Print Catalogues in the Digital World

Every business needs a user friendly and responsive website. Yet, many consumers still find it difficult to find the information they’re looking for on a product site. Although you can remind your customers and leads about specific offers, products, services, and categories using email newsletters, your customers are are bombarded with similar emails, including spam, that can make your efforts futile. Print catalogues actually help a lot when it comes to marketing and boosting sales.

Here are two good reasons why commercial printing and direct mail services are unlikely to disappear from the marketing industry any time soon:

1. Print works

One of the reasons why print continues to be a major component of marketing campaigns is because it just works. Research shows that about 80% of consumers respond to direct mail immediately, whereas only 45% follow up on their emails immediately. In fact, the response rate for direct mail is 4.4% compared to 0.12% for email.

This is the primary reason why both small and large businesses continue to invest in print catalogues. The global investment in advertising print was $45.2 billion, and is projected to grow by an average of 4.5% per year until 2024.

2. Idea generation

A recent survey revealed that 44% of consumers would like to receive fewer catalogues. However, 58% of participants in the same survey claimed that they get lots of ideas from going through catalogues, and another 30% said they relied on retailer catalogues even while browsing items online before making a purchase.

Additionally, 90% of participants claimed that they had purchased items they’d first seen in a catalogue.

Although recipients claim they’d like to receive less mail, at least two-thirds end up opening what they’ve received. And if the mail piece is informative and relevant, it will likely influence their decisions. Catalogues are designed to showcase products in a practical context, group products that complement each other, and suggest creative uses of familiar items.

Marketers can take advantage of these aspects to compare products, upsell, and cross-sell. This is why studies show that mailing list customers spend 20% more per sale — on average — after receiving a catalogue.

Final Note

The print industry is 50 times bigger than the music industry. Print catalogues are considered the most visually-appealing tool for highlighting products, engaging an audience, shaping lifestyles, and promoting brand awareness and customer loyalty.

Although they cost more to produce, catalogues have a unique allure through photography, print and paper quality, use of models, and size, all of which influence consumers. In other words, they appeal to a part of human nature that doesn’t seem to be evolving.

Interested in adding direct mail marketing to your next campaign? Please call our Toronto mailing house in Scarborough at 1-866-486-0423.

Troi spells success, one letter at a time!