Breaking Away From the Pack
We hear it asked a lot in our industry, are catalogs dead? We know that large print catalogs are industry standard and have been for a long time but in order to stand out from your competition you need to start, if you haven’t already, looking at them in a smarter way. The act of blindly distributing a large amount of print catalogs is outdated especially with the rise of mobile and the internet in general. The problem with this approach is that often times there is hardly any data behind the distribution and potential success of your catalog. To fully understand the question “are catalogs dead?” we first need to look back in time.
Why Interactive Catalogs Work
In the prime years of traditional catalogs, the internet and eCommerce weren’t as developed as they are now. It wasn’t considered an inconvenience to produce a print catalog once a year and ask customers to call in or order in person because it was the only way possible. Now the gap has been bridged and it is not only possible, but it is smart to utilize marketing and selling on the same channel—the internet. Interactive catalogs simplify the buying process because the customers no longer have to work as hard to purchase products. With interactive catalogs all customers have to do is find the products they need and then click a link that leads them from the product to the shopping cart.
What to Do About It
PDF catalogs are a great way to move into the digital marketing space, and can be a great resource especially when paired with email tracking software to track customer interaction through analytics. Interactive catalogs take this approach to the next level especially if they have built-in analytics, product hotspots that link to eCommerce, search, etc. With all these tools it doesn’t make sense to send out 15,000 300 page catalogs when there are options to send out a smaller volume of print catalogs to one collection of repeat buyers and interactive catalog links to an unlimited amount of potential customers or marketing qualified leads or sales qualified leads.
So are Catalogs Dead?
Absolutely not. Catalogs have existed for as long as they do because they work. We have seen opportunity and need-specific catalogs trending across all verticals. With catalog automation it is easy to create catalogs specific to different departments, brands, collections, seasons, etc. We see customers creating smaller and custom custom catalogs for both print and web, and them turning these catalogs digital for easy sharing. With Catsy you can enable your graphics department to create your standard catalogs and also give your sales team access to your data to create instant catalogs to better convert leads. Choosing print, digital, or both is part of the skill of knowing your audience and content marketing. Print is not dead but it is not always necessary. At Catsy we do not believe in the abandonment of print catalogs, but rather offering a solution for a strategic approach to publishing, more in-depth analysis of your customers, and a cost effective smart approach to marketing products.
How Catsy Can Help
Catsy pairs automation with traditional publishing to help you create catalogs in unprecedented speeds. Easily turn your existing catalog interactive and add product hotspots, alternate images, and analytics with Catsy’s Digital Catalog Creator. Signup for a demo at http://catsy.com/contact-us.
