Cataloging Hot Spots

In a world where anything more than a month old is in danger of being considered obsolete, rules of thumb are a happy exception—they take time to develop, and the best of them gain validity with age.

In our last article we explored one of the oldest rules of thumb: the 1-percent response rate. In this column we’ll explore a rule that’s almost equally old: catalog hot spots.

We often hear about catalog “hot spots”—those magical spots in our catalogs that can dramatically boost sales for almost any product we place there.

But do such hot spots actually exist? Where are they, and why do they work? Do they vary from product to product, or catalog to catalog? How powerful are they really? And most importantly of all, can you use them to boost your sales and response rates?

“Catalog Hot Spots”: The Rule of Thumb

“Hot spots” are the pages in your catalog where any product will sell better.

The hottest spots are (in order):

1. The opening spread

2. The back cover

3. The pages adjacent to a bound-in order form

4. Any pages facing a bind-in card

5. The closing spread.

Are “hot spots” real?

Absolutely. I’ve sometimes seen an average product that’s moved from a cold page to a hot page increase its sales by 50 percent. Test it yourself!

What creates hot spots?

Hot spots exist for the same reason that the 1-percent response rate exists—because most people we mail to are not very interested in buying from us.

To see how lack of customer interest creates hot spots, consider first how our most enthusiastic customers treat our catalog. Every cataloger has some of these super-

loyalists—wonderful customers who would happily crawl over barbed wire to buy from us. How do super-loyalists read our catalog when it arrives? They devour it from cover to cover. Each inch of our catalog is treated equally by these super-loyal customers—which means there are no hot spots in catalogs mailed to super-loyal customers.

And the same is true for prospects with zero interest in our catalog—they dump our catalog with barely a glance, so there are no hot spots in their catalogs either.

Of course, most of our readers fall somewhere between these two extremes—they neither devour nor dump our catalogs. Instead they “grab and glance.”

And “grabbing and glancing” creates hot spots. Hot spots are the pages in our catalog that are easily seen even by people who pay very little attention to our catalog.

Taking it a step further, the hottest spots are those pages that virtually everyone will notice, even if they have almost zero interest in our catalog.

Why are specific pages hot?

Here’s why each hot spot is hot:

• Most readers will start browsing our catalog at the front (making the opening spread our hottest spot).

• A large number of readers will also look at their names on the address label (making the back cover our second-hottest spot).

• A smaller but still significant number of customers will notice any page where the catalog naturally “falls open” (making pages beside the order form or other bind-ins our third- and fourth-hottest spots).

• About one-third of our readers will start flipping through our catalog from the back (making the closing spread our fifth-hottest spot).

What products should you feature in your hot spots?

For maximum sales, stock your hot spots with bestsellers.

Why bestsellers? Why not your highest-margin products, your most unique products or your newest products? It goes back to what makes hot spots hot.

Hot spots have a higher percentage of uncommitted viewers than the other pages in your catalog—that’s why they’re hot, because they’re noticed even by people who have little interest in the rest of your catalog. And your bestselling products are popular for the same basic reason: they’re appealing to the largest possible cross-section of people. So offering your broadest-appeal products on the pages being viewed by the widest variety of viewers makes sense.

Two more fine points:

1. The hot spots beside your bind-in order form should offer lower-priced bestsellers, because the lower price makes it easier for buyers to impulsively “tack on” these items as they’re filling in their order form. (And remember, many phone buyers still fill out an order form before they call.) Clever merchandising of the hot spots beside your bind-in order form can significantly boost your average order.

2. The opening spread in a catalog mailed primarily to prospects needs to convey a powerful “variety message” to pull the maximum number of newcomers into your book. So rather than featuring just one or two bestsellers, your opening spread should feature a larger number of bestsellers (or even non-bestsellers) across the entire range of your products, to demonstrate the variety of your catalog as a whole.

Are there “cold spots” too?

Just as hot spots are the most easily seen pages, “cold spots” are the pages least likely to be seen by accident.

