7 Key Marketing Strategies To Adding More
"Appealing Attraction" to Your Catalog

Often times, people ask me what it takes to make their catalog bring in more sales. Of course we all want our catalog to out-perform our competition’s catalog, making our readers want to buy from us as opposed to our competition. So below I have listed seven key ways of putting more “appealing attraction” into your catalog making your clients want to buy from you instead of someone else.

1: Don't use tiny type for your catalog
Statistical data tells us that about half of the people in the U.S. wear glasses. A recent government survey proved 1/3 of those people have trouble seeing with one or both eyes even while wearing glasses. Therefore the message is clear. You could easily lose the attention of prospects or customers if they have to struggle to read your 6 point (or smaller) ad copy within your catalog.

The smallest size you should make the text within your catalog is 10 point. The average size is 12. But whatever you do, do not fight for space in your catalog by making the text as small as possible. Instead, focus on making your catalog easy to read and appealing to your buyers. If you have more products and information to add to your catalog than you have space, it is better to send out 2 or more catalogs per a year as opposed to one catalog with everything crammed together in a tight fit.

2: Give compelling and appealing advice in your ad copy
David Ogilvy, one of the world-renowned ad copy writers in the advertising hall of fame, once said: “Sprinkle" your catalog copy with advice in the form of side bars that offer tips, tricks, techniques, and ideas. By doing so, you will find a 50-75% increase in sales through your catalog than you would if you advertised your business using the average “product-oriented” type of catalog. This technique also works with direct mail letters and any other form of advertising your company provides.

3: Be specific with your limited-time offers
As a powerful lead and sales stimulator, there's nothing like a "limited-time offer" to compel your buyers to begin buying your products or services from you before it is too late. You have a better chance of your customers wanting to buy from you if you give a specific cut-off date or deadline instead of giving no cut-off date at all.

For example, instead of saying, "Your order must be received within 10 days", say “Your order must be received by July 1st". As a rule of thumb, people need specific cut-off dates and times rather than general dates and times. The more specific the offer, the more compelled your customers will be to buy from you before it is too late.

4: Project an image of authority
Create a feeling of authority in your catalog copy. Your objective is to make your product / service sound like it's the only one of its kind. The best way to do this is to create your catalog with testimonials, endorsements, pertinent facts, even statistics. All of these things can give your catalog an image of authority and power beyond your competitor’s products or services.

5: Don't be different just to be different
At PrintDirectforLess.com we print new promotional literature every day. Some pieces are compelling while others are so offbeat that you can't even tell what the catalog is trying to sell. This is because often, copywriters "bend" the copy in a new direction because of weariness with the tried-and-true style the company has always used.

The key thing to remember is that innovation should be based on tested and proven methods, not on being different just to be different. Any direct response ad copy writer will tell you, “you build upon your successes, not upon the trendy, jazzy or unusual situations”. Leo Burnett, another world-renowned ad copy writer once said, “If you insist on being different just for the sake of being different, you can come downstairs in the morning with a sock in your mouth". So don’t be different just to be different. Be different to educate your customers on the benefits and advantages they will get by purchasing your products or services.

6: Write your catalog's copy promoting the benefits
As I have mentioned in this article already, to get more responses or more orders from your catalog, you must push your prospect's "action button" by providing them with benefits and advantages. To give you an example: The average catalog selling men’s suits might explain the advantages of the suit as "year-round weight wool", "durable cross-stitched buttons" and "a long-lasting hand-sewn collar and armholes". However this is selling the product instead of the benefit.

A catalog selling the benefits to a man’s suit would promote the ideas of how the suit makes the customer look "smart", "handsome", "appealing", "exclusive", "elegant", "professional" and "assured".

So if you want your catalog to be more successful than the average catalog, plan to develop your copy, filling it with benefit after benefit after benefit, making the consumer want to buy "the end result" that your products or services offer to them.

7. Show your product(s) or service(s) being put to use
Last but not least, if at all possible, show pictures within your catalog of the product or service being put to use by us human beings. This is especially important for new products.

If you're selling a weed cutter for the backyard, your photos should show a woman cutting weeds around a tree, a man trimming weeds in a hard-to-reach spot, a woman hanging the cutter up in the garage on its handy storage rack, a man cleaning the cutter with its convenient 3-in-1 cleaning kit or a small child touching the cutter safely because of the cutter's protective casing.

Don't just show your reader your product; show it being put to good use. By displaying your product in this manner, it gives a whole new dimension to the eyes of the reader and helps create new ideas in their minds as to how your products or services can help make their life, easier, more profitable, or more enjoyable.

By following and using these seven forms of "appealing attraction" for your next catalog or direct mail advertisement, I guarantee you will see a dramatic difference in responses compared to your old print ad that did not contain any of the marketing techniques listed above.

Sincerely,
Stephen Shellabarger
www.PrintDirectforLess.com