How Printed Catalogs Complement Your Online Marketing Efforts

Many companies are taking advantage of the fact that catalog printing can reinforce and boost online sales while reducing other costs across the company.  Catalog printing puts your products and services in front of your customers while the internet provides ease of access for ordering and further research.  This one-two punch of catalog printing while also making your catalog available online has been generating increased online sales for companies who use both catalog formats.

But there are some important pitfalls to avoid.  Both catalogs have to be tightly integrated across a number of levels.  How can you avoid these potential catalog catastrophes?  Read on for an overview of some areas where your online and printed catalogs must be closely connected.

Product information
The information you provide in your printed catalogs must be identical to the information you provide online.  That is not to say the words have to be exactly the same, but there should be no contradictions.  This is an especially easy mistake to make with technical specifications.  When catalog printing, take extra special care to maintain this equivalence across your printed and digital catalogs.

Product pricing
When including prices in printing catalogs, you must be careful as your customers may also check your online catalog.  If there is a price discrepancy, then this can cause confusion for your customers.  One way to avoid this issue while catalog printing is to put a “call us for pricing” note instead of an actual price.  This can be especially effective if some of your products and services are subject to volatile pricing.

Branding
Finally, your branding efforts must be similar across your physical and digital catalogs.  Branding includes logos, color schemes, font types, and page layout, to name a few.  Branding across both physical and digital catalogs works to reinforce your brand and reassure your customer that they are working with the same company.

Booklet Printing Page Ideas

Booklet printing and design can be tricky because of the amount of written words and information often involved. Most companies cannot avoid booklets, though, because they are needed in almost any industry. Your company may need instruction manuals, company reports, catalogs, or magazines, all of which are types of booklets. The tone, images, and layout are all determined by the purpose. For instance, it may include graphs or charts if a manual or report, while a catalog will contain photographs of products.

You may already have some page ideas for your booklet printing, or maybe you don’t even know where to start. Both problems have a solution. You might want try first perusing similar booklet designs for some ideas, but if you still run into a block, maybe the list of booklet pages below will help.

1. Introduction, Preface, or Foreward – Each of these terms refer to a different type of introductory page. An “introduction” includes company background, goals, or objectives. The “preface” would contain a summary of the booklet itself along with the main highlights. The “foreward” is any written piece by an expert in the field, often with references to the booklet.

2. Dedication – When you need to thank those who have contributed or inspired your booklet, put these on the dedication page. You can also include a “Dedicated to” list.

3. Table of Contents – Sometimes booklet printing needs to include a table of contents in the front so that readers can easily flip to the information they need. This page is especially important when your booklet contains chapters or long sections.

4. Appendix, Glossary, or Index – All of these pages are included at the back of the booklet. The “appendix” is any extra reference information needed, for instance a list of stores that donated the information or products. A “glossary” is a list of terms and definitions contained within the booklet. An “index” often replaces the table of contents because it contains a list of terms and the page numbers on which they can be found.

5. Interesting, Fun, or Educational Information – You may want to include a page filled with tips, hints, facts, or anything else that would interest the reader. Customer reviews or testimonials are an excellent selling tool as buyers trust the satisfaction of other consumers. This page should be advertised either on the cover or in the beginning pages to encourage readers to flip through the booklet.

If you are still stumped on page designs, incorporate the help of a professional. Often, you can find more cost-effective designers provided by your booklet printing company, so check with them before searching for an actual graphic designer or design company.

How to Integrate Print Marketing with Online Marketing

It’s no secret that many marketing venues are online that were once exclusively offline.  Everything from television to brochures are online now. But does that mean that print marketing is dead? Hardly. It might not be as big as it once was because people now have multiple outlets, but that just means print marketing has to share the spotlight with its online counterparts.

People typically do their initial research about products online by checking out forums, review sites and the product manufacturer’s Web site. Some people do all their research online, but many still request brochures, catalogs and other printed materials from the manufacturer. People like to be able to relax on the couch without a hot laptop on their lap and just look through a catalog. The glare from looking at a computer screen all day is not appealing.

All of this means that you must integrate your print marketing strategy with your online marketing strategy.

Here are a few ideas on how to do that:

Use your print marketing to direct people to your online marketing. If you use postcards to draw people’s attention to your product and then direct them to your Web site for more information, you’ve just drawn people in with the information that would have been on a brochure for the price of a postcard. Since Web site hosting is cheap, you can put as much info on your site as you want and not have to worry about paying for an extra four pages of content like you would a brochure.

