Dos and Don'ts for Mailing a Seasonal Catalog

Seasonal catalog mailings can generate mounds of revenue for any business. In fact, some businesses focus solely on catalog marketing for annual revenue. Seasonal catalogs, such as Christmas and Valentine's Day catalogs or spring home-improvement sales catalogs, tend to do the best. To up the ante with your next direct-mail campaign, follow these dos and don'ts for mailing a seasonal catalog to your customers:

Dos

Make sure your catalog is received in enough time to order. Think about the lifecycle of the typical catalog. After it is received, customers flip through it, make comparisons and share it with friends and family before ever making an order. While you don't want your catalog to be mailed so early that it isn't associated with a big buying season, you don't want it to get there too late, either. A catalog

received on Dec. 20 will not do well because there is not enough time to place an order and receive the items before Christmas. A catalog received on Dec. 1, however, could do very well.

Include relevant sales. Think about what your target audience is most likely to buy during this season. If you're focusing on Valentine's Day, you should highlight items couples can gift to each other. If it's spring, rakes, lawnmowers, in-home organizers and anything else that contributes toward spring cleaning will do the trick.

Incorporate a themed design. Great cover and interior design fuels a first look, which drives sales. Make sure your theme matches the season, but you don't need to stick to tradition. In fact, looking different from the competition will result in a high-impact catalog, so invest in a good graphic design team such as the one at PsPrint.

Include a call to action and limited-time offers. A seasonal catalog should be just that - seasonal. Roll out your best deals and make them known right away as limited-time offers do fuel response.

Mail to the right people. Make sure you invest in a highly targeted mailing list or all of your other efforts will be for naught. Who is your target audience? Leverage the tools available on the PsPrint website for building a mailing list that fits your needs.

Don'ts

Send a black and white catalog. Full-color catalog printing yields the highest return on investment. If you're on a budget, you can compromise with a full-color catalog cover and black and white interior pages, but know that color always impacts response rate.

Settle for cheap printing. It should go without saying that desktop printer can't handle your catalog printing, but you should also avoid printing on cheap paper since your company could also be construed as being cheap. Opt for a 100-pound gloss cover around 100-pound or 80-pound text pages (or try 70-pound matte text) for a professional appearance.

Include more than you need. This is especially true if you're on a budget. Your catalog does not have to list every single product or service you sell, only those that are seasonally relevant. To save page count and money, you can direct customers to your website for more items.

Pay too much. While you shouldn't print catalogs on-the-cheap, there's no reason to pay too much for quality catalog printing. Fees can vary widely between catalog printing companies, so do your research.

Since 1990, PsPrint has provided better printing and service to nearly 500,000 small business marketers and graphic designers. PsPrint combines state-of-the-art Internet capabilities and the industry's best printing equipment with experienced print professionals and color specialists to deliver convenient online ordering, consistent color matching and 99.7 percent on-time delivery. By offering a 100 percent customer satisfaction guarantee, PsPrint also stands behind every order, every time. More than 70 top-quality and eco-friendly printed products and related mailing services are available online at www.PsPrint.com.