Catalog Doctor: How to Boost Page Sales, A Marketer's Checklist

Patient: Doc, my catalog looks good, and the copy's pretty good, too. But somehow I don't feel like each page is selling as well as it could. Can you give my team any prescriptions for boosting page “sellability”?

Catalog Doctor: Many catalogers have merchants select the products for each two-page spread, then hand them to designers/copywriters to make them look and sound good. But that process can miss the middle step of analyzing how to make each two-page spread sell harder. Here's a prescription for a checklist to help you add that analysis step. Follow it and your catalog should sell better soon.

Marketer's Checklist for Two-Page Spreads to Orient Consumers

• A big spread headline can add clarity, sell and pacing. It can help consumers decide if the spread is worth looking at.
  Ask: Does this spread need one? Examples: "Our lightest T-shirts are cool and comfortable," "Are you vacation ready?" and "Luxury."
• Small category titles are like tabs in a big dictionary. Used often by B-to-B catalogers, they can work well for many consumer catalogs by helping consumers know "they're in a section they're interested in."
  Ask: Should this spread have a category title? Examples: "Kitchen" or "Garage" in a home catalog, "Classics" or "Mysteries" in a book catalog. Sometimes longer is better: "Chevy Parts" is good, "Chevy Parts 1965 and Older" is better.
• Category breaker spreads "break up" standard design patterns to catch attention and say, "Hey, new category starts here, better take a look."
  Ask: Should this be a breaker spread? If yes, what technique should you use: introduction? Big feature product? Lifestyle shot? Switching from a grid to a nongrid, or vice versa?

Strategies to Increase Page Views by Quick-Scanning Shoppers

• Hero products (bigger than average, placed in key spots) help grab readers’ attention so they slow down and look at the rest of the products on each spread.
• Ask: Have I assigned a No. 1 and No. 2 hero for this spread? Are they best-sellers for that category? Occasionally "new" or something else special can justify making a non-best-seller a hero.
• Useful/interesting product groupings help quick-scanning readers better notice great products.
  Ask: How can I build effective groups on this spread? Examples: Chicken-motif items together, dustpans with brooms, group of anti-pest items.
• Don't bury special features.
  Ask: Does this product have features that would benefit from special attention outside of the copy block? Examples: Photos of a hidden zip pocket, callouts to a Teflon coating, illustration of how a table unfolds, etc.