Quality Matters: How to Identify High Quality Labels and Why It Matters

It is no mystery to consumers — you get what you pay for. Sure, there is a gray area where prices range and quality can remain high, but for the most part, shoppers know that something that looks cheap, while it may save them money, will likely offer cheap quality. 

Even bargain shoppers head out looking for the best quality at the best prices, which is the whole point of bargain shopping. Not to get the cheapest products but to get the best deals. 

To that end, the label on your product tells your potential client right away whether they are getting a deal or a dud.

What High-quality Labels Say About Your Product and How to Apply Labels

When considering which product labels to use, you will take several factors into consideration. 

Design and Logo

First, of course, is your design or logo. You want the lettering and elements printed on your label to speak directly to your niche target audience and tell your story in a snapshot. 

Your label represents your brand story, and it is often competing with many similar products on a shelf. It is an advertisement. Your label must stand out in a good way, catch the eye, and keep the attention of your ideal customer. 

The quality of your design speaks volumes about the quality of your company. 

Materials 

Next, you will need to decide on the quality of the physical label you print your design on. Product labels are made up of several parts: a liner, a face stock, a protective coating of varnish or laminate, and any special finishes like an emboss or hot stamp. 

The quality of each of these materials matters. Poorly made liner or adhesive can disintegrate or peel away from the label before the label can even be affixed, then slide off your product, wrinkled, or askew. Inferior face stock can result in blurry or blotched imaging, so your design or logo will not present a clean image for your customers to identify with. And of course, anything less than top-quality varnish or laminate can be counterproductive, not only not protecting the image but making it look messy and unprofessional. 

How Your Product Labels are Applied

Another factor you must consider, in addition to your design and materials, is the company that prints your labels for you. 

Cut-rate printing and packaging companies often have lackluster printer operators on the job who do not or cannot pay close attention to the final product, printing out labels that do not fit properly onto your products, or designs that do not line up with the label, all of which makes your label of lower quality, and tells your customer on sight that your product is not up to their standards. 

Furthermore, low-quality label materials can cause hundreds if not thousands of dollars in damage to top-quality printers, so if you are printing out your own labels on your own equipment, be mindful that poor-quality label materials often have sandpaper — like surfaces or ink buildup issues that can damage the inner workings of printers that cause malfunctions and shutdowns easily avoided by simply investing in higher quality labels. 

In the end, high-quality labeling tells your customer two things: you care about your product, and you care about your customer. You care enough to invest not just in your product but also in the packaging of your product. 

Download Our Free Guide 

Now that you know what makes a great quality label, you are probably looking for ways to increase the quality on your production line. 

Pack Leader USA offers a free guide to help you get started. This guide outlines all the basics about label applicator machines and choosing the right one for your product labels. We take great pride in offering the full line of equipment necessary to reach out and engage your ideal customer on sight. Download it for free here.