Catalogs are not anything new. We have been utilizing them to shop for the most wanted products since the 1800s. That is over two hundred years now! Today, retailers are not providing traditional in-store experiences anymore. Instead, they are moving their focus to the eCommerce, paying attention to customer trends, and reworking the models of their business for meeting the requirements of individuals who prefer purchasing things online.
Product Catalogs For The Retail Marketing:
Catalogs are experiencing a new start of innovation in the digital retail space. Catalog advertising is a sales method utilized by businesses for grouping several items in an online store or a printed piece, hoping to vend at least one thing to the receiver. Customers purchase directly from the catalog sender by return envelope, phone, or online utilizing details in the Product Catalogue Template. For e-retailers, product catalogs work. Here’re a few undeniable reasons why:
- The inventory may and possibly will change. The online product catalogs can be updated right away for reflecting such changes.
- Comprising a search option can streamline the whole shopping experience. Consumers can locate products rapidly and access the catalog from anywhere.
- Things are bought right away, and virtual shopping carts make the procedure easy. You will be selling items even when the shop is closed.
- With analytics, you will acquaint which items sell and which ones do not. Leverage this information for refining the advertising strategy and improve the profitability of the catalog.
- Online distribution is extremely simple. Share the e-catalog on popular social media websites such as Facebook, for instance, where prospective consumers can follow the brand.
- Digital catalogs are actually viewable on all the major platforms and mobile devices.
- They are aesthetically pleasing and interactive, denoting audiences can learn every single detail about an item before they purchase it (from slideshows, and videos, etc.).
Catalog Design & Marketing Tips:
Catalog Brand Identity:
Foundational to the catalog, advertising success is the brand’s strength. Established companies enjoy brand consciousness, while new brands have to depend on effectual brand naming and convincing graphic identity. Strong companies typically utilize the trademarks or brand names for the catalog name. Unidentified brands have to utilize a convincing catalog name but may also contemplate a literal descriptor for avoiding confusion. Other brand identity aspects comprise logos, and the topic of the next practice, design.
Catalog Design:
Hand-in-hand with brand recognition is a good catalog design. The catalog’s first impression and the choice to interact and open are driven by a catalog cover. The cover has to be aesthetically tempting, but also suggest what the contents comprise. Relying on the category, a hook or offer can pique interest or make sense of urgency. The catalog interiors ought to have easy to use organization. The larger catalogs ought to have a contents table, tabs, or folios. And keep in mind, the white space is excellent! A critical catalog design aspect is the topic of one of the next practices, photography.
Catalog Copy:
Catalog copy has to be concise, clear, simple to read, and relying on the category, entertaining, or educational. The catalog user has to find all the data needed for making a purchase decision, or risk losing a sale. The ordering data and pricing ought to be shown in a simple to read tables.
Catalog Photography:
The excellent catalogs are extremely visual, permitting the user to breeze through with the least effort. Photography can really support your visual experience. Environmental photography is helpful or product imagery in real-life settings, preferably with individuals interacting with the products! The product photographs are still a requirement, but when possible, make the product equal or secondary to environmental photography.
Make Ordering Simple:
Communicate numerous options for ordering comprising toll-free eight hundred telephones (preferably with the unforgettable number!), mail-in, or site form. Not astonishingly, the mail-in form utilize is declining in use but ought to still be comprised in the catalog. A lot of purchasers choose to fill it out while glancing through your catalog so they can record things. The eight hundred number is helpful for purchasers with questions. List and highlight the different ordering options on each spread or page.
Catalog Promotions:
Make sense of urgency with different kinds of promotions! Provide free shipping for fifteen days from today! Buy one hundred dollars, get a free premium product. Purchase before midnight, acquire a twenty-five dollars coupon off the next buy. Encourage the repeat purchases with the loyalty program, cross-sell and upsell the related items.
Contemplate Niche Catalogs:
The general product catalog can really go the way of different yellow pages. Other than the niche-targeted and mega-brands, catalogs can assist you in reaching and converting more consumers. Segment the consumers by buyer behavior and type for identifying verticals and niches. Research test market and underserved niches. Identify the different list options for the niches.
Cross-Channel Marketing:
In the year 2013, the print product catalog has to coexist with the corresponding site or electronic version. Why? Because consumers like both! The printed ones may be the communication medium, but the online site is the ideal ordering system. Also, different search engines index PDF files, comprising electronic catalogs versions, so the PDF feels can rank in the search results. Similarly, catalog promotion has to be multi- or cross-channel.
The Internet can cast a broad net of potential consumers through search engines. The paid search comprising pay-per-click can bring site traffic. Social media can rally rank high in the results and get traffic to the ecommerce website or online catalog. Lastly, email advertising is useful in driving ecommerce sales and site traffic.
Measurement:
One key advantage of catalog advertising is the capability of measuring the results. Mail, telephone, and online orders can simply be tracked to the catalog mailing utilizing easy codes. The sales conversions can be reported and measured by the mail date, catalog type, related and lists, the track promotions when utilized, and report trends. Advertising automation program can really support measurement & reporting.
