Catalog Magazine

Catalogs are a Powerful Investment in the Marketing Mix

A great printer increases the return on that investment

It’s fun to get mail, and studies show consumers simply love it. Yet for a business, communication needs to be purposeful and powerful. With every page, there is a new opportunity to create a positive and lasting relationship with consumers that need your products and services. 

Enter the direct mail catalog—a powerful marketing tool that works synergistically with online purchasing, dynamic user experiences, and superior measurables.

Simply put, integrated online and in-hand marketing campaigns add up to much more than the sum of their parts. Beautiful, targeted, interactive catalogs are the beating heart of those campaigns. 

Learn the powerful ways catalogs convert your browsers into buyers, and how Consolidated Press can leverage that spark.

Customers who have a multi-channel relationship with companies buy more — and more often

Multichannel shoppers spend three times more than single-channel shoppers, and more than half of marketers today use three or more channels to promote their brands. Nordstrom reported recently that customers who connect with its brand through multiple channels spend four times as much as those who don’t. And while 95% of marketers know they need a multichannel strategy, most do not have one. Targeted catalogs offer that extra channel for buyer connection.

Customers are 46% more likely to buy from a company they are familiar with

Seasonal mailings keep that relationship up and offer enticing solutions and ideas just as consumer interest is peaking. (Think seed catalogs arriving in February just as the ice begins to thaw. So exciting!) But it’s important to be very targeted and personalized with your message in those seasonal campaigns because your direct mail is likely to arrive in the same week or even on the same day as your competitors. If you speak to those consumers directly while pushing them to your website or other online sales channel, they will have your company at top of mind.

Direct mail response rates are excellent and on the rise

Response rates to direct mail have increased dramatically in recent years, both to house lists and to prospects. More than half of catalogs are reported to be read or set aside to read later, an astonishing number compared to email marketing. Recent studies found that direct mail averaged a 4.4% response rate, compared to email’s average response rate of 0.12%. According to direct mail industry trends, a whopping 90.9% of merchants still use catalogs as a primary marketing tool, and 44.4% report their catalogs’ circulation grew year over year. 

The return on investment for catalogs is high, but smart businesses still want to keep that investment strategically budgeted and targeted.

This is where Consolidated Press comes in

A powerhouse printer like Consolidated Press can keep costs down through scale and technology. To achieve that sought-after ROI, catalog and direct mail printers need to be lean, agile, and consistent, reducing waste and saving time. With our web, sheetfed and digital presses, your project will always be on the most efficient equipment for the job. CP’s Quality Assurance process guarantees that crisp imagery and brand colors will be perfectly matched in each new publication printed, ensuring clients are always presenting a consistent brand to their customers.

Tip: Plan and design several seasons’ worth of catalogs at once

Increase brand familiarity and ensure your catalogs reach your buyers and prospective buyers just when they are ready to order!

21st-century printers help clients target their customers through clean data, versioned copy, and multi-channel connections. Consolidated Press can easily put the most persuasive message in front of stakeholders on the house list or tweak it for high-value prospective customers. If our clients have data on their customers, we can use it to the fullest extent during the printing, mailing, and metrics tracking processes. We can help you strategically and seamlessly connect your paper catalog with your digital point of sale using dynamic technologies and tracking codes.

Tip: Come to us early in your process, and we can make sure your data is clean and ready to target buyers and users

Remember: the better the data, the broader the reach!

Consolidated Press employs a consultative approach with our clients to achieve stand-out publications that will be read right away. We can walk you through the benefits of various paper stock and finishes to both save mailing costs and create an enticing user experience. We have the capability to print unique sizes and shapes, creating a coffee-table piece that will draw eyes and hands. Consolidated Press utilizes the strength of its front-end software to manage color definitions on the press, resulting in consistent quality throughout a project’s run, and on future runs.

Tip: Mailing costs cut into profits

Work with one of our consultants to achieve that sweet spot of eye-catching innovative paper that is low weight and highly printable!

Whatever your products or services, a series of beautiful, well-targeted catalogs can increase user engagement, resulting in higher sales and revenue. Call or click to find how Consolidated Press can put the pieces into place.