Is the Brochure still that effective in marketing?

Compare to other marketing materials, brochures are used in a printed format more often. You will find here the answer to the question above. If a brochure is still an effective tool for business success during the era of digitalization?

The marketing brochure…

… is an informative marketing document that is usually used for advertising purposes. A brochure contains information about the company and its products or services. We use them to target new customers or inform the existing audience about the updates.
 
A brochure has 3 formats, based on the fold type: single fold; bi-fold; tri-fold (also known as a pamphlet). A tri-fold type is also differing in its purpose and style. Its aim is rather informative than selling. Plus, it is usually a single page document.  

Why would you need a brochure?

  • Inform about the recent updates
  • Attract new clients
  • Promote products and/or services
  • Increase customers trust and loyalty
  • Decrease marketing costs
As we already mentioned in most of the cases, the brochure has an ‘old-fashioned’ printed format. Many modern businesses mistakenly claim their ineffectiveness in today’s digital world. Yet, traditional marketing techniques, like brochures, are not going anywhere.
 
“Direct mail is more action-oriented than digital media. Because its physical format stimulates the underlying mental processes that guide consumer behavior.”
 
At the end of the day, they have proved the hypothesis. These findings suggest that physical media is better. They close the marketing-sales loop or the gap between interaction and action faster.

Marketing brochures and Small Businesses

Using marketing brochures is important and useful for small businesses. Here is a list of the reasons that will prove this statement.
 
With the marketing brochures, you can meet various business needs.
 
Inform and entertain your customers. You can give a brochure to your customers when they are waiting for the service. In this case, you would better include different product information there. Retail stores with high customer traffic often have brochures at the front of the store.
 
Increase brand awareness. To attract new customers you can hand a brochure to people at the public event.
 
Use in combination with a media kit or promotional giveaway. Adding a brochure to a tangible item like a skirt may attract more attention to it.  
 
With the marketing brochures, you can decrease marketing expenses. Surprised? It is because they have low prime cost and prove its effectiveness. So, you will have a higher return on investment and profit at the end of the days.
 
A single brochure may cost as little as $1. But, as you are going to order mass-production of them, the cost will decrease. Usually, the cost will also vary based on the size and paper type, that small business owner chooses.
 
You can be more time and process efficient.
 
This issue was already mentioned in this article. Every business, despite its size, is a combination of various processes, that are taking place almost at the same time. For example, do you want to build a successful business? You should develop a product, build relations with customers, do financing and accounting, etc.
A brochure covers most of the marketing needs. So you can stop focusing your attention there.
 
A brochure is a good way to start your marketing campaign.
 
As it covers most of the marketing goals. Plus, it is a safe choice for small businesses.
 
Moreover, unless a brochure has a printed format in most of the cases, there is no restriction to post it online. If you create it with Catalog Machine there won’t be a need to do the same job twice. You can create one high-quality copy and publish it online or download a PDF file for further printing.
 
Going online can be also a little bit tricky. If you are a business that already has a website or has already established a digital presence, you can add your brochure there.
 
Yet, if you have just started there is no need to dive into this complex digital word right away. The only thing that you should do, if you are using the Catalog Machine platform, is to make your brochure public, so Google starts ranking it.
 

How to make a professional-looking brochure?

 
Here are some tips on how to make your brochure the most attractive for your customers.
 
Firstly, define the clients’ objectives. Why would your customer need a brochure? Or why would he/she want to open it?
Answering this question, you will know what information to include and how to do it. Remember, the brochure is usually small in size. So, don’t overwhelm it with unnecessary for your client information.
 
Secondly, be super clear. Sometimes simplicity is the best way to attract customers’ attention—especially today when the ads are almost attacking people every minute. Make a clear statement on the cover, instead of cliched images. Unless you should think hard to include the information that your customers want to see.
 
Brochure design should also be created with the customer’s needs in mind. If you are targeting B2B, think about what will fit into their business model. For a new product announcement, you want something stylish and bright. For a startup, something innovative and cost-efficient.
 
