What Every Catalog Copywriter Wants & Needs to Know (828 words)

by Pat Friesen

How much does a catalog copywriter need and want to know about your products before writing those five-lines-or-less blocks of copy that close thousands of dollars in sales?

More than you may think.

Catalog copy is deceiving. Just because it's short copy doesn't mean your writer doesn't need to know plenty about each product. Keep in mind a catalog copywriter is a salesperson—just not on commission.

Here's a checklist based on my experience as an in-house and freelance writer for consumer and business catalogs selling everything from PVC piping to handmade sweaters. This is the basic information catalog copywriters need to have on product fact sheets before they start writing copy for you.

• Product name for catalog use. If this is to be determined by the catalog writer, provide the "working" name that's currently being used. If nothing else, it helps the writer (who may be writing about hundreds of products) keep the products straight until the official name is approved.

• Where the product is made. Sometimes, the country of origin must be disclosed in the copy. In other instances, it may be used to add mystique or value to the product.

• Specifications. Certain specifications may be necessary for ordering a product (i.e., clothing sizes); others may help sell a product (i.e., "the only encyclopedia in the world that fits in your shirt pocket"). Don't use vague descriptors such as "large" and "extra tall" on product fact sheets. Let the writer use facts to choose the best word to describe a feature/benefit. Specifications can include fabric content, weight, size, care instructions and colors.

• Availability. Is this product available exclusively in your catalog? If your company also has stores, is the product a catalog exclusive and not available in the stores? Exclusivity is a powerful selling point.

• Key product features/benefits for the targeted audience. Never list features only (i.e., galvanized metal). Features become important/valuable when they are translated into and sold as customer benefits (i.e., "rustproof to last a lifetime").

• Why the product was selected in the first place. Catalog buyers (the professional folks who research and select products to be included in catalogs) usually have good reasons for why they put products in catalogs.

Unfortunately, this information often doesn't reach the catalog copywriter.

And it should. Is this, "THE BEST widget we've ever seen in our 35 years of selling widgets"? Is it a great value? Is it an affordably priced version of a designer original? Details like these help your writer differentiate products within your catalog as well as in comparing them to similar products available in the marketplace.

• Cross-selling opportunities. Can this product be worn, used or eaten with products sold elsewhere in the catalog? If so, which ones—and on what pages are they?

• Pricing. How many times have you said or heard, "Oh, we'll just drop the price in later." Copywriters need to know the price to help sell the value of a product. Also provide writers with information about discounts—quantity, sale, member and early-bird—when available.

• Competitive information. Does a competitive catalog sell the same or a similar product? Provide your writer with competitive tear sheets.

• Details, details, details. In an ideal world, product fact sheets would include item/order codes, exact piece counts, exact sizes, etc. The more details that have to be "dropped into the copy" later, the more work it is for someone else. And if you're using a freelance writer, additions and revisions may add to your copywriting costs.

• New, improved, new name. "New" is an exciting word; let your writer know when a product is new so they can tell your customers. If you have a best-seller that you've made even better, a product with a problem you've corrected or a new name for an old favorite, tell your copywriter.

• Miscellaneous. If it takes six weeks for delivery (and for good reason), or the customer needs to provide three initials for personalizing, or the product is not available until the year 2000 (and the catalog mails in October 1999), indicate this so your writer can include it in the copy. This way customers won't be disappointed.

• Catalog page number. In most cases, catalog copywriters write copy in two-page spreads with the approved layouts in front of them. This allows them to see the sales environment (what else is being sold on the spread) and how much space has been allocated to copy. It also positions the product in relation to the catalog's "hot spots" (front and back spreads, front and back covers, etc.).

If at all possible, make sure your catalog copywriter (a) sees the actual product and (b) has a product photo for reference while writing copy.

Pat Friesen, president of Pat Friesen & Co., is a direct response copywriter and strategist wth more than 20 years' experience. She can be reached at (913) 341-1211 or by e-mail at friesen_pat@hotmail.com.