Cannabis Packaging Tips to Increase Your Business Success

Now that cannabis products are fueling big businesses, plastic baggies just don’t cut it anymore. Businesses have to design effective cannabis packaging, and the process is more complicated than it is for less controversial products. 

The packaging of cannabis products has several different jobs. The design and logo must grab a customer’s eye, and the package should provide all of the information required by state and federal laws while protecting the product so it stays in ideal condition for optimal use as it travels to the customer. For instance, you want to keep flower dry, but not too dry. You’ll want to make sure liquids and oils are sealed and protected against breaking.

Read on for the two most important factors in creating packing for a cannabis business.

Cannabis Packaging Branding

Just like marketing any other product, you want to consider the overall branding of cannabis packaging. The package is more than just the box or bottle that carries the product. Consider the feeling the packaging gives the customer and create a logo and color palette that sets that tone. Branding gives your products a sense of consistency that helps to build trust with customers.

To get some ideas for your brand, talk to your customers, the people who you want to serve, and ask them what attracted them to your brand in the first place. For many customers who purchase cannabis products legally, pot leaves and tie-dye are a turnoff. You want to be creative but you don’t want to detract from the product itself. 

Your package design also needs to follow certain rules in order to be considered compliant in the always-changing marijuana industry.

Regulations

The cannabis industry adds extra challenges for cannabis businesses because rules and regulations often change, even regarding packaging. Many states regulate every detail down to how large the font on the box needs to be. Nearly all states require warning labels and have a full ban on anything that might be seen as appealing to children. 

Also, it’s important to remember that different types of cannabis products have different requirements. Edibles, for instance, often require nutritional information, an expiration date, and specific wording regarding how cannabis was used in making the product.

If you plan to sell in multiple states, you’ll need to study the laws in each state as regulations can vary widely across state lines. You may require different packaging for different states. Because there are a ton of different factors that could be required for packaging, it’s important to keep flawless records of your business systems. You need to know when and where each product was grown, processed, and packaged. In some instances, you also need to track where it’s sold.

In many states, changes in regulations are often followed by inventory being thrown away, not because there is anything wrong with the product, but because new regulations have rendered the packaging non-compliant. However, it’s not just the state laws you need to consider. Business owners must also consider all federal laws regarding cannabis products in their packaging.

Tips For Creating Standout Cannabis Packaging

Use the following tips to create the best packaging for your cannabis product.

Take a look at your competition. 

Look at other businesses whose packaging impresses you and consider the following:

• How do they present their products? 
• What feelings are they appealing to their consumers? 
• How does the packaging itself produce a feeling in the customer before they even use the product itself?

Take it a step further by studying the ones you admire. 

• What do they have in common? 
• Are there qualities you can incorporate into your product?

When you take the time to do competitive research, you may find ideas you can implement in your own packaging.

Research the most current laws in your state. 

Cannabis business owners have an added challenge in that laws are often changing about how cannabis can be marketed to the public. For this reason, create only the amount of packaging you need for a limited time. You can always make more, and you don’t want to waste a bunch of packaging you can’t use.

Think about pets and kids. 

Accidents happen. Show customers that you care about them as well as their families by protecting them from being harmed by your product. Every step of the way, think about how you can safeguard kids and animals from accessing the product.

Consider the needs of your product. 

Set aside some time to think about the needs of each product when you are creating packaging. 

• What is most important in terms of keeping this product in optimal condition? 
• Must the product stay completely airtight? 
• Are you worried about leaking? 
• How will people use and re-use your product? 
• Does the packaging need to be re-sealable? 
• How can you ensure that no one will tamper with the product? 

The best way to deal with these challenges is to experiment and develop solid systems for packaging your products.

Instructions. 

Assume that your customers have never used cannabis before and that your packaging needs to explain how to use your product to a beginner. In all likelihood, this will be the case for at least some of your customers. How can your customers use your product most efficiently so that they will want to purchase it again? Don’t leave them guessing.

Let your customers know what to expect. 

The number one reason people don’t try new things is fear. Remove some of the fear by letting customers know what they should expect. 

• What will using the product be like? 
• How will a customer feel after using the product? 
• What symptoms does it treat?

When you provide that information, your customer will feel confident using the product and will likely come back to you for more.

Give your customers options. 

Offer your products in different sizes. With people using cannabis products for the first time, there is a big need for sample size products, so new users can experiment until they find a product that fits their needs. Once they find one they love, appeal to their sense of value with a larger size.

Don’t fall in love with your packages. 

One thing cannabis product creators need to be prepared for is constant change. It’s best to have access to the designer who created your product, and ideal to have them on your team because changes will have to be made when regulations inevitably shift.

Cannabis Packaging Tips from the Experts

Whether you are new to the cannabis industry or are looking to increase the effectiveness of your cannabis packaging, you’ll want to attend a CannaCon Expo near you. You’ll have the opportunity to talk with industry experts, discuss cannabis packaging tips and product needs with fellow cannabis business owners and learn about federal and state regulations. Register today for CannaCon South.