Lastly, you should know where you want to go. In other words, what do you want your customers to do after looking through. Put the desired action into the sentence and be sure they have everything to do it. For example, you want the customers to call you. There should be a “Call us” sentence with a phone number. Moreover, they should be bold out and allocated the easiest for the reader way. No one will waist more than 15 sec searching for your contact information.
 
Now you know that even today, a brochure is an effective marketing tool. It will benefit your business by reaching out to new customers, increasing brand awareness and ROI (return on investment).
 
Moreover, you can save money with the Catalog Machine brochure maker. There is no need to hire a designer. You can create everything by yourself. Use and customize our eye-catching and professionally designed brochure templates.
 
Create your brochure fast and easy now! Click here to start

Inventory Management & Catalogs

Businesses with dynamically changing portfolios require a flexible data management system and a real-time view of inventory. Both of them are essential for your business longevity and survival.

Catalog Machine allows you to create a centralized product catalog for all your needs, from online and PDF product presentation, tiered pricing, backed with the inventory management system. Today we will tell you how efficient inventory management helps to expand your business lifetime.  And how a catalog creation becomes a perfect way to manage your data. 

First things first, all you need to know about inventory management

There are multiple definitions of inventory management, as it varies from a company operation process. Generally, it refers to ordering, storing and using (selling) the company’s assets. Inventory could include finished products or raw materials and components, depending on the business and industry.However, the purpose is similar among all companies. Keep on the loop which products you have on hand, where those products are being sold, and when items are running low. 

Why is it crucial to have the right number of items in your stock?

There are two ways of consequences if you estimate your inventory stock wrong.

  • Shortage.  A shortage of inventory means lower customer satisfaction, lower sales, and lower cash flow. 
  • Abundance. A large inventory carries the risk of spoilage, theft, damage, or shifts in demand. 

If inventory management is not handled properly, it can result in a business either losing money on potential sales that can’t be filled or wasting money by stocking too much inventoryFor this reason, inventory management is vital for a business of any size. 

Are you in retail? 

Inventory management is an essential part of a business in every industry. Meanwhile, if you are operating in the retail industry, inventory management importance starts to play the first fiddle. Just because without inventory, the retail business is useless. 

Catalogs & Inventory management

A catalog combines all the inventory information you want to present or to know: wholesale and resale prices, product variants, description, image, etc. Taking this into account, a catalog could become not only a way to present to your customers up-to-date information and enable them to buy but also an effective data management system.  One of Catalog Machine clients is working in the Art industry. It’s a medium-size retail company that are organizing pictures exhibitions. They told me that they need their catalogs for data management. One catalog is equal to one exhibition. So, they can keep on track in terms of sold out and presented pictures. 

It is just one case of how the catalog could be used for effective inventory management. If you are planning to grow your business or at least stay in the game for a long time, we would recommend you to create a catalog with all your products included. 

Why Catalog Machine for your catalog and inventory management?

Display and manage your products with Catalog Machine. It’s a simple way to manage your inventory. Let me tell you what you can achieve with Catalog Machine.

  • Organize your inventory. Keep all the inventory in one place. Easily create multiple catalogs. Put your products into categories and collections. Have different variants of one product (different colours, sizes, etc.)
  • Become fast and flexible. Import product at one click using integration with Shopify, Etsy, Magneto, eBay, PrestaShop, WooCommerce, Zapier. Easily export your inventory. Create a catalog that will be presented on your website and ranked by Google.
  • Facilitate online experience. Create on Online Store and Online Catalogs. Get notified when someone places an order.
  • Scale your business. Capture and consolidate product data across all channels in real-time to serve catalog and inventory data, at scale, all the time.
  • Improve performance and customer satisfaction. Automatically present to your customers only in-stock items. Enable them to order right from the catalog or online store. 

Era of Automation: Catalog Machine integration with Zapier

Do you still believe that product marketing is time-consuming, expensive, and hard? Wrong! Welcome to the era of automation!   

