You may be trying to decide how to get your product catalog to your most engaged, likely-to-convert audience. It’s a tough decision to make, and that goes for whether the catalog is printed already or waiting for design and production. As a result, you’re likely facing a whole lot of stress that just doesn’t serve you or your customers.
So how can you nail down the perfect strategy to get your catalog into the most interested buyers’ hands without spending valuable marketing dollars or hours on uninterested parties?
That’s what we’re here to discuss. At Integra, we’ve printed thousands of booklets, pamphlets, manuals and catalogs for customers in just about every industry, and we’ve watched (and sometimes helped) them tweak their methods of catalog disbursement based on lots of different factors. We’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, and we’d like to pass that information along to print buyers far and wide.
Part of your success will rely on acquiring a high-quality printed catalog that follows best visual practices and appeals to your buyer. But in true chicken-or-egg fashion, it helps to know how you plan to use your catalog before it hits the press.
You’ve gotta start somewhere, right? By the time you’re done reading here, you’ll know five tried-and-true methods for getting copies of your catalog exactly where they need to be:
- Digital only (no prints required)
- In-store (free or with purchase)
- Direct mail (to your choice of addresses)
- Events only (as event literature)
- Requestable online (mailed once ordered)
You can pick and choose strategies or put all your eggs into one prize basket — the choice is yours, but the stress should go out the door either way!
Printed Catalog Marketing Strategy #1: Digital Only
Putting your catalog exclusively on your website will, of course, mean no printing — at least for the most part. While that falls outside the parameters of this piece, we thought it would be good to briefly cover this option since many businesses rely on digital-only catalogs. For some, it works well, and it certainly cuts down on required expenditures. That said, it can also lower engagement and negatively impact your return on investment.
Even with your catalog living exclusively online, we recommend printing at least a few copies to keep on hand in case a big prospect requests one.
Alternatively, you can tie your printing costs directly to your customer engagement by establishing a catalog order form online for customers who prefer a printed copy.
Printed Catalog Marketing Strategy #2: Requestable Online
If you’d like to maintain a mostly online presence but don’t want to risk driving prospects away, consider adding a short form to your site where people can order a physical copy of your product catalog. As long as you give them a realistic shipping estimation, you can print on demand as needed for these customers.
A nice bonus here is that you’ll gain leads from the strategy. If someone orders a copy of your catalog to be mailed to their business or residence, you can be fairly certain that they have some level of legitimate interest in your offer.
Some of the fields you can include in your catalog order form include:
- First name
- Last name
- Mailing address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Permission to contact via email or phone
We recommend choosing one or the other for email address and phone number, or making one or both into optional fields. People tend to give their email addresses more readily than a phone number, and since they’re already online ordering your catalog, they’re clearly digital users.
Printed Catalog Marketing Strategy #3: Your Store or Other Physical Location
Do you get a significant amount of activity at your physical location? You could print a limited number of catalogs and keep them stocked for interested parties. That way, anyone who stops by and wants to learn about your business, out of stock items or best-sellers can easily grab a copy on the way in or out. Even customers who are in a rush or stopping by for one item can snatch a catalog to learn more about your products and potentially purchase more later.
This option is an especially low-cost one, because you’ll be able to print only enough to match demand. No need for backstock in significant numbers. Plus, you can request extras if you do want to create a hybrid with multiple options on this list and mail some out or present them at events.
If you decide you’d like to opt for physical-only stocked catalogs, you also won’t need to worry so much about timeline. Just don’t let stock run low or totally empty before contacting your printer, and you’ll always have some on hand. Click below to use Integra’s timeline calculator and find out how far in advance you should place your order if you work with us for your catalog printing.
You can even opt into a professional digital storefront for your business if you’ve expanded across numerous branches located in different areas. That way, whoever runs each shop can keep track of their own stock and order according to their needs!
Printed Catalog Marketing Strategy #4: Direct Mail
Within the category of direct mail comes an untold amount of flexibility. You can choose to:
- Send to a particular region with addressed saturation mailing (with addresses)
- Target a specific mail route with Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)
- Reach your current customers via your house list (with names and addresses)
- Narrow your focus demographically (with names and addresses)
- Mail in waves instead of all at once
- Follow up with those you initially send to by scheduling more mailings
The list goes on, and factors like your goals and overall budget for the project will help determine your best path forward with direct mailing your catalog. Your printer and/or mail service should be able to walk you through the prices and assist you in selecting the best fit.
One thing to keep in mind is that you can keep catalog mailing costs lower by planning strategically. If the print or postage costs seem too high, you can opt for a number of different strategies that still allow you to reach your direct mail audience and deliver your business catalog.
Mixing Digital and Direct Mail Marketing
Finally, one major advantage of direct mail is that you can earn additional impressions and spread your message digitally by opting into a “direct mail with intelligence” type of platform. Many printers and mail houses offer a version of this program.
At Integra, we offer an intelligent direct mail program called SynergyMail, which will allow you to choose from a number of digital integrations that enable your team to track impressions, reach a broader audience online, take advantage of social media platforms and measure ROI over time.
Printed Catalog Marketing Strategy #5: Events Only
Maybe you don’t get much foot traffic at your business location and don’t want to spend extra money on direct mail. You do, however, want to make the right impression at the trade shows, conferences, job fairs and expos you attend. Offering a full product catalog at these events could help your business stand out from the rest, boosting brand recall and ushering in untold new prospects after the event’s end.
You undoubtedly want to put your best foot forward at the events you attend, from popular promotional giveaways to a carefully planned layout that catches the eye of passersby. Planning an event can be a lot, but you can’t forget about the literature top prospects will be looking for.
Think about yourself at an event like the one you’re attending. Let’s say you see a table you want to approach, but there’s a crowd around it, or the people in charge are already deep in conversation with other visitors. You wouldn’t want to wait around to figure out what they’re all about, so you’d look for their business literature. A business card, some pamphlets — something you could take home or back to the office with you while you ponder their offers.
A full product catalog fits right in and gives high-quality company literature to anyone who wants it, plus plenty of opportunity for extra impressions on that individual’s friends, family and co-workers. Make sure you order enough copies for the event’s estimated attendance number!
What’s the Right Catalog Printing and Distribution Method for Your Business?
Deciding how to market your products is one of the most critical choices you can make in the success of your business. People won’t purchase what they don’t know about, and they generally won’t go out of their way to learn about new items, which makes getting a catalog or similar product portfolio in front of them a top-priority mission.
But that doesn’t mean you have to stress. In fact, if you love your company and the products or services you bring to the market, the idea of a catalog should excite you! The design and distribution selections are in your hands, and as you can probably tell, those choices are abundant.
Once you start thinking about ways to mix and match these strategies for your own unique, hybrid distribution method, the sky really is the limit.
Have you already chosen the method that sounds best to you? If so, you might be wondering how to move into next steps. In terms of design, we recommend checking out the paper types that might best suit your project.
If you’d rather get started with a team of experts who can answer your questions, help you make design decisions and assist in your catalog distribution, you can do so below and a print management specialist from Integra will be in touch!
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