The Changing Role of Catalogs in the B-to-B Sales Cycle

In an increasingly digital marketing environment, are print catalogs still an essential selling tool for business-to-business marketers? Chief Marketer recently talked with direct marketing consultancy J. Schmid & Assoc.'s Philippe Graner, marketing director, and Chad Giddings, executive vice president, marketing and planning, about the changing role of catalogs in the B-to-B sales process.

Chief Marketer: Are print catalogs still an essential marketing tool for many business-to-business marketers?

Chad Giddings: We work with a lot of B-to-B folks that either started out with a catalog, or still see catalogs as a part of their overall marketing mix. The trend we're now seeing is that people are looking at the impact of the catalog in a multichannel world. The traditional methods for looking at the impact of a print catalog may no longer work. Some are trying electronic catalogs, and looking at competitors who are getting rid of their catalogs altogether—but a lot of marketers aren't sure if that is right for them.

Philippe Graner: Tactically, within the catalogs themselves marketers are moving away from strictly creating a selling piece to creating something that will help move people along within the sales cycle. You see a lot more tips in catalogs—they're evolving from being a straight selling tool to being more of a guide that has things for sale.

CM: Does this mean B-to-B marketers are looking at creating more evergreen catalogs?

Giddings: It's all about engaging people throughout the selling cycle and understanding that the catalog plays a role in the transaction not just once, but many times.

Graner: [Creating an evergreen catalog] is certainly preferential. And of course, you can't really still mail catalogs to four or five people in a business and still make your ROI. You need to target the right people and make their jobs easier, and then supplement the mailing with an email campaign.

CM: Is the main purpose of most B-to-B catalogs today to drive website traffic?

Graner: Yes and no. A lot of companies are using them that way, but they're looking at them from a short-term view. It's easier to send a customer to the website, but doesn't always create the relationship, and that's a mistake that a lot of people are making.

Giddings: The smart marketers are understanding not only the role of the catalog, but how it affects the direct sales relationship. How does it affect other channels? What is the role of the website in fostering the relationship and affecting sales? If you look at it from the standpoint of just the catalog, what is the company doing overall? You may see the catalog has great value but needs to evolve to become a better complement to the website.

CM: Are the metrics of how a B-to-B catalog's success is gauged evolving as well?

Graner: Catalogs used to be in a silo, and now there typically isn't a separate team [responsible for each marketing element].

Giddings: The marketing world has always been good at testing and measuring, and now there is so much rich data available. With different tracking methods for different media the smart marketers are understanding that they need to pull it all together. It's not just about matchbacks and tracking code conversions anymore. It usually starts with front end analysis to see what the metrics should be and creating a dashboard system where the company can look at all those things, and see where qualified leads are coming through. They need to determine the likelihood of migrating print catalog buyers from one segment of the business to another.

CM: How are B-to-B catalogs responding to the crunch of paper and postage costs?

Graner: Some are shifting to smaller catalogs and mailings. Of course, some segments do require consistent print drops to maintain the revenue flow, but in others you can reduce the print drops. Other segments may prosper with web only, and do okay with digital catalogs and email.