Know how to stand out from the crowd on that busy retail shelf space? That’s what every new business start-up wants to know. Like the fountain of youth, it can be impossible to discover.

Whether it is competing with decades-old brands or trying to nab the attention of shoppers, attempting to increase brand awareness and boost sales can oftentimes be frustrating. The only solution is to produce the best product packaging for your brand’s items. Everything from experimenting with unique designs to understanding your competitors, there are so many things that you can do to ensure that you can boost your market share numbers.

Here are five product packaging tips for every new business startup:

1. Yes…Content is King

You have heard the old adage before, even if you’ve just launched your company: content is king, even in product packaging.

The content of the package should inform the shopper what exactly it does and achieves. It could be illustrations or could be words; you must focus on the content to convey a certain message.

Indeed, you may be sick and tired of hearing this phrase over and over again, but it’s crucial.

2. Be Honest with Your Customers

Unfortunately, brands become so desperate for sales that they become dishonest with their customers. This means they’ll tell some fibs or exaggerate claims on the product packaging.

Big mistake!

Sure, you may generate some sales initially, but over time shoppers will ignore your brands if you don’t back up what you say your item does.

Simply put: you should always be honest with your customers.

3. Make the Font Clear to Understand

There is no doubt that you want to stand out from the crowd. This may entail trying out various colours, fonts, illustrations and so on. However, one of thing is clear: your typography should be clear and easy to comprehend.

You don’t want consumers picking up your product and asking: what does this say?

Should this happen, you’ll know that your brand will have a long way to go in the retail world.

4. Ensure Your Packaging is Relevant

The world is constantly changing, which means that could be hard to stay relevant or keep up with the evolution of our culture. That said, you need to do this, and it should show in your product packaging.

If you want to delve into pop culture lexicon or elements, then you must ensure that they are relevant today and tomorrow.

For instance, you may have wanted to take advantage of the Pokemon Go phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is already outdated and lasted just a summer.

One of the best ways to stay relevant is to use social media campaigns, like hashtags.

5. Try to Experiment with Packaging

Lastly, you should attempt to experiment with different types of packaging. Everything utilizing different packaging to using a wide array of designs, experimentation is key. With this, you can then determine which one is drawing more eyes and which one is generating more sales.

Obviously, if A is outdrawing B, but C is falling way behind B, then you know you want to hone in on A and B.

The days of bland packaging are over. In the 1930s, you could have simply purchased a tin can of soup with the name Campbell’s on it. Today, you will find dozens of different types of cans with typography, pictures, content, social media accounts, telephone numbers and so on. Product packaging is a form of marketing, and it is meant to attract shoppers to your brand.

You may be selling soup or you may be selling t-shirts. Whatever the case, the product packaging is imperative to get noticed and to get sales.