Every business – small or big, only has one set goal, which is to enhance and grow the sales. Every business has a wide range of products that they want to showcase to potential customers. Having a catalog that displays all the products that your business offers, is a great marketing effort to increase sales. In fact, catalogs have the ability to bring in customers who are completely unaware of your brand. Apart from being cost-efficient marketing tools, product catalogs are also a great way of building brand awareness and expanding the customer base for your business. In short, more leads automatically equals to more sales. A product catalog allows customers to get an insight into the various products and services that you offer.
If you are planning on creating a product catalog for your business, then here are a few steps that you must keep in mind. These tips ensure that your catalog helps maximize the sales for your business. Take a look!
Decide on the Catalog Size
Even before you think of the design or the catalog printing cost, the first thing that you need to decide on is the catalog size. Choosing the right size for your catalog comes down to the kind of products that your business deals in. Small products like rings and watches, do not require a small catalog. Similarly, huge home appliances like washing machines and refrigerators cannot be displayed on a small-sized catalog. To make things clear, here are the catalog sizes that you should keep in mind:
- 5” x 8.5” – In this size, catalogs are tall and thin and are perfect for showcasing the product images along with short descriptions. This catalog size is mainly used for small products like cameras or bracelets.
- 6” x 6” or 6” x 9” – These catalogs come shaped in a rectangle or square and are mainly used for products that with minimal features.
- 5” x 11” or 9” x 12” – This is the ideal size for fashion and apparel-based catalogs.
- 12” x 12” – This is the biggest size when it comes to catalogs mainly used for showcasing larger appliances or products such as televisions or washing machines.
Plan the Structure for your Catalog
When it comes to design, there is not a lot to explore in terms of catalogs. Almost all catalogs – regardless of the niche are designed in a similar manner. This is mainly because catalogs are used as marketing tools which will help increase the sales for your business. While planning the structure of your catalog there are a lot of things that you need to get in place apart from the cover page, content index and product pages. Here are some of the things that you will require for before the process for catalog printing takes place:
- Front cover and back cover
- Introduction pages
- A table of contents which can be arranged according to the page number, alphabetically, or photographic TOC
- Page layout which will include the header, footer, page columns, thumb index and much more
- Section separators
- Product layouts with descriptions
Proper Product Descriptions
Every product on your printed catalog will require a proper and apt description. This is a must for every product under every category on your catalog. While writing down the description for the products, make sure that it explains the benefits of buying the product to a potential customer. The description should entail the value proposition as well as the features of the product. Interestingly, the quality of the product description plays a major role when it comes to generating a sale. Get all the key specifications of your products in place before you start writing the descriptions.
Apt Product Information
Once you have all the product descriptions in place, the next thing to do is to work on the product information. Putting in the apt product description is a crucial task when it comes to creating a catalog. The product information should give the customer all the necessary details about a particular product. Product information on a catalog should include – the name of the product, item number, category, price, features and barcodes.
Work on the Cover
The cover is generally the first thing about your catalog that the customer will notice. This is why it is important to ensure that the cover of your catalog gives an insight into what a customer will find on the inside. To make it simpler, include the images of your featured products on the cover image. But, while adding images of the products, keep in mind to not make your cover image look overly cluttered. The perfect catalog cover design is easy to read and understand. Also, don’t forget to clearly add the name of your company in the cover. After all, it is your business that potential customers need to be aware of.
Add an Order Form
The entire purpose of adding a product catalog to your business is to help boost sales. The purpose of a catalog is incomplete if you fail to add an order form. By including an order form in your catalog, you make it easier for customers to directly place an order for the products they want to buy. Keep the following things in mind while creating an order form:
- Include sections to allow customers to place multiple orders
- Add a section for the shipping address
- The choice for payment options
- And, a section for the name and number of the customer
Proofread the Catalog
This is the final step that takes place before you send off your design to a catalog printing company. Proofread and check the design once it is ready. While proofreading, make sure that you have avoided all sorts of spelling and grammar mistakes in your catalog. Additionally, it is better to double check the product images, product number, product description and product price before the final printing. Once you are sure you have gotten rid of all possible errors, send in your catalog for print.
Approach the Right Print Company
After working on designing a perfect product catalog for your business, the next thing to do is to approach the right printing company that will not compromise on the quality of your catalog. Instead of worrying about the catalog printing cost, find a professional catalog printing company that will deliver results that you are looking for. The right printing company should be able to deliver bulk catalog printing within the time frame that you expect. Once you have found the right print company, hand over the correct design layout. To make the printing process more easy and less time-consuming, check if you have sorted out all the pages of your catalog in the right order to avoid any errors or confusion. And finally, send over the design of your catalog in a single PDF to the printing company for the final printing process.
Adam Smith is a Marketing Director at Mixam