Like pretty much every other business on the face of the planet, I will assume that you wish you had a larger social media following.
After all, the more social followers you have, the better you can turn those followers into new customers.
But, it is not always easy to develop a large social media community around your brand, especially if you are a B2B.
Given your way, you would probably have thousands of devoted fans following your social media accounts and buying copious amounts of your products, right?
There are many ways to attempt to do this digitally. However, not all tactics work for every company. Plus, some tactics work better than others.
And, there are some tactics that you may not even be using. If I had to take another guess, I bet you are not evening think about, let's call them, "analog" tactics to boost your social media following.
But, if you want to succeed in building a robust social media community around your products, it is a good idea to try different things.
And one of the best ways to drive the number of social followers up for your brand is to use packaging.
But, how can you use packaging to increase the number of your social media followers? What are the ways in which packaging can be leveraged for such an endeavor?
This article will explain how to use your product packaging to entice consumers to join your social media communities and become huge fans of your brand!
After reading this article, you will have some solid ideas on how to achieve your social media community growth goals.
Can Packaging Really Be Used To Boost Your Social Media Following?
The short answer is yes. But you're probably wondering how to accomplish this goal. Worry not! The section below will explore some of the best ways to attract new followers to your brand's social media communities with packaging!
Remember that not every tactic may make sense for your business (although they may). And some tactics will be a better fit for your needs than others.
One thing is for sure, however. With the tactics below, you will be able to start increasing the number of social media followers for your business.
And, if done correctly, you may actually be able to turn those followers from semi-interested lurkers to full-blow fans of your brand and products!
Top Ways To Boost Social Following With Packaging
There are some really awesome ways to engage and delight your consumers with packaging in a way that will cause them to hit that follow button on your company's social media channels.
There are various things you can do. From QR codes to augmented reality. From social icons to interactive packaging.
Here we will take a closer look at these and other tactics that are sure to help light a creative fire in your imagination so that you can start building the social media following of your dreams!
1. QR Codes On Packaging
QR codes may seem very "early 2000s." Still, the truth is, they have actually become more prevalent in our modern-day than they were when they first became popular circa 2010!
In fact, QR codes were not even used by most of the public until 2011. After that, they grew in usage slowly for the next few years.
But, they did not truly become mainstream to the extent that they are today until 2020! You may be surprised to learn this, but the explosion in the use of QR codes was a byproduct of the COVID19 pandemic!
With major corporations and the entire restaurant industry closing down for months on end, the use of QR codes exploded.
In 2020 alone, there were over 11 million QR codes scanned! Call me crazy, but that is a lot of scanning.
These consumers scanned QR codes on packages, posters, menus, and other forms of advertising. The codes were scanned to provide extensive product information, coupons, and interactive experiences.
Since then, many brands have added QR codes to their products. They have done this to entice consumers with digital, video, and audio content. This content includes various interactive elements that provides consumers with special experiences that they can only access by scanning the code.
It is for these reasons that QR codes have become so popular. So, it goes without saying QR codes are a fantastic way to create digitally interactive experiences to delight your consumers.
And when done correctly, these experiences have proven to significantly boost social media followings for brands who have adopted and implemented the use of these technologies.
You can potentially do the same with a bit of creativity and imagination!
Need help designing your packaging?
2. Social Media Icons On Packaging
One incredibly simple way to drive consumers to become followers of your social media networks is to print the logos of the social media sites that your business has accounts with directly onto your packaging.
Even if you do not provide URLs, many consumers will recognize the logos of major social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
So, by simply printing these tiny logos on your packaging, you can notify consumers that they can find you at these digital locations respectively to follow your brand.
It should be noted that there are some rules and regulations to printing these network logos on your packaging.
But, all you need to do is follow each social network's guidelines for using their logos on your packaging, and you will be good to go!
This tactic is used by hundreds of thousands of major brands worldwide. It has a proven track record of success when implemented correctly.
But don't take our word for it! Next time you are at the supermarket, pick up various random products and inspect the packaging.
You will notice it is a lot harder to find a product that is not branded with the icons of the social media sites that the brand uses to engage with its consumers.
And, simply put, these brands use this tactic because it works!
3. Augmented Reality Packaging
One of the hottest tactics for driving more consumers to join your brand's social media pages is to leverage augmented reality applications in tandem with your physical packaging.
Suppose you are a regular reader of our blog. In that case, you are no stranger to the amazing case studies of how augmented reality is used by major brands such as 19 Crimes Wine and Pizza Hut.
These campaigns engage their consumers in the physical world and on their social channels as well. But, it's not only giant companies who can use augmented reality to boost their social media following these days.
There have been some significant advancements in augmented reality technologies and the associated applications used to implement them. As such, smaller businesses can also leverage these mind-blowing tactics!
By using augmented reality to promote interactive experiences with your consumers, you too can potentially drive significant revenue growth through the magic of augmented reality packaging!
4. Video Content "On" Packaging
There are currently only a few examples of video screens being embedded directly onto a product's packaging (see an example in the video presented below).
But, there are other ways to use video in tandem with your packaging materials to produce fun and interactive experiences with your customers that will drive social engagement.
For example, when I interviewed Connor Delaney, Member Success Manager at IMPACT, about how packaging has affected his life as a consumer on the Industrial Packaging Podcast, he told me a fantastic story.
You see, he was shopping for a new board game for him and his friend's game nights at his apartment. While randomly perusing a department store one day, he saw the game "Parks", which caught his eye.
Flipping it over, he noticed a QR code on the back of the box. Upon scanning the code, he was shown a video of a woman unboxing the game.
The prominent feature of the unboxing for this particular product was how well the game and game pieces fit into the custom-made packaging that holds the game.
Connor was taken aback by how well the game's box was designed to be both the product's packaging and a carrying case used to repack the game for easy transportation.
Later that day, Connor walked out of the store with the game in his hands, and he did not even plan on buying a game the day he saw it!
What's really cool about this case study is that the QR code (which leads to the video) printed on the game's packaging has led to a major boost in the social media following for the company that created the game!
Need Help Designing Your Packaging?
After reading this article, I hope you have some excellent ideas brewing inside your mind on how to implement these ideas into your packaging design.
But, this is only one element of good packaging design!
Would you like some assistance in producing a better design for the packaging of your company's products?
If you answered yes, you would want to consider clicking the link below. Here you will find a free packaging optimization cheat sheet that will help you design better packaging for your products!
