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  • Blog
    • 2018
      • 01
        • The hidden cost of selling direct – the returns game
        • 2018 Lead Generation & Recruitment Predictions & Tips
        • How's your marketing?
        • Questions That You Need To Answer
        • Do You Know What Your Competition Is Doing?
        • The Offer - How To Make One They Can't Refuse
        • Successful Product Development
        • How Direct Makes Digital Better
      • 02
        • Managing The Sales Pipeline
        • The Marketing Planning Process...Doing It Right!
      • 03
        • Being Prepared for Change (Why You Need Market Intelligence to Drive Revenue Growth)
        • Competitor Update: Coursera Coming to Eat Your Lunch
        • Discussion: Why Should Your Institution Exist in the 21st Century?
        • Discussion: Should Your College Exist in the 21st Century?
        • Welcome Back: Former Students, Graduates
        • Adult Students: Thoughts on the Chronicle's Report
      • 04
        • Avalanche of Dreck...Are you part of the problem?
        • Profile of the Average Online Student
    • 2017
      • 01
        • Influencer Marketing: More Confusion Over Simple Concept
        • 10+ Reasons Why Most College Marketing/Enrollment Plans Fail & How to Avoid Them
        • Marketing Planning 101 - Are You?
        • Are CMOs' Jobs in Jeopardy?
        • Lead Flow Planning - Getting It Right
        • Omni Channel or Not? Retail Survival or Not?
      • 02
        • Announcing Our New Enhanced On-Demand Services for Adult, Graduate and Continuing Education Programs
        • Tips for Great Direct Response Radio
        • Email Design Tips
        • Data-Driven Marketing...It's As Old As Index Cards, And Then Some...
        • Why They ain’t buying what you’re sellin’
      • 03
        • New Degree Programs: What You Must Learn from Google, Amazon and Apple
        • Student Recruitment & Retention Goes to the Movies
        • Just Outsource It!
      • 04
        • Why You’re Not Answering Their Questions
        • Adult Students: Are You Serious or Just Screwing Around?
        • Is Your Brand Safe?
        • Ask Questions
        • Event Marketing for Adult Enrollments
        • Retail is Not Dead!
        • Pros & Cons of In House Agency
        • Is Affiliate Marketing for Your Business?
        • Webinar: 7 Proven Techniques for Increasing Adult Student Enrollments
        • False Victories
      • 05
        • Bring Programmatic Adv In House? Yes? No?
        • Call Attribution Tech - Do you need it?
        • Are you losing sales people?
        • Webinar: Adult Student Retention
        • Is ‘eMail Blindness’ Killing Your Business?
      • 06
        • Direct Mail Tips for More Effective Student Recruitment
        • Marketers Wake Up...Get Those Phone #s
        • The Secret to Successfully Providing Life-long Learning
        • Higher Ed Marketing Podcast 3: Web Forms
        • Higher Ed Marketing Podcast 4: Thank you page
      • 07
        • 2 Secrets to Achieving Adult Enrollment Goals
        • Social Worship
        • The Amazon Effect...Are You Ready?
        • Old Ways Don't Open New Doors
      • 08
        • Early Results: Adult Student Recruitment Effectiveness Part I of II
        • Early Results: Adult Student Recruitment Effectiveness Part II of II
        • Webinar: Competitive Intelligence 101
        • How to Say the Right Thing so More Adults Enroll
        • Clear Communications, not Content Marketing, is Key to Achieving Adult Enrollment Goals
      • 09
        • Are You Listening Carefully? Asking the Right Questions?
        • Missing Unrealistic Goals
      • 10
        • What Are You Putting Into Your Sales Pipeline
        • Competitive Intelligence - What is it? Why do you need it?
      • 11
        • Yes, You Do Have the Budget
      • 12
        • Enrollment Opportunity: Under-served Segments
        • Why Colleges Are Failing to Achieve Adult Enrollment Goals
