What’s required to make a successful catalog?

But these effective pieces of marketing collateral are far from dead. In fact, in some ways, it’s easier to launch and distribute a catalog than ever before.

If you’re going to use a catalog as part of your marketing efforts, you need to make sure it succeeds. But how do you define success for your catalog? And what can you do to guarantee that success?

Defining Success for Your Catalog

First, understand that there are different definitions of success – and it’s okay to have a different definition than a competitor. Is your catalog meant to increase brand awareness? Or brand familiarity and loyalty? Or is it almost exclusively focused on generating more sales?

What’s important is that you understand the context and purpose of your catalog within your marketing strategy. Once you understand the main concept, you can set specific goals – and begin optimizing your catalog to achieve them.

Elements of Catalog Success

Whatever your definition of success is, these elements can help you achieve it:

· Audience targeting. Different demographics require different catalog development strategies. For example, what works for a middle-aged suburban mom may not work as effectively for a retired man in a rural area. If you want your catalog to be compelling, persuasive, and effective in generating sales, you need to understand how your target audience thinks and sees the world. Only then can you develop a product catalog perfectly suited to them.

· Professional appearance. Investing in better catalog printing can also increase your results. If your catalog looks thin, cheap, or amateurishly put together, people aren't going to buy from you. You need to invest in not only the design, but also the quality of the materials you use and the quality of the printer doing the work.

· Inspiration and storytelling. A simple product photo with a brief description probably isn't going to do much sales work on your behalf. Instead, you need to inspire the people reading your catalog. You need to frame your offerings in the context of a narrative or story. It will make your work come alive.

· Uniqueness. Most people get dozens of catalogs in the mail every month. What makes your catalogue different? Why should people read it instead of throwing it away? You need some element of originality or uniqueness if you want to avoid the recycling bin.

· Personalization. It’s hard to overstate the value of personalized marketing. If you can customize your printed catalogs for the individuals receiving them, you'll make them much more engaging. Even simple changes, like addressing someone by their first name, can make a difference.

· Branding and consistency. If you're sending out multiple catalogs, or if catalogs are just one element of your overall marketing strategy, it's especially important to focus on branding and consistency. People need to understand that this catalog is tied to your brand -- and they deserve to know what your brand represents.

· Easy navigation. Turning the pages of a catalog isn't especially difficult, but finding the product you're looking for can be. That's why it's important to design your catalog with navigation in mind. Use an intuitive, logical system of organization so people can find what they're looking for quickly.

· Beautiful photos. Better product photos are indispensable in supporting more successful catalog production and distribution. Consider hiring a professional photographer to capture the essence of your most popular products; then, touch up those products with editing software so they genuinely shine.

· Easy ordering. Most people at least partially define catalog success in terms of orders placed, so make sure it's very easy to place an order. Include multiple communication channels and make the process as seamless as you can.

3 Keys to Mastering Catalog Success

With respect to all the elements of success we’ve already covered, these keys can maximize your effectiveness:

· Establish your goals. Know what you’re trying to achieve – and design a course of action that can help you achieve it.

· Do your research. Make all your catalog decisions with a foundation of objective data. Market research, competitive research, and AB testing can all help.

· Test, review, and adapt. Experiment with different variations and test your catalogs with people in your target demographics. Measure and analyze your data so you can make meaningful improvements with each subsequent version.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that catalogs are an antiquated or irrelevant marketing strategy in the modern world. On the contrary, product catalogs can produce very attractive returns. You just need to write, design, and plan the distribution of your catalogs with focus, intentionality, and strategy.

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