sample box with your own artwork and dimensions. Please set the Quantity to "1 sample" on the configuration widget and proceed to order. Most samples ship within three (3) business days.