    • 2016
      • 01
        • Direct Marketing Planning
        • How Many Leads Do Our Sales Executives Need?
        • The Drones Are Coming!
        • New Study Identifies Opportunities to Improve Student Recruitment
        • Outbound Telemarketing Missing Opportunities As Part of College Student Recruitment
        • Student Retention Tips for 2016
        • Advantages of Direct Marketing
        • 6 Tips to Improve Your College's Content Marketing Performance
      • 02
        • Lead Flow Planning - Getting It Right
        • Are You Sitting Around Waiting for Business?
        • Get More Our of Your CRM Investment
        • Smart College Recruitment Targets Wisely Using Segmentation
        • Tips for Building Affordable, Effective Marketing Research Program
      • 03
        • Marketer's Toolkit Goes Mobile
        • A/B Testing: Some Important Rules to Follow
        • Targeting is Not Rocket Science
        • Snap Chat for Student Recruitment
        • Colleges Must Lead the Way in Marketing to Millennials
        • How Many Leads Do You Need?
        • Do You Know What a "Lead" Is?
        • Do You Know How Many Sales Leads You Need? Find Out With...
        • Content Marketing: It's a Mess
      • 04
        • What Is The Best Marketing Channel?
        • Do You Need a Marketing Plan?
        • Data Analytics Improve Enrollment Performance
        • Why Facilitated Strategic Planning Workshops are Most Effective for Your College...
        • Common Social Media Challenges and Solutions
        • 8 1/2 Common Errors in the Student Recruitment Process
      • 05
        • Differentiation - Colleges Need to Be Uniquely Valuable
        • Non-Traditional Students: Tips to Attract & Retain
        • Market Planning Process
        • Market Analysis - Identify Your Target Markets
        • Catalog Business Plan
        • 10 Common Digital Marketing Mistakes & Solutions
        • Tips for Recruiting Millennials to Your College
        • How to Lower New Student Acquisition Costs
      • 06
        • Your Website Needs Help
        • Better Adwords Performance ASAP
        • Higher Education Marketing Assessment Tool: A Demo
        • Join Marketing Connection Today
        • Marketers Are Focused On the Wrong Things
        • Marketing...It's About the Numbers
        • Top Benefits You Enjoy From a Mystery Shopper Audit
        • Colleges Without Market Research: Penny-Wise, Pound Foolish
      • 07
        • The Future of Content Marketing
        • Pokemon Go: Student Recruitment & Retention?
        • Whatever the Channel: Marketing Success Depends on 5 Factors
        • When Your Customers Aren't Your Customers - Social Media Pitfalls
        • Content Marketing Success
        • Why You Can't Afford to Pass on a Retention Audit
      • 08
        • Your Trouble With Adwords
        • You Can't Recruit & Retain if You Don't Know Your Audience
        • Facebook Live for Student Recruitment
        • How to Make Significant Improvements to Student Recruitment Results
      • 09
        • Why Facilitated Strategic Planning Workshops are Most Effective for Your College...
        • Video Marketing: Tips for Greater Success
        • The Details Are in the Plans
        • Digital Metrics: How Much is Real & How Much is Bullshit?
        • Video Content Marketing: Tips for Greater Success
      • 10
        • How You Can Enroll More Non-Traditional Students
        • Your Email Metrics Are Wrong
        • Too Much Content Too Much Waste
        • How Asking the Right Questions Can Increase Enrollments
        • Content Marketing for Higher Education Recruitment and Retention
      • 11
        • 5 Ways to Increase Graduate School Enrollments by Leveraging Data
        • Big Data, Predictive Analytics & Marketing Research Strike Out in Election 2016
      • 12
    • 2015
      • 11
        • Black Friday - Cyber Monday - Trends
Catalog covers
DWS Associates > Tools > Catalog - eCommerce - Retail Tools > Catalog Review Checklist

