The multi-channel environment is often seen as the death knell of printed catalogues, but this hardy medium refuses to die and continues to play an important role in the marketing mix. They are highly portable, often easier to access than a website, can be passed around among colleagues and can have real longevity when stored as reference guides.
According to Caroline Saich, general manager at Synergy Partnership, which organises the European Catalogue & Mail Order Days (ECMOD) event, the most prolific users of catalogues in B2B are in the office supplies, furniture and equipment sectors. Industrial health, safety and security also account for a lot of catalogue mailings, while computing, communications, warehouse, materials handling and packaging figure highly as well, she says. Alex Walsh, head of postal affairs at the DMA, adds, There is now a big market for catalogues among small companies or self-employed people where the option of next-day delivery is more convenient going to a local trade outlet.
The basic principle of the paper-based catalogue has not changed much since the year 1744 when Benjamin Franklin produced the world’s first catalogue to sell scientific and academic books. Through this simple idea the size, shape and appearance of the catalogue, and the numbers mailed are capable of almost limitless tailoring to fit the target audience. The Screwfix catalogue, for example, which sells trade tools and accessories, has historically been A5 because it fits easily into a toolbox or glove compartment.
Royal Mail’s introduction of Pricing in Proportion (PiP) in August 2006 meant that many companies had to manipulate the weight and format of their catalogues to ensure they got the best from their mailing costs. Businesses that produce small catalogues have added pages, while companies that regularly sent out large catalogues have tended to replace them with smaller, but more frequent versions, each of which concentrates on a different part of the product range. Often, the complete catalogue showing the entire range is now restricted to an annual mailing.
Regardless of the restraints of the medium and the method of distribution, there are a number of basic factors that marketers should consider when using catalogues for B2B marketing.
1. Send it to the correct person
This may sound obvious, but it is fundamental. Who the decision maker is varies from organisation to organisation, if not from department to department. For example, buying certain products may be the responsibility of an office manager, PA or secretary, they may be purchased ad hoc by individuals or, in very small companies, all supplies could be purchased by the MD.
Walsh at the DMA adds, Some business purchase decisions involve a number of people. Someone recommends a product, their supervisor endorses it and their manager approves the purchase, before the buyer can actually buy. It’s therefore worth sending a catalogue to more than one contact in a company. Marketers can build successful mailing databases by concentrating on the buying patterns of their customers and also by buying targeted lists that identify purchasers and purchase decision makers for products similar to their own.
2. Send it at the right time
Most catalogues are mailed between once a month and once a year. Exactly when they should be despatched depends on the product and customer base, and can also differ according to whether the target is a prospect or a customer. Some products are seasonal or associated with specific times for example, financial-year end, and customers also have buying cycles to suit their company’s needs. Marketers should analyse their customers’ purchasing patterns and then use the information to determine the timing of the catalogues’ despatch. Different sectors, customers or individuals can then be sent catalogues at the most appropriate times in their buying cycle.
Traditionally, August was a quiet month for B2B activity, but with people now taking holidays at different times and with fewer competitive catalogues being mailed, some companies are finding it cost-effective to mail in quiet months. Many marketers also believe that catalogues are more likely to be read and kept if they don’t arrive at a busy time. They avoid Mondays for example, when recipients have both Monday’s and Saturday’s post to deal with, or Fridays when people are winding down for the weekend.
3. Draw attention to it
Matthew Pepper, client services director at database specialist Abacus Direct, says, Before the catalogue is despatched, some B2B cataloguers send out emails to pre-announce its arrival as well as to highlight the main attractions within it. Some also send follow-up emails after the catalogue has been mailed in order to check that it has arrived, remind recipients to look and prompting them to purchase.
4. Encouraging people to buy
This is typically achieved through incentives. The kind of incentives that are effective include free shipping, product samples, free audits or consultations (depending on the product or service) as well as good old-fashioned discounts. One hundred per cent guarantees are also powerful incentives as they give buyers confidence in a company – particularly if they have never purchased from it before. It is important to be cautious of incentives – they are not generally welcomed in the public sector, for example. However, a customer who buys regularly is worth more to a supplier than just a contact name and should be rewarded appropriately.
Rather than growing or shrinking, it is probably more accurate to say that the catalogue market is changing.
One of the main disadvantages of paper catalogues is that they are not dynamic. A product range on a website can change instantly and also provides opportunities for additional, up to date content. However, the paper catalogue does have a part in today’s digital world. It can play the role of sale driver as well as sales channel, ie. it not only sells directly, but also and increasingly, drives customers to websites to order. According to research conducted by Royal Mail into catalogue marketing, 71 per cent of postal or phone orders and 33 per cent of Internet orders had been prompted by a paper catalogue. Online catalogues offer the customer the advantage of interaction plus the convenience of setting up regular online ordering cycles. Saich at Synergy comments, Customers want a true multi-channel choice. Some browse the catalogue and then order online for the speediest outcome; others visit a trade counter to see the item and then take advantage of online discounts.
The key challenge around multi-channel is to identify the provenance of the purchase and which channel drove it. Companies should learn where business has come from by analysing who has purchased and through which medium. They should then track back to see if that individual has subsequently appeared on a mailing list used in another medium, in particular whether they had recently received a catalogue. This is crucial to understanding channel dynamics. Without it, companies cannot create a true multi-channel strategy. Pepper at Abacus Direct says, Simply equating sales in one channel to that specific channel can be very misleading and can cause incorrect assumptions and decisions which impact on profitability across all the channels.
Walsh of the DMA, says, There is evidence that B2B catalogues are growing in number especially for consumables such as paper, computer supplies, printer inks and toner. With increasingly sophisticated spam filters it is becoming ever more difficult to use email in B2B and there are still many organisations where employees lack access to the Internet. Simon O’Mahony, head of marketing at Screwfix Direct adds, B2B marketing catalogues are likely to become more personalised both in the message and the content and we’ll see more niche catalogues springing up to service the smaller sectors.
Electronic media has not taken over from the paper catalogue because the latter is so convenient. Looking at a catalogue doesn’t require a power source, there are no download restrictions, they are easy to flick through, can be passed to colleagues and are portable. O’Mahony at Screwfix, adds, Research conducted by the US Postal Service indicates that companies which have cut back on catalogue mailings have actually lost multi-channel business. Evidently, customers aren’t swapping one medium for another, but are enjoying the flexibility of being able to use them all, a concept that all companies could benefit from.
