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In the second installment of this three-part series on how catalogers’ pricing strategies are evolving in response to the Web’s effect on branded products, this week I’ll provide options on how to increase sales without cutting prices across all merchandise. (For part 1, click here.) Catalogers often mistakenly assume that cutting prices will increase sales enough to deliver additional profit. Sales can go up, but profits can go down. Even worse, sometimes cutting prices yields no increase in sales; then profits really decline. To successfully achieve a 10 percent-plus sales increase based on cutting prices, you must first test the price sensitivity of

Identifying technical buyers is only part of the equation; marketing to them is the tricky part. In a webinar presentation last week from Kellysearch.com and Enquiro Research, presenters Gord Hotchkiss, president and CEO of Enquiro, and Phil Manning, marketing development manager at Kellysearch.com, provided their thoughts on how to most effectively market and sell to the B-to-B community. Below are some of the top tips picked up during the session. 1. Segment the technical buyer. Manning referenced the technical buyer as an individual who’s planning to make a purchase of $1,000 or more in the next year of one of the following: software, hardware,

One thing you can do to generate additional revenue between now and the end of the year is to make use of a postcard. We talked previously in this series about using postcards before and after a catalog drop to enhance your catalog’s offerings and increase revenue. We also talked about finding room in your mail schedule to drop an additional catalog.
Now, here’s another way to use a postcard.
Instead of an extra catalog, do a postcard mailing to select groups of customers. Determine what part of your customers and/or prospects would respond to a postcard. Consider mailing to older customers who

In recent times, online communities have become the target of some multichannel marketers seeking a new way to increase sales. For those who haven’t, the most important questions are how to address these groups and what tactics can be used to draw them in. Three marketing experts — John Trimble, SVP of Branded Sales for Fox Interactive Media; Larry Harris, EVP, director of integrated marketing at DraftFCB and Michael Sanchez, CEO of Cafemom.com and Clubmom.com spoke on this subject during a session on creating engagement and response within online communities seminar last week at the DM Days New York Conference & Expo. Below is

While many over the years have tried to break down Internet advertising to an exact science, the most effective method is still a combination of luck and guesswork, according to Taddy Hall and Robert Barocci from recently published their book, “The Online Advertising Playbook: Proven Strategies and Tested Tactics from the Advertising Research Foundation” (Wiley 2007, ISBN: 978-0-470-05105-4, $29.95). There are a number of ways that catalogers and other multichannel merchants can succeed advertising on the Web. The book contains a bunch of them. Below are several excerpted from it. Create a balance between reaching the right people the right number of times with

Previously, Fabris was a guidebook writer for the travel guide publisher Hunter Publishing. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in foreign languages and literatures from the University of Delaware, and a master’s degree in publishing from Pace University in New York City, she worked in Europe as a speechwriter for the U.S. military and as editor for an English-language publication. In addition to serving as a contributing editor for Catalog Success, Marissa contributes to the Target Marketing Group’s other publications.

Nicole Rollender is responsible for production and editing of Catalog Success as well as other projects for the Target Marketing Group. Previously, she served as an editor at The Journal of Commerce in Newark, N.J., where she produced and wrote 70 special advertising sections annually, in addition to writing magazine features. She also has experience in marketing, advertising and Web site design. Additionally, Rollender has served as editor of Contingency Planning & Management, a monthly trade publication for the business continuity and disaster recovery industry. She has a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from The Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s

Catalogers ad spend will increase to $1.3 billion in 2007, reflecting increasing Internet competition, according to estimates in a recent study on advertising ratios and budgets from market research firm Schonfeld & Associates. By comparison, online stores Amazon.com and eBay plan to increase ad spending this year by 11 percent and 21 percent, respectively. Other data revealed in the study: * Computer manufacturers, such as Hewlett-Packard, will increase ad spending by 5.3 percent. * Retail department stores, including such catalog mailers as J.C. Penney, will spend $4.3 billion in 2007, up 7.5 percent from 2005. * Variety stores, such as Target and Wal-mart, will

Consider leveraging Web 2.0 technology to boost your Web site’s intuitive response to your customers, said Bridget Fahrland, executive director at Web design firm Fry Inc., and Kevin Messing, Fry’s creative director, in their session “Designing for Web 2.0: Questioning the Conventional Wisdom of Web Design,” at during the ACCM in Chicago. Messing defined Web 2.0 as being second-generation Internet technologies that drive a better user experience online. “Web 2.0 is a new approach to creating and distributing content online, characterized by open communication and decentralized sources of content,” he said. Here are some practical do’s and don’ts for starting to use this next-generation

By Jim Gilbert Your most strategic asset is your outgoing product package. It's one of the customer touchpoints that can build a powerful brand identity, and be used to convert new customers into multibuyers. But I've often found this asset to be under-utilized — from not inserting any marketing collateral, to treating marketing materials placed inside as an afterthought. People love to get the products they've purchased. It's like opening presents during the holidays. When an individual opens the box, the enclosed items are seen in a positive light — even the marketing materials. That's why most catalogers place bounceback catalogs in the