By
Sarah Harris
If you haven’t seen a YouTube video where someone takes a product out of a box, you might wonder why that sounds compelling. But these “unboxing” videos have racked up millions of views.
They’re so popular that brands send products to video producers and influencers for the express purpose of having them unboxed on camera. What is unboxing doing for the viewer that has made it so popular?
Why Are Unboxing Experiences So Important?
Let’s turn the attention to YouTube and let them explain it! In YouTube’s words, it appears that “the amount of time people have spent watching unboxing videos just on their phones is the equivalent of watching the holiday classic Love Actually more than 20 million times.”
A total of 60 million hours have been spent watching a video of another person removing something from a box. So, for you, the person building a brand, unboxing videos are important because they can get your product in front of people.
The viewer can virtually experience removing your product from its packaging and mentally try it out before they purchase it.
The Psychology Behind Unboxing
As humans, we tend to like surprises. We like mysteries. We like seeing people, and we like getting excited. Viewers think of influencers and video producers as digital friends or trusted sources for honest opinions. They look up to us. Their excitement is our excitement.
From the Consumer’s Perspective
Let’s say an individual is interested in buying a product. They check out their favorite YouTuber to watch an unboxing video. That video will be telling for the potential consumer.
Is the product packaged well? Does it have desirable features? Does it look as good as it did in the ads?
So many questions get answered in these videos, and anyone could be the deciding factor when purchasing.
From the Retailer’s Perspective
Having a popular social media influencer make a video unboxing a new product is free advertising, depending on the influencer, of course.
That influencer has something that a retailer doesn’t have, which is trust. The influencer’s fans trust them, and that’s something the retailer can take advantage of.
Advantages to Creating an Unboxing Experience
Because unboxing has been turned into an event, the experience has taken on a life of its own. Now, the act of unboxing has become an art form.
The more elaborate or interesting the unboxing process can be, the more likely it will turn into free advertising, as customers post their own videos and pictures on social media.
For a small investment in time and resources, the return is word-of-mouth awareness that wouldn’t happen otherwise.
Build Your Brand Identity and Awareness
When you craft an unboxing experience for your customers, you’re making a present where part of the gift is revealing the gift.
Your logo, your colors, and material choices, the pace at which the box gets opened—all these elements must come together to give viewers those little endorphin rushes at each stage.
Unboxing videos like Unbox Therapy’s Ultrasone Edition 15 headphones or Mrwhosetheboss’s $200,000 Smartphone Unboxing show the pinnacle of what an unboxing experience can be.
Drive Customer Loyalty
Your brand should become part of the consumer’s lifestyle. If you include only your product in the box, you’re missing out on an opportunity!
Stickers, pens/pencils, postcards, guitar picks, magnets, and other swag that will get your brand in front of more eyes increasing your chances for another sale.
Even the box could be reusable. Whether you market yourself as sustainable or the box is just so nice that no one will want to throw it away, it’s another place for your logo and a way to support your brand image.
Increase Your Chances to Go Viral
Anyone who promises that you can do this one thing and you’ll go viral is lying to you. However, making your products’ unboxing process an experience and getting your wares to content creators dramatically increases your chances.
Craft your unboxing experience to make it more interesting than what your competitors are offering, and get yours featured in popular creators’ videos.
It Increases the Perceived Value of Your Product
If you’ve ever worked at a radio station, you may have seen artists sending in press kits for their latest singles or albums. These kits can contain things like hats, autographs, gourmet candies, and more.
Is the artist’s music more likely to get played based on how impressive their media package is? You bet. It doesn’t matter that the total cost might have been 10 or 15 bucks.
The same goes for you. It doesn’t cost you much more to have cool graphics printed on your boxes or throw in some stickers. The perception is that you put in the effort and care about the consumer experience, which makes the package seem more valuable than it is.
Boosts Your Content Marketing
Every company needs content. Blogs position businesses as experts doling out advice, social media feeds demonstrate products, and videos show the products in action.
Because society is so visually focused, consumers expect to be able to dig into your products in a virtual way before they purchase for themselves. What is unboxing but an extra opportunity for content marketing?
If you’re making physical products, having unboxing videos on your social media feed and website just makes sense. If it features a celebrity content creator, that’s even better.
How to Create an Unboxing Experience
Now that you know how important the unboxing experience is for customers, how about making one yourself?
Step 1: Find Inspiration
Take a look at what other businesses in your field are doing with their unboxing experiences. Then look at what businesses outside of your field are doing with their unboxing experiences.
You don’t want to be boxed in to one way of thinking. See what we did there? Let’s say you’re a craft brewery and you’re making gift boxes.
You could tie the theme to something else entirely. For example, if you brewed the “Rock N’ Roll Triple IPA,” you could pack the beer in a box shaped like a guitar case and send it with a bottle opener shaped like a guitar.
Or, if you have a seasonal beer called the “Raceway Imperial Stout,” the box could be a little racecar and the coozie could have graphics that make it look like four tires stacked on top of each other.
Step 2: Work on Your Design
You’ll need to make sure that your logo and colors work with your box. Rely on professional designers if you don’t have any in-house or you’re not comfortable doing design work.
Step 3: Contact Print Bind Ship
We know how to create a custom unboxing experience. Talk to us about your product and we’ll guide you through all the steps you need to take your concept and turn it into an unbelievable unboxing.
Step 4: Send Us Your Products
Once we have the weight and dimensions of your product, we can take it to our designers so they know exactly what it will be like for customers.
Step 5: Design Phase
We’ll combine your logos, colors, and design ideas into mockups for you to review.
Step 6: Approval
If you like our first mockup, great! Otherwise, we’ll keep working on it until you have something you love.
Step 7: Kitting and Assembly
Send us your products and we’ll create the packages. It’s that easy! We’ll get to kitting your products into their custom boxes right away.
Step 8: Integrating Your eCommerce Store
Once your products are in their packages ready to be unboxed, it’s time to get them to your store for customers to purchase.
Print Bind Ship has several options for integration:
- Third-Party: $350 to $500
- Instant Integration: $99
- DIY Integration: You set a budget via our open API
- Manual Entry: Free when you enter orders manually
Then, all you have to do is sit back and wait for the orders to roll in.
Step 9: Shipping & Fulfillment
Actually, this step is for us, not for you! You focus on your branding and driving sales, we’ll do the grunt work of getting products to customers.
Your Customers Will Do the Unboxing, But Trust Print Bind Ship for Boxing
Unboxing your products can feel like a mini-Christmas morning for your customers. Print Bind Ship is ready to partner with you to create that experience!
For consistent and professional results, trust Print Bind Ship to bring your ideas to life. You might just see your product being unboxed in a viral video!