Why settle for a 3% success rate? Compared to most advertising methods, direct-mail enjoys the highest success rate with an assumed average of 1-3%. You can send out a variety of materials which your clients can readily use such as brochures, postcards and of course, catalogs through catalog printing.
If you are a small business with a limited marketing resource, it’s not quite feasible to send out catalogs to as many people as possible, especially if you don’t have a mailing list. 1) Compared to other prints, catalogs are expensive to print and mail, and 2) Blind advertisement, sending out unwanted catalogs to consumers, will train your prospects to screen out mails from you next time you send them.
The Means to Getting Increased Response Rate
1. First things first – no amount of advertising can substitute quality products or good customer service. They make one or two time purchases. However a business survives not on chance purchases but repeat sales and referrals. Always think of subsequent purchases.
2. Before investing in catalogs, invest in building customer relationship. Get to know your customer. Distinguish between your one-time buyers and your regular customers.
3. Create a database if you have to. Understand their motivations and their needs. Know your prime clients’ preferences.
4. From this list, determine your prospect and prime prospects. Send them a catalog if and only if, you feel their interest matches the catalog. Remember every catalog costs money and every missed hit is a waste of money.
5. Personalize. When you do decide to send out the catalog, include a short note, greet them by their name, address your client explaining why you sent the catalog and sign it. Also, a simple line such as: “I thought you might like the _______ on page. It’s in the new look or model out now,” would be pretty useful and thoughtful as well.
6. Include an order form or information on how they can place an order (i.e. your shop’s telephone, website address etc). Offer to deliver, inform them of special rates or modes of payment, and anything else that would motivate them and make ordering convenient. Make it hassle free for your customer to make the purchase.
Always think that what you are selling are not products, but customer satisfaction. You are providing them solutions and benefits as well. Have a sincere desire to help the customers. Create products that offer answers to their needs and be keen on understanding the customers’ wants and demands too.
Don’t spread yourself too thin. Stop trying to sell your products to everyone. Concentrate on the ones who truly need them and gain more repeat purchases.
• The key to increasing customer response to direct-mail advertising is to focus and be precise. Take advantage of small businesses is the personal relationship it has with its customers.
• Also, think of your catalog as a supplement to your other marketing strategies. It may take more than one approach to win a customer. It may take following-up with calls, brochures, or incentives to win them. Send a brochure offering technical support, a demo presentation, money-back guarantees, etc. Create a consistent marketing strategy that is focused on customer relationship.
The only measure of a successful marketing strategy is the amount of profit it makes. Customers won’t pay for award-winning advertisements or witty tag-lines. The only thing they are willing to pay for is their satisfaction – that is your business. Make your catalog printing in tune with your goals and be ready to get profitable responses.
Related Articles
The Possibilities of Print Catalog Services: Accentuating your Catalogs
By: Carla San Gaspar | 17/10/2007 | Printing
The specificity of your catalogs can be easily or challengingly achieved. But no matter what, the most important factors to consider are the range of experience and expertise of your catalog printing company of choice.
Get Reinforcement for Your Real Estate - House Flipping Ventures With Catalog Printing
By: Carla San Gaspar | 22/05/2008 | Real Estate
With all the excitement surrounding the practice of house flipping, there’s a good reason why you need to be on guard with your marketing strategies. And catalog printing can help you in that department.
Catalog Printing: Getting it Right the First Time Around
By: M. Cadavicio | 16/10/2007 | Printing
You need a catalog printing with great customer service so they can attend to your needs and to your catalogs. Open communication lines make it easier to get through your catalog printing with ease.
Printing Special Effects
By: Printing Guy | 25/04/2006 | Technology
There are several treatments in printing that are considered special processes. Not many printing companies do this in house and many of these processes are sent out to graphic finishers that specialize in "finishing work". Foil Stamping, embossing, combination stamping, and die cutting are the most common that we will discuss...
Commercial Printing Company: a Checklist for Picking Out the Best Printer
By: Joel Owens | 13/07/2007 | Business
Seek the help of a commercial printing company if you truly want all the benefits to hassle free printing. Check to see if your printing company of choice is truly giving you your money’s worth.
Clearing Ambiguities in Custom Printing: Which is Which Part 1
By: Carla San Gaspar | 03/10/2007 | Printing
Custom printing is a broad subject for it covers a wide array of printing processes and techniques for numerous print products. Sometimes too, there are unclear definitions and descriptions that can sometimes confuse anyone who is trying to get their hands into custom printing.
Brochure Printing: When and Who Should you Call About your Prints?
By: Carla San Gaspar | 25/10/2007 | Printing
Brochure printing, as with any other printing jobs present, may present itself as an easy print project. With online printing companies, you can easily source out the printing company you need and fill in all the information necessary to complete a job order or transaction.
The Necessary Steps to Custom Printing Success
By: Abejuela Jennifer | 06/11/2007 | Printing
Ordinary prints seem to ask no tasking demands from you or your printer. This is probably why some people fear to tread into custom printing. However, custom printing need not be as problematic as it may sound.
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Frequently Asked Questions
At what put can i take my no claims from one car to put onto another?
By: rco2 | 17-10-2008
At what put can i swap my NCB to a new policy? Does this have to be at the end of the policy with the no claims with. Or, can i take them towards to end of the policy to put onto a new additional car?
Why web pages cropped?