Today we will share a way how to do your product online marketing in the most efficient way. 

Connect different parts of your business with one app

Going to a modern online business you will see that there are thousands of apps that will help you to automatize your workflow. Most of them are pretty useful, but you will simply have a lack of time to use all of them. 

That’s where Zapier comes up. Zapier is an online platform that connects 2000+ web apps with each other. So, you can automate a business workflow quickly and easily. Due to the efficiency that Zapier allows you to achieve, Evernote included it into the top 10 apps in 2018. 

We can bet that you’ve already heard about Zapier and it’s powerfulness. However, the secret of it is deeply connected to another app. Today we want to show you what you can achieve with a combination of Zapier and Catalog Machine.

Catalog Machine Integration with Zapier 

Catalog Machine is a necessary tool when it comes to presenting products to your clients: creating online or PDF catalogs, building your online store and even managing inventory (product stock). As we have already discussed, this is one of the first steps you should take. As it doesn’t matter how good your product is, unless no one sees it, no one buys it. 

The Catalog Machine integration with Zapier allows you not just to present and sell your product but save a lot of time. You can use this time to focus on more important things and grow your business. 

Zapier connects Catalog Machine with thousands of other apps. Google Sheets, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Gmail, Shopify and Slack are just some of them. Let’s see what you can get them in practice. 

Google Sheets, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox 

Uploading products and managing a product database is probably the most time-consuming business process. Simultaneously it’s essential to run the business properly. It gets worth it when you have to update your product database across several platforms (ex. Company’s document system, website, social media, etc.).

Now imagine how great it would be if you change a single row in Google Sheets, and the product information will be updated automatically at other platforms. Good news! Zapier allows you to do exactly this. 

You can update products, catalogs, online store in Catalog Machine from updates rows in Google Sheets or Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox CSV files. In addition, you may receive a record at Google Sheets once you receive a new order. Convenient, isn’t it?

Gmail  

Don’t want to check the platform every other minute to check if someone has made an order? Easy! Use integration with Gmail to receive an email once your customer submitted an order form. 

Shopify  

Lots of businesses have accounts and product databases on Shopify. However, like any other platform it has, it’s limitations. For example, during the conversation with Catalog Machine customers, he confessed that Catalog Machine allows him to create tiered pricing and target retailers and wholesalers at the same time. 

It would be a pity after updating your product database, start it from the very beginning at the other platform. That’s why Zapier connects Catalog Machine to Shopify, to transfer your data at one click.

All of this is just a small part of what you can achieve as a business using Catalog Machine integration with Zapier. 

Are you excited to start? Sign Up to a Catalog Machine. And follow this link to find out how to connect your Catalog Machine app with Zapier. 

  

 

    

  

          

 

The Elements of a Product Catalog: Table of Contents, Contact Info, and Your Story

How do i make it easier to navigate my catalog? Will my customers be able to reach out to me? Does it matter what my business is all about? This catalog digest helps you with all that and more.

Table of Contents

It’s important for whoever is viewing your catalog to be able to easily navigate it and not spend too much time looking for what they need. A table of contents with page numbers and product names can make the shopping experience for the customer much more enjoyable and stress free.

Featuring Images from: Brumleve Industries Wholesale Pricing Catalog

Not only is having a TOC a great way to make a shopping experience smoother, it may help the maker of it as well. If in the future you wish to edit your catalog and add certain products or remove them, the table of contents you made will help you do all this faster. Also having a Table of Contents may also show that you are more professional to the people viewing your product offering.

“Implementing Shopify and having Catalog Machine integrate with it has been a life saver in getting our products, descriptions, and prices automatically imported. We will be distributing our catalog to our wholesale customers. They will now have a color catalog with a much better layout of product, images, and prices”. -Michael Brumleve, Brumleve Industries

Business contact info

Your customers, whether it’s a single individual or a store you are supplying, need to have easy access to your contact info. Make sure to include it either on the first few pages of your catalog or potentially at the end.

