Gilbert Direct Marketing

If you decide you want to tackle catalog creative development in house, my recommendation is to follow a few simple rules regarding your creative talent. As I said last week, developing catalogs for mail order is different than branding. The more your design team understands the roots of the direct marketing business the better for your business.

Rule #1: If you’re hiring a designer or a creative director, hire vertically. Find someone with a background in your industry. If you market clothing, then find someone who has designed mail order clothing catalogs, etc. There’s a lot of creative talent out there, but it’ll make your

When clients come to me with questions about starting a catalog, invariably the subject of creative development comes up. Should it be their internal creative department despite its limited knowledge of catalog development; their agency, which really knows the business; or someone else entirely?

My answer to those questions always is this: Choose designers who specifically know the mail order catalog market. Why? Consider the following:

A catalog used to generate sales via mail/Internet ordering is a very different animal from a branding vehicle. It may look similar, but companies that create mail order catalogs know exactly how to build a catalog that not only builds

At this point, you’ve done just about all you could to ensure your best holiday 2006 success. And based on the results from last week’s poll on our home page, most catalogers should have a successful season. The results showed that 70 percent of readers who voted project that their holiday sales will be up over last year. This indicates a robust holiday season for most of our readers’ companies.

As impressive as that seems, it still leaves a sizable number of catalogers who expect their sales to be flat or down. This makes me wonder both what went wrong and how we as a

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. My family and I certainly did.

And as this is the time of year when we reflect on what we’re truly thankful for, let me share this with you. I’m thankful for my career in direct and catalog marketing.

Think about it: In what other industry are almost all of the actions we take directly measurable, where our worth as businesspeople can be so easily quantified? I take comfort in that. Don’t you?

As direct marketers, we don’t have to create billboards, institutional ads, or even beer commercials, and pray that they eventually drive in revenue through brand recognition.

First, some comments on reader comments from last week’s blog:

To Lauren and Michelle: You made some excellent points on the difficulties of working within an organization whose top managers aren’t direct marketers. No doubt, retailing and direct marketing are very different disciplines. It’s analogous to being a surgeon: you can be a great heart surgeon, but before you attempt brain surgery, you better get some training.

To Robespierre: Although I’m not a merchandise person, I’ll address some merchandise issues in future postings.

As for this week’s blog, I divide catalog marketing into three main arenas: product, marketing and operations. All require very different skills.

In my

This is the first of a three-part series. The other two installments will appear in November and December 2006 issues. As you develop your marketing plans for the coming year, look at all of the different prospect and customer groups, and build a plan for each group. There are five different types of prospects and customer groups: advocates, buyers, triers, prospects and suspects, based on a behavioral perspective. In the first part of this series, I’ll define these groups; in the other installments, I’ll offer some actionable plans to help you increase your profits next year. 1. Advocates. These are the

There's a rule in direct marketing that states: In order to positively impact the success of a direct marketing business, concentrate 40 percent of your efforts on list analysis and selection, 40 percent on offer (merchandise and promotions), and 20 percent on creative development. As it plays out in many catalog companies, there's a disproportionate effort placed on the creative process. Obviously, your creative is the vehicle that reaches the consumer, sets the tone for your brand and your company, and drives the selling process. After all, if you have

There’s a rule in direct marketing that states: In order to positively impact the success of a direct marketing business, concentrate 40 percent of your efforts on list analysis and selection, 40 percent on offer (merchandise and promotions), and 20 percent on creative development. As it plays out in many catalog companies, there’s a disproportionate effort placed on the creative process. Obviously, your creative is the vehicle that reaches the consumer, sets the tone for your brand and your company, and drives the selling process. After all, if you have only one chance to make an impression, your creative has to be perfect,

By Jim Gilbert One major value of the Internet and e-mail is the power to keep customers involved and informed throughout the purchase cycle. From confirming receipt of an order, to notifying customers of back orders or shipments, event-triggered e-mail tied to your customer database can build your brand, create positive relationships and generate sales. Below, I've put together some effective ways to use e-mail: 1. Use e-mail sign-up confirmations. Although the industry numbers are increasing, there are many companies that don't send out confirmation e-mails when I opt in to receive their newsletters, sales materials and the like. A simple confirmation

Prepare Your Catalog Business for By Jim Gilbert As I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, the sky outside is black and Florida once again is weathering a storm. This one carries 60-plus miles per hour winds and torrential downpours, and the electricity is out in half of my town — and it's only April. By the time you read this column, the real hurricane season will be just weeks away. Even if you don't live in a hurricane zone, consider the disaster preparedness checklist below, as disasters of all forms — earthquakes, terrorist attacks and power outages — can strike at