With all the talk surrounding social media marketing and Internet marketing, it can sometimes lead to thinking print marketing is no longer effective.  There is no denying that e-commerce is expanding and becoming a popular marketing channel, but research and statistics indicate we shouldn’t rule out print marketing, particularly as it relates to industrial buyers.  According to Real Results Marketing research, more than 65 percent of distributors use catalogs to effectively market their products.  Effectiveness was measured based on return on marketing investment, lifetime value and customer retention.

Catalogs vs. E-Commerce

E-commerce websites and catalogs overlap in many ways, but they are different enough that one marketing channel cannot completely replace the other in terms of usefulness:

• Buyers use catalogs featuring product photographs and descriptions when they’re not in front of a computer.
• Buyers use catalogs from multiple distributors in order to compare products side by side, quickly and efficiently.
• Catalogs are physical products that serve as a constant reminder – they sit on desks, on shelves, and in filing cabinets and are seen multiple times so that the supplier’s brand is always on their prospective buyer’s mind.

How Distributors Use Catalogs

The extent that distributors use catalogs depends greatly on the size of the company. Somewhat surprisingly, the research by Real Results Marketing shows that almost 30 percent of distributors are not using their catalog materials to generate new customers.  Those who print catalogs regularly tend to send the print marketing to their existing customer list instead of using them for prospecting.

In terms of distributor size; the smaller distributors are more likely to use catalogs for prospecting than larger distributors and smaller distributors also tend to have fewer products and smaller catalogs which offer better opportunities for prospecting.

Distributor Attitudes Surrounding Print Marketing

Of the distributors surveyed in this research, nearly half feel that print marketing is still a viable advertising method for their business. Of companies who have recently abandoned catalog marketing, they stated two primary reasons for discontinuing:

1) Belief that e-commerce was going to put an end to all print marketing;

2) Imprecise measurement of ROI for catalog marketing; so companies are unable to determine the effectiveness of the marketing channel and discontinue when their budgets are stressed.

Print Marketing Still an Effective Marketing Channel

Research has made it clear print marketing, and catalog marketing in particular, is not a dying channel for many companies.  Based on survey results, it appears many distributors are not using print catalogs to their full potential and could easily gain competitive advantage if they employed the catalogs more thoroughly in their marketing efforts.

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