Formulating a B-to-B Catalog Mailing Plan, Part 2
During his presentation at last week’s MeritDirect Co-op in White Plains, N.Y., the list firm’s vice president of database strategy Dan Harding touched on key points regardng production and creative costs; all factors to be considered when setting up a B-to-B mailing plan. In this second part of a two-part series in this edition, he laid out six more tips.
7. Integrate page changes. Harding noted that modest page changes from edition to edition of catalogs can improve productivity compared to pages that don’t change. He suggested changing 6 percent to 10 percent of inside pages with each monthly catalog mailing to customers. Creative change costs generally increase total mailing costs by 2 percent to 8 percent, but usually deliver much larger gross margin increases. Effective changes include changing category sequences and creating two or three versions of each important product listing (at the same time) and alternating them from month to month.
8. Use incentives to lure new customers. Offer incentives to draw in new customers that are worth keeping — those that spend big or buy frequently, Harding said. Consider such incentive offers as free shipping, 10 percent to 20 percent off everything, $10, $20 or $30 off total order, or 15 percent off first orders plus $40 off second orders that are placed within 90 days.
9. Improve reorder frequency & AOV. The average order frequency for B-to-B is 12 months, Harding said. To help improve upon this, offer an incentive to reorder within four months. Renotify customers with this offer every 30 days or less. Also add relationship products with natural high usage and reorder rates (at least 100 different items), increase customer mailing frequency and send special e-mail offers based on previous orders. To increase AOV, Harding suggested putting impulse items and consumables near the order form and getting larger companies as customers.
10. Be creative with your copy and design. Make use of photos and illustrations in your catalog, Harding advised. Show products in use, products in use with people, problem pictures (before and after), mix and match, and in cut-away form. People shots receive high attention, he said, especially two people interacting with each other. Use of tables, charts and diagrams can also prove to be effective, Harding said. Even if only 2 percent of your customers look at them, they’re the ones to focus on. These include competitive comparison charts, options and accessories charts, SKU tables, and a diagram of usage steps (or processes).
11. Keep track of your competitors. To keep your catalog performing at top efficiency, know what those around you are doing. Compare these factors against your competitors’ catalog: increased or decreased page space, relisting of new products from previous quarter, product category differences, mailing frequency, dropped products and product rotation. This allows you to learn what your competition does well while also learning what they struggle with. Incorporate aspects they do well, while learning from their weaknesses.
12. Test your catalog to determine what works best. Harding suggests multiple mailings of your catalog, then comparing response to determine which catalog works best. Test cover concepts, more pages vs. fewer, mail frequency, multiple sequences of prospect books with differing page length, customer catalog to prospects vs. a unique prospecting catalog and many changes vs. no change (multiple mailings to customers).
