Chances are you've heard all about how inbound marketing strategies can put the Internet to work for you and get you more leads and sales. You've probably heard about how 34% of all business leads generated in 2013 resulted from the use of inbound marketing tools; how marketers dedicated 34% of their budgets to inbound marketing strategies, but only 11% to outbound tactics; and how 48% of marketers planned to spend more on inbound marketing strategies in 2013.

But no one has probably ever explained to you how an inbound marketing strategy works. Let's change that.

Creating a product to can sell in a retail environment is an exciting achievement. But how can you package your product to have the best advantage to sell? How can the retail packaging for all your products boost sales for your entire business? Here are three steps you should follow when working with a packaging designer for the first time:

Consumers are exposed to more advertising through more mediums than ever before. According to a study from Consumer Reports, the average American is exposed to approximately 250 advertising messages each day, whether through the television, the internet, or the radio.

What this means for businesses, like yours, is that standing out in 2014 is harder than ever. Marketing fatigue makes consumers less likely to pay attention to any one brand in the grand river of content, yours included. How can you hope to set yourself above the crowd? By learning how to brand a business properly.

Over 60% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from a brand offering custom products, and professional packaging is an important part of letting your customers know they’re buying a custom product. But for many small or medium-sized businesses, it’s difficult to know where to start when it comes to packaging design. Below are three things you should look for in a packaging design company

1. A Company That Helps You Develop Your Entire Brand:
 

When you’re selling a product, you’re also selling your brand as a whole. Recent research shows that a strong corporate brand boosts stock value by 5 to 7%, and the principle holds true even for companies who are just starting off. If you don’t yet have a logo, you’ll want to work with a company experienced in using design elements to maximize the response of potential customers. 
  If you’ve already got an established brand, a packaging design company can help you keep your branding consistent even while making each product eye-catching and unique. Quality custom packaging is what allows customers to pick your product out of the crowd on a shelf and remember to buy that same product again in the future.
    
2. A Company That Understands Web and Retail Tie-Ins:

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is pushing for the widespread adoption of new retail packaging design that effectively alerts consumers when their food is going bad and when it's completely spoiled. Using gel tags that are inlaid with nanorods crafted from gold and silver, the packaging detects changing composition of gases and other chemicals within packages. As the composition changes from fresh, edible food toward the spoiled end of the spectrum, the tags change color from red to green to violet — with shades in between — denoting the stages of decay.

Branding your company doesn't have to be a stressful endeavor. If you’re a recent startup OR you've recently moved from one geographical area or market to another and are having trouble increasing your name recognition, developing an inbound marketing strategy that includes branding your company is a great way to increase traffic to your website and awareness of your business.

There's been a huge shift towards using inbound marketing strategies ever since the Internet became a vital mainstay in people's daily lives. More and more brands are using inbound marketing tools -- like SEO, blogging, and social media -- to attract, convert, close, and satisfy leads and clients.