Have you ever noticed an eye catching catalog in the mail season after season and wonder how each one can be so different, yet still so attention getting? Utilizing these three aspects of powerful catalog design, you can achieve this same result.
Design
When it comes to catalog printing, great design is a must. What makes the design of a catalog great is both subjective and situational, i.e., the layout for a tool catalog may not be as critical as the design of a fashion clothing catalog. If you have some hesitation, please consult a printing professional or graphic design specialist. With planning, hard work, and some wise counsel, you can design a fabulous catalog. And by utilizing a professional who designs everyday, your catalog can go from good to great. So ask yourself the question: Would you rather have a good boost in sales from your catalog? Or a great boost?
Images
High quality images are no longer just for the few exceptional catalogs. The bar has been raised and high-quality images are a minimum requirement for a great catalog. Don’t use text to just tell your customers how much they will enjoy what you have to offer – show the customer how much someone else is enjoying their purchase. A photograph of a customer who is completely content is always a big winner. Photos of people using your product is another great way to encourage believability in the quality of your offer. Whatever the message or whomever the audience, a great catalog always includes high quality images.
Printing
Professional printing will maximize great design and exceptional images. The do-it-yourself method might produce a good catalog, but as it is with design, using a professional can produce a great catalog. When it comes to advertising, trying to save money on the front end will usually cost more in the long run. Low quality printing will diminish the perceived quality of your products, resulting in fewer sales. Not only will printing with a professional improve the appearance of your catalog but can also be done far more cost effectively than you can imagine. Usually things like finishing, binding, mailing, unusual sizes, etc. can be worked into the quote. And of course, with an online catalog printing company, the more copies you order, the lower your cost per piece.
When it comes to creating a successful catalog, paying attention to quality in the areas of design, images, and printing is vital. Take the time and effort to make sure that every product in your catalog looks desireable and even necessary. Your sales require it!
Looking for an efficient yet inexpensive marketing strategy to promote your new store? Or are you thinking of an effective way of reaching your neighboring households to promote yourself as a babysitter? Or do you want to inform your customers about the latest updates in the last release of your product? Look no further and get your flyers and catalogs printed. An effective way of both online and offline advertising there are numerous reasons which make flyers and catalogs one of the most popular advertising media. Some reasons which can help you in making a decision to use flyers and catalogs for promoting your product and services can be summarized as :-
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Easy to Create: – Bring out your creative juices and design your own flyers as no one can understand your business needs better then you. Alternatively contact one of the advertising firms which can help you in designing your flyers and catalog which can instantly grab customers’ attention. With the introduction of digital printing and advancement in web technology now it is possible to come up with delightful colorful catalogs with minimum efforts.
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Cost Effective:-If you are an owner of a start up and you are having limited budget , then an effective marketing strategy can be planned by spending some time doing effective research and coming up with flyers and catalog of the products and services being offered by you. The flyers and catalogs will help you in reaching the target audiences with much expenditure on marketing efforts. Printing and distributing flyers and catalogs turn out to be cheaper then placing ads in local newspapers.
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Generate Useful Leads: – Most of the printing agencies and marketing firms have a huge collection of flyers templates. Select a template and content which grabs instant attention of the customer and urges them to visit your business. Flyers and catalogs should lay emphasis on your strengths and list down the benefits which will help customer in making a choice. Also be sure to print your contact numbers and business address on these flyers and catalogs for the customers to contact.
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Easy to distribute: – Flyers and catalogs can be distributed in numerous ways. You can circulate flyers along with newspapers or leave them in a public place or place them on the windscreens of the vehicles in the parking lots. This ease of distribution helps in reaching more target audience.
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Comfort in carrying and sharing information :- Marking your loot on the flyers and catalogs before entering the shopping mall helps in not only reducing your shopping time but also proves to be pocket friendly as it saves you from making unnecessary purchases. If you want to inform your friend about the latest laptop which you have noticed in the electronic shop mailer, simply forward the online catalog to your friends inbox. You can also share printed flyer with your neighbors and friends.
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Share Product Updates: – Flyers and catalogs are also a great way to promote the latest offerings of your store. So if you are introducing the new Britney Spears fragrance in your store or you are the first to introduce the new Sony video game inform the customers by sending them flyers and updated catalogs which are bound to spur your sales.
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Have a Larger Reach:- Catalogs and flyers helps in advertising your products and services to people who have no access or no interest in computers or any other modern way of communication. Also flyers can be circulated in malls, in residential localities, parking lots and various other places thereby publicizing the project in larger audiences.
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Effecting Listing of Product Details: - Catalogs and flyers list down all the product details and specification along with the photographs which makes it easier for the customer in reaching a decision. Catalogs list down all the technical specifications of a product which helps you in making comparison with the similar products currently available in market and you can strike a good deal.
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Promote Business: - Neilson survey revealed that customers receiving online catalogs and flyers are 15% more likely to make a purchase. With more then 92% American households now having access to internet online catalog has become a great way to advertise your services.
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Easy to reproduce: – Last but not the least creating a template of flyers and catalogs can be later used for printing more copies. Also the template can be used to make modification in case of any updates and changes. As you don’t have to start the flyer design process from the scratch use of flyers and catalogs actually help in saving cost, time and efforts.
So enjoy the benefits of this effective media of advertising to promote all your business needs.
Filed under: Printing Help, booklets, catalogs, marketing | Tags: booklets, catalog printing, commercial printing, printing company
Few things could threaten to overwhelm a business team more than the development and production of a catalog. The process of catalog printing is tedious at best. But there are few better ways to connect with your customers than with a catalog that they can have at their fingertips.
