What Your Competitors Don't Want You To Know About Catalog Printing

Catalog printing remains one of the most effective ways to market your retail products, but there are certain tricks of the trade your competitors don't want you to know – especially if you're a small retailer. Your competitors know you probably think of catalog printing as an expensive, overhead-heavy risk that you can't afford to take, and they're happy to let you keep thinking that way.

The truth, however, is that even the smallest of retailers can minimize their investment risk and learn how to turn an excellent return on investment for outstanding profits with catalog printing. The following lists a few things your competitors don't want you to know about catalog printing.

Customers pay attention to catalogs

Think every catalog ends up in a heap of junk mail? Think again. There's a reason, after all, you keep receiving catalogs at home. Catalog marketers know that many people love to flip through catalogs, find items they want, and then order them. The key to lucrative catalog printing is in your distribution. When you know your target audience demographics, you can compile a mailing list of potential customers who share those demographics. Thus, you can mail your catalogs to the portion of the population most likely to make a purchase. Keep in mind that 40 percent of your chances of direct mail success is contingent on the quality of your direct mailing list, and take the time and care necessary to develop the best list possible.

Catalog offers sell

Another 40 percent of your success depends on your offer, yet many catalog marketers fail to include an upfront offer on their catalogs. The cover of your catalog should include an incredible offer, such as a discount on the purchase of a specific item or collection (or the entire catalog). You can also create offers such as those that ask customers to bring a friend so they both get great savings. Make sure you have special offers throughout your catalog to highlight your sales and/or high-profit items.

Design and copy counts

The way your catalog looks and how it reads directly influence customers to take the next step in the purchasing process – or toss it in the trash. Premium-printed catalogs with excellent design and compelling copy outperform anything else in the world of catalog printing. Use persuasive text, showcase products, write informational pieces to help customers make decisions, highlight customers, and more with your design and copy, and you'll have an aesthetically-appealing, trustworthy catalog your customers will love buying from.

Catalog printing can be cheap

You don't have to go all out with a 100-page catalog from the get-go. If you're on a limited budget or want to minimize your risk, you can print mini-catalogs of just four pages. Or, print brochures or postcards with featured offers and a representative sampling of what else you offer, and let customers come to you ready to buy.