Featuring Images from:  Seattle Pump and Equipment Vac-Tools & Accessories Catalog

 

“I found Catalog Machine through the Shopify App Store and immediately began working on our company industrial tools catalog. 2 weeks later I had an extensive 179 page tools catalog filled with hundreds of products that my sales team and customers could use immediately. Something I was dreading became a fairly simple and enjoyable process thanks to Andriy and Catalog Machine!!”- Cole Childers, Seattle Pump & Equipment co.

Tell your story

One of the pages from your catalog can show your vision, how your business started off and what it is that inspires you and everyone involved to keep going with it. You shouldn’t be afraid to self promote.

Featuring Images from:  V’Enza Creations LLC Wholesale Catalog 2018

“I use the catalogs as 3 different options at the moment. I have LOVED having these, they allow me to change things if needed and I have viable information I can instantly send to potential clients!”- Sheila Vaske, V’Enza Creations LLC

Effective storytelling will get the customer engaged. And since you’re marketing your product and business with the catalog anyways, you shouldn’t hesitate to let the customer know a bit more about who they are buying from.

 

For the full galleries featured here you can visit the links below:

https://www.catalogmachine.com/brumleve-industries/catalogs/wholesale-pricing-catalog.html

https://www.catalogmachine.com/seattle-pump-and-equipment/catalogs/seattle-pump-and-equipment-catalog.html

https://www.catalogmachine.com/venza-creations-llc/catalogs/venza-creations-fall-2017.html

Optimizing your E-commerce Ad Channel practices, and your customer’s checkout experience.

Which social media platform is best for your brand and how do you reach the maximum amount of people with it? What are the reasons for your customers abandoning their shopping carts?

The Ad Channel for your brand

There are so many options for where you can advertise your business. Facebook, Amazon, Google and many others are available, and may be hard for the average person to figure out in terms of optimization.

Both Facebook and Google can be very competitive for getting what you want out of the advertising done, as grabbing your audience’s attention may be challenging at times due to competition. There is a difference though, as your brand can be discovered randomly on Facebook while it’s more likely to be researched on Google. Both tend to be expensive options for raising brand awareness.

Amazon on the other hand has a better ratio in terms of spending on advertising versus the return mostly. They are a newer player of course when it comes to advertising on their site, which may lead to some negative aspects like limited ad space. But one can see why it would be lucrative to actually advertise where people come to MAKE their purchases.

Source: 

Facebook, Google, Amazon: Which Ad Channel Is Right for Your Brand?

The right time to post your content

So you have great content to post on your page! That’s good, but sometimes that may not be enough. For instance, at what times are you posting this content? Depending on the platform, people utilize them differently based on a variety of factors, so there isn’t that one ideal time-frame. According to research though, here are optimal posting times broken down based on the various platforms:

  • Facebook: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
    9 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM
  • Twitter: Wednesday
    12 PM, 3 PM, 5-6 PM
  • LinkedIn: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
    7-8 AM, 12 PM, 5-6 PM
  • Pinterest: Saturday, Sunday
    2 PM, 9 PM
  • Instagram: Monday, Thursday
    8-9 AM, 5 PM
  • Google+: Wednesday
    9 AM-1 PM

Source: 

The Best Time to Post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+

Creating a better online checkout experience

When shopping online, people tend to change their minds much easier than if they filled up an actual shopping cart with items and were near the checkout line at the local grocery store. There’s less commitment needed when shopping online and the consumer feels this. Here are the top reasons for why customers abandon their shopping carts. After looking through this, make sure to streamline!

· Extra costs
· Account creation
· Too complicated
· Didn’t know total cost until the shopping cart
· Website errors

Optimizing the user checkout can be simply or may require you to change your entire layout. Here are some basic ideas for changing the way your customer sees their final steps of shopping at your online store:

· Show the multi stage shopping process to the shopper so they know what they’re doing and what’s coming.
· Don’t force them to register.
· Make order modification and back buttons available.

Source: 

How to Build an Effective e-Commerce Shopping Cart