So, here are a few secrets to success for catalog printing. There’s no way around it, this is a daunting task. But with some careful planning anyone can produce a professional, successful catalog.
l Use a team – unless your catalog will only be a few pages, you will more than likely need the help of the team. Consider at least one expert on your team who has experience in catalog design and printing.
l Plan, plan, plan – before you even begin amassing all of your products and services for the catalog, sit down and decide on your purpose and format. What is your budget? Is this catalog for businesses or consumers? How much information do you really need? These questions and more will guide you and your team as you begin collecting all your information.
l Categories – consider grouping your information in your catalog into categories. Of course, this completely depends on the content of your catalog. Most businesses can break their products and services into smaller, logical categories so that consumers can quickly reference what they need. This also helps you pull all of your information together.
l Images – this is one of the few places you should consider cutting costs. Product images are the first thing that consumers look at, according to design theory. So make sure you have stunning images that represent your products accurately.
l Printing – use an experienced catalog printing company. The last thing you want to have happen is to get back a poorly printed catalog. Not only is this incredibly inconvenient, this can be a big morale buster as well. The costs you may save using a discounted printer are usually not worth the potential problems.
Filed under: Printing Help, catalogs, marketing | Tags: booklet printing, donts, dos
When it comes to catalog or booklet printing, there are some guidelines you can follow to make your catalog or booklet work hard for you. It just takes a little work from you upfront to make sure your catalog will sell for you.
Catalog copywriters have a tough job; they have to explain detailed products with short descriptions. Catalog writing is almost a form of art, trying to weave details about products into short, snappy prose that is also persuasive. Here are some do’s and don’ts to help you create a great catalog.
Do’s
Do write an attention-getting headline.
No matter how much room you have, even if only for a few words, you need to make the headline catchy and snappy. Use words that get people’s attention and will make them want your product.
Do include a letter from the president.
Generally the inside front cover or inside back cover is reserved for messages from the president of the company. This letter should tell the customer all about the company’s commitment to its customers, the quality of the products and stress that the customer’s satisfaction is guaranteed.
This letter, along with a photo of the president and a signature, adds a friendly touch that makes the customer feel like she has a relationship with the company. Seeing a person’s face reminds people that they are dealing with another person’s company, not a big, bad faceless corporation.
Do give facts.
Your product descriptions should be as complete as possible. Don’t add your own opinion to the descriptions – just give the facts. You can add testimonials on or near the order form, but leave the product descriptions all fact, all the time. The copy should include colors, materials, exact measurements – only things the customer needs to make an educated decision. This isn’t to say you can’t use persuasive words or fancy product details, but leave the “I” statements for the testimonials.
Don’ts
Don’t give all your products equal billing
All of your products should have their dedicated layout space, but give your bestselling products center stage. Use a half page or whole page close to the front of the booklet or catalog for your bestselling items and give your not-so-popular items an eighth or a fourth of a page near the back.
Don’t use a headline to describe the product
The headline should be used as a catchy way to pull people into the page, not just as another place to describe the item.
Don’t hide your phone number
Put your phone number on every page so customers don’t have to search for it. This makes it convenient for the customer and you can catch those people who might change their minds while searching the catalog for your phone number.
Don’t forget your discounts
If you have an item on sale in your store, consider matching it in your catalog. Some catalog marketers actually do the opposite to boost catalog sales and make an item on sale through the catalog only. Whatever your discount, make sure it’s prominently displayed on the cover of your catalog or booklet.
Don’t clutter your pages
If you put too many products on a page, your design will look cluttered and the page won’t be appealing to look at. If people turn the page because they don’t want to take the time to look through all the graphics and text, you can lose major sales.
Don’t forget a call to action
Make sure you tell the customer to fill out that order form and mail it in right away or to call you to get a special discount.
Filed under: Printing Help, catalogs, marketing | Tags: catalog printing, commercial printer, company
I just don’t see enough companies that seem to care very much about their catalogs. This is, they seem to think, just another form of marketing and therefore will be given only as much attention as it needs to be given.
Catalog printing has the potential to be a very effective style of marketing if you understand the major differences it has with other kinds of advertising.
Unlike any other form of marketing a catalog holds a person’s attention for a lot longer, and therefore has the ability to invoke a much stronger message. The placement of your products along with the style of font you use and the layouts of each page are just a few of the things you can take complete control of.
Ok, take the example of The White Album by the Beatles. This album was considered such a masterpiece for reasons other than just the songs being sung on it, but for the placement of the songs themselves as well. Time was taken to make sure that there was an artistic element to what songs appeared in what order, such as the chaotic Revolution 9 being followed by the soothing Goodnight.
Now, I’m not saying you should make your catalog printing paramount to The White Album, but that doesn’t mean you can’t consider elements of it that you might not normally focus on.
Too often a company seems to care about nothing more than packing those catalogs with products. Artistic expression in the layout and order of products isn’t anything to consider, but this is the very thing that can help sell to people.
When they open your catalog make sure they’re entering a separate world just as they would when opening a novel. Quality printing can lead to a quality experience that they’ll be glad to delve back into.
The presentation can be just as important as the product being sold. This is especially true if what you’re selling isn’t a matter of need. I’ve picked up all sorts of catalogs filled with cool, if unnecessary products. I’m not buying anything from them because I need to but because I want to, and companies need to give people a reason to want to.
A good catalog printing service should know all of the tricks of the trade, even those not typically used. Take pride in the work you have to do and try to make something people can immerse themselves in. Consider what products will go best with each other and what products will benefit by being at the beginning of the catalog as opposed to the end.
Even the smallest things can start to have a big impact even if people aren’t fully aware of it at the time. Those unique placements might affect people more than even they’ll be aware of.
If you put in some real effort, it will be noticed, and the benefits will be felt.
