Test your catalog's effectiveness
10 Questions to determine your book's viability
- Are you incorporating attention-getters to tell the rest of the product story?
When people shop a catalog, visuals always grab attention first. Strong photographs captivate consumers catalogs are a visual medium after all. But sometimes a picture cannot tell the entire product story, and photos need additional support.
Tell the rest of the story or benefit by adding an attention-getter. What visual elements do you use to help sell something the reader cannot see?
Captions, callouts, insets, icons and in-use photos all help support the primary photo and tell the rest of the story; they also help close the deal. Showing what a product does with an in-use photo or caption may give consumers that vital piece of information to make a decision.
- Have you made the order process easy?
Ordering must be easy, easy, easy! It's more than just printing your Website and phone number on the bottom of every spread. It's more than just including an order form.
What else do consumers need to make a purchase decision? Ask an outsider to order a complicated product how easy is it for her? Does the catalog give customers everything they need to know?
If your products involve any type of personalization or special options, can the average customer understand what he needs to do from just the information on the printed page? Guide customers through the process using simple copy and tools.
For instance, many designers have found that adding visual steps (i.e. Step 1, Step 2) will increase sales. For especially complicated products, remind customers of your guarantee and include references to call or go online for support.
- Are you coordinating the catalog with your other multichannel efforts?
In the ever-evolving world of multichannel communications, the catalog should not work in a vacuum. Today's savvy consumers demand more from their shopping experiences as they choose how they will become informed and purchase a product.
You must anticipate and meet those demands, and your catalog must become part of a multichannel, multifaceted marketing campaign. E-mails must certainly work in concert with a catalog, announcing a drop or mirroring an offer. But a catalog must also announce online events or tools to help broaden the shopping experience.
Within the pages of your catalog, strategically plan how you will get people to create their own personal URL, sign up for e-mails, build a wish or gift list anything that will enhance overall loyalty.
What about social media interactions? If your company engages customers using Facebook or Twitter, remind customers within your catalog. Place the social media logos where they make sense, but always offer a benefit for their participation.
What about videos? Create a how-to video, upload it to YouTube and use the catalog to drive customers to your Website to watch.
There are so many new technological advances, but rather than view them as an alternative to or replacement of your catalog, use them to enhance the medium and create a multichannel experience to engage customers like never before.
EXTRA CREDIT: Are you critiquing your catalog from the customer's point of view?
Finally, take a step back from your catalog. Look at it from a different perspective your customers' point of view.
Put yourself in their shoes and ask how you would react if you received the catalog in the mail. Would you want to shop from it? Does it give you all the information you need to make a purchase? Is it engaging?
Sometimes we get so close to the material that it's difficult to separate ourselves from the process. Show the catalog to someone outside the marketing group. Ask your customer service reps for feedback. Get inside the consumer's head and critique your catalog with their eyes.
Final score. Does your catalog earn a passing grade? Even if the answer is yes, never rest on those laurels. Keep testing and pushing the limits of your catalog so that it remains a viable selling tool in your marketing efforts.
Lois Brayfield (loisb@jschmid.com) is owner of J. Schmid & Associates, a catalog consultancy based in Mission, KS.
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