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Like all marketers facing a challenging economy, catalogers need to make sure they secure their marketing budgets and drive results. Below, you will find 12 strategies to help you turn a bad economic context into opportunities. From brand-building tactics to format options, media mix, personalization and pure creativity, catalogers need to ensure they stay top of mind with their existing customers and drive sales.
The organizational knee-jerk reaction in any bad economy is to cut marketing budgets. Why waste money when customers aren't spending, the theory goes? But that's a losing response, and it's exactly what savvy competitors hope you will do. Not only is there market share to be gained in a recession, but critical mind share as well.
Your first mission is to prove to your organization's management team the need to continue investing in marketing. It's the most effective way to not only drive revenue in the coming year and gain market share over your competitors, but also to build your brand and reputation over the long term.
Classic marketing case study examples
One of the most often-cited examples is former Wall Street icon Bear Stearns, whose recent collapse overshadows brand issues that began in the 1990 recession. Merrill Lynch heavily outspent Bear Stearns during the early 90s and leveraged its brand reputation to redefine the competitive landscape. Wal-Mart did the same with Sears, and Gillette pulled ahead of rival Colgate Palmolive during the same period.
The difference among the companies that won and lost is that Merrill Lynch, Wal-Mart and Gillette saw strategic opportunities in the recession. Their competitors were more inclined to hunker down and ride out the storm. As the Branding Strategy Insider points out, “… the brands that continue to build their equity in the recession will be best placed to enjoy the fruits of their labor when the economy inevitably returns to growth.”
Research consistently proves the point
Here are some interesting statistics provided by American Business Media from research conducted over the years:
- A Yankelovich/Harris study indicated that the vast majority of executives agree that seeing a company advertise in a down economy makes them feel more positive about the company and keeps those companies top of mind when considering purchase decisions.
- McGraw-Hill Research's Laboratory of Advertising Performance analyzed the performance of 600
B-to-B marketers and found that those maintaining or increasing their advertising budgets during a recession averaged sales growth of 275% over the preceding five years.
- An American Business Press study revealed that sales and profits can be maintained and increased in recession years, and in the years immediately following, by those who are willing to maintain an aggressive marketing posture.
- A Harvard Business Review report of 200 companies found the sales increases came from companies that advertised the most during the recessionary year.
What about catalog marketers?
“But you're a direct marketer”, you say. Fair enough, but the same effect occurs when you cut your mailings to the bone while others are maintaining or even increasing theirs—especially when good strategies drive their programs.
12 strategies to increase revenue and build your brand
Here are 12 strategies to help you not only survive, but thrive during the next year so that you become stronger than ever as a catalog marketing organization.
- Examine your core value propositions and marketing messages. A recent article in BtoB magazine recommends ensuring that your messaging communicates themes of trust and transparency, which are important to customers after the financial crisis. Share of confidence will be important in 2009.
- Focus on your existing customers. Everyone's best source of new business is with existing customers, yet marketers typically spend heavily on new client acquisition. Develop a strategy to sell more to those who already know you, trust you and appreciate the value of your superior products and customer service.
- Do more with less. Spend strategically, which doesn't mean you should be penny wise and pound foolish. Put more money where you'll get the greatest return on your investment and forget about the marginal stuff.
- Know which target customers have the best potential. Now is the time to dig deeper with analytics and database marketing. Invest in people, tools and services that will help you mine the most desirable customers and prospects.
- Know which product lines to promote. Determine which products are right for which customers and focus on how to market them for the times. For example, positioning products as having good long-term value can help customers justify opting for a better product.
- Use creativity to stand out. Scandinavian furniture and accessories retailer IKEA used a right-hand, fold-over page (single gatefold) to form the door of an armoire. Unfolding the page revealed the interior of the armoire and its contents—no doubt a great attention getter and traffic builder. The Republic of Tea frequently includes a sample tea bag of a new flavor with their catalog.
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| IKEA transforms a gatefold into an armoire |
The Republic of Tea includes
a sample tea bag with their catalog |
- Get personal. Increasing the precision of your campaigns helps them speak more personally to buyers and improve results. Print technologies from selective binding to inkjet imaging, as well as rapidly evolving variable-data digital-print solutions, enable you to target the most appropriate segments of your database.
- Test, test, test. Maintain a strong testing regimen. It can make a significant difference in your results. If you need to reduce budgets, use inexpensive insert media and other alternatives to maintain testing of products, pricing, copy and creative.
- Think metrics. Include reply cards, bar-coded coupons and other devices that deliver sales and leads. Nothing makes a better case for your marketing budget than measurable results.
- Develop new revenue streams. Allow a few non-competitive advertisers to ride along with your catalog as blow-ins, bind-ins or outserts. Advanced bindery technology enables selective insertion as well as personalization. You can also put more emphasis on selling package inserts or consider developing a program if none exists.
- Think differently. Instead of planning your promotional calendar based on product launches, develop campaigns based on database segments or other customer information related to specific needs.
- Mix media. Integrate your regular catalog programs with the web, email and creative personalized direct mail. Research shows that the combination of print and electronic communications delivers the best results. Print drives online traffic and increases the purchase intent throughout the buying cycle. Web-based communications generate trackable metrics.
Work with the right partners
Don't try to do it alone. Battling through a down economy requires all your resources. Collaborate with your suppliers to find innovative solutions that achieve the results you need while stretching your budget. Use the economy to test the resourcefulness of your supply network and evaluate the strengths of your business partners.
Contact your Transcontinental representative to learn how we can help build your revenue and your brand. |
