The catalog can be a great sales and marketing tool for your organization. It has the ability to list and showcase many of your hottest products, and may have room left over for short articles or a brief company history. Before you head to the catalog printing phase, you should have a catalog marketing strategy.
Here are some catalog marketing tips that will prepare you to achieve your marketing goals.
1.) Get your catalogs into the right hands
Since catalogs are a more expensive endeavor than other forms of print advertising, it is important to give your catalogs to a market that wants to buy your products or services. Your catalog mailing list should be streamlined to weed out recipients who are unlikely to make a purchase. When you are selling to a niche market (such as bird watchers), it is even more important to match the catalog with the average niche recipient.
2.) Include the most popular products
Since each catalog is a product showcase that may be viewed by multiple people, it is important to focus on popular products or new products that your marketing team predicts will be hot sellers. The exception to this rule is when you want to sell off unpopular inventory that is gathering dust at the warehouse. In that case, you may want to heavily discount the merchandise and list it in the catalog.
3.) Use multiple calls to action
A catalog typically has enough space for plenty of calls to action. There might be order forms along with invites to visit the website and shop there. A call to action to visit the retail location can also be a good idea. Some people use catalogs to look at the products and learn about them, but they use a non-catalog method to make a purchase.
4.) Include customer testimonials
If you have the extra space available, including customer testimonials prior to catalog printing is a great way to show potential customers that your company deserves loyalty. Select testimonials that are not too boring and yet not so wild that the focus is lost.
5.) Give the best offers
Catalog recipients should have the best offers that are possible. An accepted special offer on one product may entice the buyer to add one or more non-discounted purchases. Offering free shipping for a minimum purchase amount is an excellent method to stimulate purchase behavior.
6.) Collect marketing data
It’s a good idea to study past catalog efforts of your company and make conclusions based on that data that can help for the next catalog issue. Be certain to adjust for new factors such as economic conditions and changes in customer preference.
7.) Test catalogs against each other
It can be a wise strategy to send out two versions of the same catalog if you are uncertain about a particular design choice, such as whether to include an order form and which products to use. Based on the responses from each catalog, you can tell which design is more popular.