Print Catalog Needs for Business

Digital media is the center of modern marketing. Many retailers focus exclusively on maximizing their online presence through search engine optimization (SEO) and website conversion. While this focus on mobile and web marketing is essential to any company, increasingly multi-channel marketing is a source of revenue and new customer acquisition. As a result, there has been a resurgence in old marketing techniques, including the print catalog.

What is Multi-Channel Marketing?

Multi-channel marketing is the process of gaining customers through a variety of different methods. This may include your website, direct marketing, a brick-and-mortar retail location and mail order catalogs. Increasingly, businesses are not relying just on the internet to make sales as customers are returning to the tangible, in-store experience that was once common.

Evolution of the Print Catalog

When the internet moved from an academic curiosity to a pervasive technology, entrepreneurs moved away from print catalogs in favor of digital versions. This increased focus on digital was particularly prevalent in the years leading up to the 2008 recession, when business owners felt they could no longer justify the cost of producing a print catalog.

But as multi-channel marketing has increased, large retailers are returning to print catalogs. Harvard Business Review reported in 2015 that print catalogs actually increased the value of a customer’s purchase. Compared to the online experience alone, customers spent more money if they first flipped through printed materials.

Creating a Brand Personality

Large retailers like Restoration Hardware, which are selling an aesthetic as much as their products, use print catalogs to promote the story of their brands. Many use the opportunity to produce high-quality photos with compelling text that supplements the retailer’s unique appeal. This is more effective in print than online because of the ability to flip through pages without having to access a website, use up valuable data or wait for a slow connection.

This ability to hold a catalog creates a physical experience that drives consumers to visit the retailer online or even in a brick-and-mortar store. With software such as Catsy, retailers can limit their print runs of catalogs to test the return on investment. Using your existing knowledge of your customer, you can target a specific mailing list or even gauge interest in receiving a print catalog by surveying those already loyal to your brand.