Merchandising 101

Catalog Marketing Overview

Catalog Merchandising

Catalog Marketing Tutorial

Catalog Creative Strategy

Catalog Design

Catalog Review Checklist

Catalog - Quick Marketing Assessment

Catalog eCommerce Business Audit Overview

Catalog eCommerce Business Audit Tool

Customer Retention Rate Calculator

RFM Scoring Marketing Calculator

Retail Financial Marketing Calculator

ReviewMeeting.jpgReviewing Your Catalog for Success

An important step in developing and executing a successful catalog is constantly reviewing the elements that affect its success.  Use this checklist to evaluate how well your catalog presentation is pulling together the five elements that contribute to a catalog's success. The five elements are: 1) Image; 2) Creative; 3) Product; 4) Order form; and 5) Customer service.

Element #1 - Catalog Image

Image is more than just presenting the merchandise. Image can be projected through good design and photography. It can be projected through the personality of the founder. To help build and reinforce the image, you can use an editorial format to tell a story – how the business started, about the founder, about the uniqueness of the catalog in the marketplace, etc. The catalog needs to establish an identity with customers that is sustainable and also differentiates this catalog from those of competitors.

 

Element #2 - Catalog Creative

It's not creative unless it sells. The catalog should be designed to generate sales. To create an effective selling catalog, you need to know your company, your products, your audience and your competition.

The cover design of a catalog is very important. It must be the hook and must be interesting or it goes in the wastebasket. Interior design can take many paths and depends on the audience and the products you’re trying to sell. Catalog copy must sell, be brief, and concise.

  • Must project company image.
  • Retail catalogs typically evoke mood but don't project company image.
  • Must both intrigue customer and close sale.
  • Format should meet the needs of displaying and selling the products.
  • Attention to scale of products.
  • Catalog is selling tool.
  • Product must be visible, features seen and understood.
  • Concentrate on making products dominant feature.
  • Use design techniques to grab the consumers - designers must understand this.
  • Copy crisp, good lead, a little teaser copy, factual info on product
  • Keying important - easy for eye.

 

Element #3 - Catalog Product

The products should have as many of the characteristics of a winning product as possible. (See the table of winning product features on this website.) The catalog marketer needs to concentrate on the company’s strengths in merchandising, pricing, assortments, etc. You don’t have to have the cheapest pricing, but your merchandise must be competitively priced. The issue is value.

 

Element #4 - Catalog Order Form

Today, the order form is considered an archaic and unnecessary tool and expense, especially those with their direct marketing experience based solely on e-Commerce. So, you will see many catalogs today that don’t include order forms. It has been tested and proven time and time again that order forms actually increase responses and order size, even if it is not mailed in. The customer uses it as much as a wish list as an ordering device. Retail catalogs typically don’t use an order form, but the goal of a retail catalog is to drive retail traffic. For some direct marketers, the order form has proven to be an excellent device for inventory clearance. If you’re in the direct marketing or multi-channel marketing business, you should test using an order form to see if it generates the additional revenue to cover its cost and increase revenues and profits.

  • Often overlooked, but closes the sale.
  • Should not be a test of the customer's will to purchase.
  • Don't make the order form part of the catalog - customers don't like to tear up catalogs.
  • BRE is expensive - fold over is cheaper.
  • Positioning for customer name and address should be easy to locate preferably top left of order form.
  • A good idea to test order form design.
  • Use the kiss method in designing form - keep it simple stupid, even the most intelligent minds sometimes don't operate logically.
  • Also the order form should be designed for the customer's ease of use not order processing.

 

Element #5 - Catalog Customer Service

  • Offer #800 and online real-time chat, both lend credibility.
  • Informed operators to provide product information and add on sales.
  • On line customer purchase history - can be used as a marketing tool both inbound and outbound, also maintain info on previous gift purchases and to whom sent.
  • Shipping and handling- keep the charges low - some people think that 7.5% Avg. is too high - might even consider eliminating handling. So many online merchants offer free shipping today that it’s become the de facto standard expected by many consumers.
  • Shipping period - how fast - within 5 working days unless out of stock. But next-day and 2nd-day are becoming the de facto standard.
  • Order entry system - should tell operator whether item being ordered is in or out of stock, recommend possible subs. The system should also inform the online customer who is placing the order as to inventory availability.
  • Telephone orders should receive priority in processing and shipping.
  • Handling of complaints and returns should be quick, courteous.
  • Treat customers with respect and make them feel important.
  • If possible included personalized thank you notes in all customers packages signed by the president of the company.
  • Treat order processing and fulfillment as a customer service.
  • Telephone marketing - use the opportunity to talk directly to the consumer to trade up or cross sell.

 

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