If you want to engage your catalog customers to help increase your sales you might want to consider having an offer that gets their attention. It’s one of the faster ways to grow your top line.

Pile of magazinesYour catalog is a great way to promote an offer, to help sell more products. We’ve seen websites with great offers that aren’t mentioned in the catalog. For example, if you mail a catalog selling farm supplies, the catalog product pages alone might not convince your buyers to buy from you without additional encouragement. But, having an offer might sway farmers to at least show interest and take a harder look at the products you’re selling.

Have a well-thought-out offer strategy in every mailing. You don’t have to repeat the same offer all the time. By testing different offers you may find one that gets more traction than others. Don’t fool yourself into thinking the way to position these ads no additional value, it certainly does.

Some effective offers might include: free analysis, free consultation, money back guarantees, free samples, free shipping, $5 off, 10% off next order, etc… Consumers tend to react when they see the word FREE so keep that in mind when laying out your next catalog. Your offer copy should increase the buyers desire to engage with your brand.

Lett Direct, a consulting firm specializing in both print and digital, states you should “do your homework by doing a P&L analysis. Know the true cost of giving the promo. Consider the top line results but know the effect on contribution and bottom line. Promotions work. They are an important part of the marketing toolbox. Use them wisely.”

Try designing your catalog with the offer on the front cover to get your buyers attention the minute they see your catalog. Just be careful not to offer something that erodes your businesses bottom line. Also, look at what your competitors are doing and see if you can match or beat offers they are promoting. If they aren’t promoting offers maybe your catalog should, to stand out from your competition.