Geoff Wolf, EVP Client Strategy
This is the question I’m asked more than any other these days. How would you answer this?
It probably depends on whether you’re a catalog believer or a non-believer.
First, a quick note about the grey area between these two groups: There is none! Either you sleep well at night with a P&L under your pillow that includes catalog expense, or you don’t. If there is any doubt, you’re a non-believer.
There’s a few more important distinctions, so read on to find out more, or if you’re in a hurry, skip to #3 below for the one thing that matters most. And call your therapist to dig into the reasons you’re too busy to read an 800-word article.
- Catalog believers know that brand matters. The point here is not to argue that brand matters. You all know where J.Schmid stands on this. And catalogs are a proven marketing tactic for gaining brand awareness and telling stories. So if brand matters to you, it’s likely there is a line item in your budget for catalog expenses.
The main difference between believers and non-believers is how they assess the costs and benefits of that catalog investment. For catalog believers, the math is different when it comes to considering catalog expenses. The variable expense and breakeven metrics will be a little more forgiving.
Non-believers insist that the catalog pay for itself, including ALL the variable costs and time spent producing and mailing catalogs.
Believers spend their time trying to improve the performance of their catalogs, and look for more records to mail productively. Non-believers split their time between trying to justify a catalog program itself and working on the productivity of those pages.
- Believers likely built the business with a catalog program. In the beginning (before the internet existed), we mailed catalogs, the phone rang and money – a lot of it – showed up in our bank accounts. We knew it worked then and believe it still works now, although the customer journey (from the beginning to the purchase) can be quite different than it was in the past, making attribution harder.
But that doesn’t mean that brands that began in other channels haven’t been able to use a catalog to build top-of-mind awareness. In fact, adding a catalog has been particularly successful for three types of businesses:
- Businesses built on AdWords who are now seeing their PPC costs skyrocket.
- Retailers using catalogs to drive store or website traffic.
- Manufacturers who are enjoying more margin by mailing catalogs directly to consumers.
In some cases, especially for brands that were built without a catalog, a catalog program may not be valuable. In my experience, data analysis can usually show in very distinct terms when the expense is simply not worth it. If you are not sure what this data intelligence may look like, let me know and I can share some examples.
If you have skipped here from the beginning (don’t forget to call your therapist) here is the single most important takeaway:
- Believers know that customer feedback is mandatory. Plain and simple. While we all endeavor to “see” what customers think through data analysis, it’s not always clear from the data alone.
Believers ask their customers how much catalogs influence their purchasing decisions. They use well-designed surveys to get at specific feelings that matter to their customers. They rely on neuroscience research that tells us that print is more effective and memorable.
Non-believers either ask the wrong questions, or do not ask at all. They rely only on poorly collected data and ignore the neuroscience that proves the benefits of tangible printed marketing.
Catalogs do realize value for many brands. Catalogs that are designed with the knowledge of customer preferences and behaviors will work. The secret is to spend your time and resources on growing your sales, rather than keeping one foot on the brake out of fear, ignorance or reluctance to change.
If you need help drafting the right survey questions, let us help you! I assure you it will be the best investment you make this year.
Tags: catalog expense, Catalog Mailing, catalog program