How to Launch a Mini Catalog

Spiraling postal rates have sent catalogers scrambling to cut costs. Inserts are emerging as a positive solution. A bind-in, blow-in or package-insert program offer the opportunity to reach proven mail-order buyers who are already segmented by interests, purchasing potential and retail categories. Mini catalogs and mini mags are rising stars on the changing catalog scene. Learn how to launch a vital mini catalog to promote your own products.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Printer
• Designer
• Copywriter

How to Measure Mini Catalog Performance

1. Check out the mini catalog. Managing DM News Editor, Cara Wood, maintains that the mini catalog is an excellent option for catalogers looking to reduce mailing weight and cost. The format is usually a simple 9 x 6 inch, 16-page (eight pages, two-sided) piece that weighs 0.4 ounces. In newspapers, a lighter mini version can also be inserted: a four- to 12-page freestanding total insert, six-page die-cut flier, or eight-page glued spine. This size range avoids expensive hand-insertion charges. The typical mini catalog can support up to 150 products for sale.
2. Capture leads. Mini catalogs can lower the program cost of business-to-business direct marketing and surface hidden leads. Contrasting the mini catalog with a past fuller traditional version, Web Direct Marketing Vice President Sy Dordick reported that a mini would capture 3,540 new customers, while the traditional would yield 1,670. From this deep pool, the mini would generate six orders versus 10 orders by the traditional. For effective impact, mini catalogs must be simple, focused, timely and flexible.
3. Save money. A traditional $100,000 catalog program costs about 60 cents per piece in the mail, while a mini would cost 17 cents. So for the same money, a direct mail marketer can send out 590,000 mini catalogs versus about 167,000 traditional catalogs.
4. Move to a mini dynamic catalog. IndiaMART offers a mini dynamic catalog for a multi-page online solution. It provides four pages in one catalog. All pages have the facility for information add, edit and delete. Customers have more space to portray and market products. The mini catalog boasts a short development period. It takes approximately three days to generate this mini dynamic catalog.
5. Try a tween catazine. Tween Brands Inc. tested replacing a postcard campaign for its Limited Too and Justice brands with mini catazines. The catazines, a creative cross between a catalog and a magazine, included a coupon good for in-store purchases. Robert Atkinson, company spokesperson, claimed that the visual impact of a mini catazine was much more productive and drove more sales to the stores than the postcard.

Tips & Warnings

• Add revenue to a mini catalog by testing ads that complement your products and positioning.