By: Skinnyman | 16-10-2008
How do you print web pages without part of the text being cropped so that you cannot read the whole sentence?
I went on a guided deer and bear hunt in ny state ...
By: Steve | 13-10-2008
i went on a guided deer and bear hunt in ny state and felt i was lied to about the accommadations and services that i was going to recieve from the guide is there a complaint dept for this? thank you i would love to post a review about this guide service so other hunters wouldnt be mislead like me is there a way to do that also? 2cjs@optonline.net
I purchased goods from a loacal trader and the ...
By: Fiona Naylor | 12-10-2008
I purchased goods from a loacal trader and the financial ombudsman were involved. My complaint was upheld and descion was made for dealer to take goods back and pay off outstanding debt and was to settle this within four weeks from end of Sept.He has went bankrupt. and packed up buisness 3 week ago. What happens now. Can this still go ahead ?
Stop Adobe Acrobat from opening
By: Linda Salant | 11-10-2008
how do I keep acrobat from opening every time I print to PDF? I don't want to display the file after I print it... I just want to print it.
I am told there companies that handled ...
By: Richard Fitzgerald | 10-10-2008
I am told there companies that handled prequalified Section 8 vouchers. I have properties in Atlanta, Ga. Need to know the name if available.
Q&A Powered by:
Latest Printing Articles
Things to Plan Well in Advance for
By: Kate | 18/11/2008
I’ve just come off writing a series of articles talking about how planning ahead might cause you trouble if you aren’t willing to keep an open mind, so now I’m going to focus instead on why you should still plan ahead no matter what.
How You Frame Your Offer
By: Colleen Davis | 18/11/2008
This isn’t really about what exactly it is that you’re offering, but more about the way you present your offer. A lot of marketing is centered on a company’s ability to display their offers in a way that appeals to their customers.
How to Create Short But Powerful Ad Copies Through Custom Printing
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
There may be nothing wrong with what you are doing. But certainly you are lacking on some things. If you are utilizing the print medium for your ads, you can try custom printing for a change. This is to cut yourself out from everybody else, to give your image a boost and so that people can finally notice you.
Design Postcards – Designing Your Marketing Attitude
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
You must dwell enough time and thoughts in any advents with regards to this. This includes how to design postcards, how to make effective ad copies and other things that you have to decide on as you utilize different tools.
The Endless Possibilities With Digital Poster Printing
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
Do you own a small shop? Do not think that because your place is small, you cannot opt for bigger adverting means like digital poster printing. This can serve you in many ways than you may have originally planned.
Wholesale Printing – Leading Your Business to the Right Opportunities
By: Maureen Pelayo | 17/11/2008
Wholesale printing gives you an opportunity to take your chance in advertising to a larger crowd. This is mainly because this is affordable, so you will not think twice about taking the plunge.
The Larger Your Audience the More Unfocused Your Message
By: Kaitlyn Miller | 17/11/2008
As size increases so does diversity. Every state is going to have something unique about it. Every major city is going to have those specific traits unique only to them. Every section of that very city is going to have more and more variations
Place Your Product Into a Person’s Life
By: Kaitlyn Miller | 17/11/2008
When I look at a product I’m not immediately thinking to myself about how I might make use out of it. Typically I just see the product, see what it does, and that’s it. Yes, I’m sure that product could change my life
More from Maricar Cadavicio
Capitalize on What Makes You Unique Through Postcard Mailing
By: Maricar Cadavicio | 14/03/2008 | Printing
Do not drop the idea of postcard mailing just because it seems hard to do. First and foremost, look around you. Find something about your products that is not so common with any other products available in the market. List all your ideas.
Get the Word Out About Your Business Through Online Printing
By: Maricar Cadavicio | 14/03/2008 | Printing
The best possible way to do that is through advertising. These days, the materials that you can use for this purpose can be achieved through online printing.
What Comes Before and After Postcard Printing?
By: Maricar Cadavicio | 05/03/2008 | Printing
Make your offer hard to refuse that they will keep thinking about you. Postcard printing and mailing are your advertising tools that directly enhance your visibility to your target market.
How Color Printing Makes a Lot of Difference to Posters
By: Maricar Cadavicio | 05/03/2008 | Printing
With the proper materials and color printing, all you need to worry about is where to place such so that your targeted audience will be able to see them.
Offset Printing, Cutting the Cost Without Sacrificing the Quality
By: Maricar Cadavicio | 05/03/2008 | Printing
Offset printing, also known as lithographic printing, utilizes the four fundamental colors, the CMYK or cyan, magenta, yellow and black or the key color.
Why Choose Large Format Printing?
By: Maricar Cadavicio | 27/02/2008 | Printing
Advertising can come in many shapes and sizes, especially in printed materials. You can choose from a roster of products that would surely give your advertising a boost from small business cards to large format printing.
Postcard Printing Tips on Advertising to Clients in Their Comfort Zones
By: Maricar Cadavicio | 27/02/2008 | Printing
Companies advertise as to be closer to their clients, to make them interested, and to get them to patronize your products and services in as simple as the device of postcard printing.
Offset Printing, Quality, and Quantity: Why it is Important for You
By: Maricar Cadavicio | 27/02/2008 | Printing
If you want to know which the most preferred and most used printing service today, I can tell you that it’s offset printing that tops the charts easily. You can opt to go with what most people choose, but it is also important to know the reasons behind this popularity.
Advertising 
