Catalog Marketing
CATALOG MARKETING is a business that is financially “front-loaded” and very competitive. Success depends on so many factors that require significant investment and effective management, including a house file, merchandise, printing and mailing, call centers, order fulfillment centers, and the information systems to support it all. The large number of catalogs arriving in mailboxes each day requires that a company develop a clear message with great creative in order to be noticed. LENSER professionals have over 100 years of combined experience in areas critical to the success of any catalog company, including:
Strategic Planning: It is important for a business to objectively evaluate its market position and operations periodically, and do so with the benefit of a fresh, seasoned perspective. LENSER provides expertise in the areas of:
- Strategic Business Plan: development of a business plan that incorporates management and shareholder goals, company history, market research, and operational best practices.
- Integrated Marketing Plans: creation of a coordinated advertising and promotions calendar, catalog and direct mail circulation plan, and email campaigns that promote a consistent image across all channels and deliver results.
- Business Competitive Strategy: identification of the core competencies and key differentiating factors of a business, and development of a marketing plan that fully leverages those, helping a firm to improve and solidify its competitive position.
Circulation Management: A customer list is the most valuable asset a company has, and maximizing the value of that list requires careful management and planning. In addition to its team of consulting professionals, LENSER has an entire department of highly skilled and dedicated circulation professionals. The services LENSER provides on an ongoing basis for many of our clients includes Customer Relationship Management, Merge-Purge, Cooperative Databases, and Private Exchange Programs.
List Brokerage: LENSER believes the role of the broker should not only be to recommend great lists, facilitate exchanges, and aggressively negotiate terms, but to maximize response and profit. We know first-hand what lists perform successfully for different types of clients because our departments are regularly interacting and providing much guidance on a daily basis.
Creative Services: We have seen firsthand how marketing-driven creative provides our clients huge breakthroughs in response. Doubling or tripling response rates. But creative like this isn’t just “words and pictures”... it can only happen when based on solid marketing strategy. Creatives who can think strategically, like marketers, are rare. They go far beyond conventional creative tricks of the trade....they stretch the creative and make it more dynamic and responsive, with the use of marketing-driven concepts. That pretty well describes our LENSER Creative team.
Best Practices Review: The catalog industry is exceptionally competitive. LENSER professionals are prepared to conduct a comprehensive review of your business, providing recommendations based on industry best practices:
- Circulation and List Service: evaluating your customer list, customer acquisition programs, and catalog circulation, identifying key opportunities for improvement.
- Print Buying: reviewing your print quality and costs and identifying areas where the cost to quality relationship could be improved.
- Call Center: review of effectiveness in handling customers, orders and customer service, as well as operational costs and efficiencies.
- Fulfillment Operations: review of costs and effectiveness of pick and pack operations, inventory management, and logistics and benchmarking to industry standards.
- Information Systems: evaluating the effectiveness of company order processing, fulfillment, marketing, merchandising and back end information systems.