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Printing Industry Exchange (printindustry.com) is pleased to have Steven Waxman writing and managing the Printing Industry Blog. As a printing consultant, Steven teaches corporations how to save money buying printing, brokers printing services, and teaches prepress techniques. Steven has been in the printing industry for thirty-three years working as a writer, editor, print buyer, photographer, graphic designer, art director, and production manager.

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Catalog Printing: Online Marketing May Not Be Enough

Depending on what you read, direct mail is either a viable marketing tool when paired with online promotions or it is dying.

I prefer to believe the former, that direct mail marketing has an important place in informing and persuading customers. I just discovered a white paper written by Brown Printing Company that explains why. I think it is well written and its arguments are solid, so I want to share this monograph with you. It is called “The Top 4 Signs You Should Add a Catalog to Your Marketing Mix.”

The white paper starts with the following premise: “Every customer exists in the offline world, and reaching out to them with more tangible, physical marketing materials can solidify an existing relationship and convince prospects to take a closer look at your products.”

As presented in this white paper, here are a few goals attainable when you pair a print catalog with your other marketing materials, even if your business is entirely online.

Increase Traffic to Your Website

Print catalogs drive readers to vendors’ websites both for more information and also to buy products and services. US Postal Service surveys have confirmed this. Print catalog mailers see increased activity online after a promotional mailing.

A savvy print catalog mailer can showcase merchandise in lifestyle photographs and then direct readers to specific URLs for more information on selected products. Or they can use QR codes to direct interested print catalog readers to selected web pages. They can also use the opportunity to capture demographic information from the readers once they are online. So the goal is not to use print catalogs or online marketing alone but rather to use them in concert to improve the reach and effectiveness of both.

Lift Conversion Rates

“The Top 4 Signs You Should Add a Catalog to Your Marketing Mix” notes that shoppers who go online to your website after having received a print catalog are more likely to buy (or become a repeat buyer) than those who come to your website via search engines, email, or display ads. They are more knowledgeable and interested when they arrive.

The article notes that “of the 10 e-commerce websites with the highest conversion rates, nine of them also mail catalogs.” Success speaks volumes.

Print catalogs bring higher quality visitors to e-commerce websites (i.e., those prospects more likely to buy, or “convert”). The tactile nature of catalogs combined with their visual appeal makes them more persuasive than online advertising. They also command more undivided attention. Print catalog readers are more likely to focus on the catalogs in an undisturbed environment, in contrast to computer users who multitask and therefore divide their time between reading sales promotions and engaging in other online activities.

Moreover, since catalogs hold a powerful appeal for readers, your company can tell a story about your merchandise that grabs a reader’s interest, making price less of a determining factor in buying than the compelling nature of your brand. Customers spend more and then come back to buy your products or services again and again, thus increasing their lifetime value to your business.

Attract New Customers

“The Top 4 Signs You Should Add a Catalog to Your Marketing Mix” also includes the following facts about print catalog “open rates” vs. email “open rates”:

“The ‘open rate’ of direct mail, including catalogs, is 79 %.” (DMA 2011 Annual Fact Book)

“The clickthrough rate for online display ads is below 1%. The average marketing email has an open rate around 23% and a clickthrough rate around 5.4%.” (based on Epsilon/ECC’s Email Trends and Benchmarks Study)

If prospects to whom you have emailed your marketing materials don’t see them either because their spam filters have deleted them or because these prospects are inundated with online mail, then your offer goes unnoticed. In contrast, print catalog readers come to your website ready to research products and buy them.

The Wisdon of Multi-Channel Marketing

People buy more when targeted through more than one medium. Pairing online marketing with a print catalog can increase the average spend of your new clients.

Here are two more compelling quotes from “The Top 4 Signs You Should Add a Catalog to Your Marketing Mix” proving the efficacy of catalogs:

“Opinion Research Groups…revealed that 43% of the retailer’s shoppers used multiple channels, and they accounted for 66% of its sales.”

“The McKinsey study ‘Steering Customers to the Right Channels’ found that multichannel customers spend 20% to 30% more than single-channel ones.”

The more channels through which customers can interact with your brand and buy your merchandise and services, the more money they will spend.

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