You can also cut back on catalog printing costs. Send out a 40-page catalog with your best products instead of your usual 56-page catalog and direct people to your Web site for more catalog selections. You save money on printing and people can still see all of your products on your Web site. You can focus your catalog on your best moneymakers and feature the not-so-popular items on your Web site only.

Create an e-newsletter. Include info that your customers crave, like how to save money on products in your industry and info on the best products on the market. If you already have a print newsletter, include a link in the newsletter for consumers to sign up on your Web site to receive the e-newsletter. You can build your email database this way and also keep in touch with consumers in the way that they prefer. Older consumers prefer to get their news in print while younger consumers would rather get their news online.

Include an interactive copy of your brochure or catalog online. Make it searchable so people can browse to exactly what they want online. Many people will note what they want from your print catalog and then get on your Web site to make their purchases. Make it easy for them by including a search box for the online catalog and making it easy for people to find what they’re looking for.

Cost-effective Catalog Printing

When designing a catalog, many companies end up spending more money than they intended in the first place. Choosing a format for catalog printing affects the cost greatly, and often the more creative layouts can be the most expensive. The list below gives some of the common choices available when printing a catalog and separates the economical ones from the budget breakers.

1. Paper Stock
Two choices that need to be made for the paper of a catalog are for the cover and inner pages.  The cover of a catalog can be either the same as the text pages or heavier.  Lighter paper text will cost less, as a will uncoated vs glossy.  Choosing a different cover stock than the regular text paper will also raise costs.  Some choices for text include 100# text, 80# text, or 70# text.  A cover stock is usually 10 pt weight.

2.  Page Count
Because of the way that conventional printing presses work, choosing 8 page increments is much more cost effective than four page increments for catalog printing.  For a self-cover design (the cover paper is the same as the inner pages), the best count is 8, 16, 24, or any other 8 page multiples. For plus-cover formats (the cover is different from the inner pages), the page count is separate from the cover: 4 page cover + 8 page text, 4 page cover + 16 page text, and so on are the most economical choices.

3. Trim Sizes
Offset printing presses offer standard catalog sizes along with trim options, which can be costly. The cheapest trim options are 5.5×8.5 up to 6×9 or 7×10 to 9×12.

Keeping catalog costs low enough to make it a profitable venture is always important. Although, when choosing the different options available for catalog printing, a company should always keep in mind that sometimes the extra cost is worth the unique design, especially if the catalog advertises common products and needs to stand out from competitors.

Creative Ways to Alter Your Marketing Message

If you’re finding yourself running into writer’s block or if you can’t come up with a new and innovative idea for your marketing materials, you might just need to tweak your thinking a bit. Below are five tips to help your right brain take over your marketing ideas and to pump out some creative ideas.

1. Change your question. If you change the question, you’re going to get a completely different answer and a different perspective on the goals of your marketing materials. If your question is “How do we to sell more products?”, you’ll craft your message in a way to sell your products focused on quantity. You might even lower your price to up the number of products out the door. However, if your question is “How do we bring in more profits?”, you might up your price or emphasize the quality of your product in your message.

2. Don’t use the first idea you think of. In the book A Whack on the Side of the Head, the author Roger von Oech says to take the time to think of a second, third or even 100th idea. When you’re trying to think of a new idea, the quality of your ideas don’t count in the brainstorming stage, it’s the quantity that’s important. The more ideas you have to pick from, the more likely you are to pick a great one.    

3. Paint a press release. What would you use to paint a press release? Sounds odd, but thinking of combining two unrelated acts can give you a creative answer you never would have thought of otherwise. What about thinking of how you could dance out your billboard design? All of this may not give you a feasible idea, but it will get your creative juices flowing.

4. Talk to your product or service. That’s right – ask your product or service how it would like to be sold. This is a more mind-bending technique that might seem a little weird at first. But it can be valuable to think of how your product would answer the following questions: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Who can you help? Why should someone pick you over your competitors? Does it look best in catalog printing or should it be sold in person?

5. If your brain isn’t working, don’t force it. If your brainstorming session isn’t working, stop. Do something else for a while. Take a walk or do some exercise. That gets the blood flowing and your brain time to sort out ideas. Your subconscious will keep thinking and you might have your answer the next day. Take a break until the next day – there’s a good reason why people say to “sleep on it” – sleeping lets your subconscious brain work out problems that your conscious brain can’t during the day.