Cold spots occur midway between two hot spots. One cold spot appears approximately halfway between the opening spread and the bind-in order form, and another halfway between the order form and the closing spread.

What products belong in cold spots? The basic rule: Don’t waste key products or messages. On cold pages you’re talking only to your most highly committed readers, so these pages are ideal for special-interest and niche products.

When can something other than a bestseller go on a hotspot?

Because hot spots are seen by more people than any other pages in your catalog, hot-spot pages are your “billboard” to the world. Most catalogers stock them with bestsellers, but other choices may make sense, depending on your. Specific goals and needs. For example:

• If you have a special offer that you really need to

promote hard, a hot spot is the best place to put it.

• If you’re mailing mostly to prospects, hot spots are the right place to convey any critical selling messages regarding your offer, your company and your product line.

• If you’re mailing mostly to prior buyers, new products in your hottest spots will help avoid reader boredom.

What should never go on hot spots?

Unless you’re seeking publicity (as Victoria’s Secret does with its diamond bra or Neiman Marcus with its fantasy Christmas covers), it’s usually a waste of time and money to put less popular products in your hot spots.

And it’s also usually wrong to fill hot spots with boring editorial. Before doing that, ask yourself—is the editorial material you’re considering for this hot spot so important that you’re willing to sacrifice your most valuable selling space? If you truly must place editorial material on a hot spot, keep it as compact as possible.

When can hot spots be safely ignored?

If your catalog has 16 or fewer pages, hot spots will be less important to you, simply because all your pages are quite easy to find, even for your uncommitted readers.

But the reverse is also true—if your catalog is very long, the importance of your hot spots increases, because so many of your inner pages are so deeply “buried.” That’s why many big-book catalogers are including extra bind-ins these days—they’re creating additional hot spots to offset the ponderousness of their catalog.

How can you earn maximum benefit from the hot spots in your catalog?

A typical catalog has seven or fewer hot spots, so stocking them deserves some careful thought.

Here are a few typical “hot-spot strategies” for catalogers of various types:

For a medium-size gift catalog targeted to prior buyers:

• Opening spread: rotating bestsellers (to maximize sales while minimizing boredom).

• Back cover: special offer plus an “easy sell” bestseller that requires little copy (since the back cover is generally awkwardly laid out to meet postal requirements.)

• Order form split: intriguing lower-cost bestsellers.

• Other bind-in pages: consistent bestsellers.

• Closing spread: experimental products. The closing spread is often a cooler hot spot.

For a small seasonal food catalog targeted to prospects:

• Opening spread: a traditional favorite, plus a test “new favorite” (because seasonal food buyers look forward to “old favorites” but often respond well to modest brand extension with “new favorites” as well.)

• Back cover: a time-limited special offer to incite early orders (smooths staffing requirements and phone

volume) plus, if there’s space, an “easy sell” bestseller.

• Order form split: relevant lower-cost bestsellers.

• Other bind-in pages: a smaller catalog will probably not have other bind-ins.

• Closing spread: secondary bestsellers.

For a non-technical business-to-business cataloger:

• Opening spread: very clear explanation of the “unique selling proposition,” including a look at the bestselling products/services offered. For most b-to-b catalogers, a clear text-based explanation up front is vital to making the sale.

• Back cover: a time-limited special offer to propel prospects into action.

• Order form split: terms of sale and a quick index.

Terms of sale are often vital in b-to-b sales, making them appropriate for a hot spot.

• Other bind-in pages: bestsellers.

• Closing spread: a full index.

How many additional sales dollars can you earn from an optimal hot spot strategy?

A definitive answer to this question would require a careful split test between two versions, one with all hot spots stocked with bestsellers, the other with all hot spots stocked with weaker merchandise. I’ve never known a cataloger willing to make that test.

However, over many years of cataloging I have often seen products moved from a cold spot to a hot spot gain 30 percent to 50 percent in sales.

So converting to a strong hot-spot strategy can add significant dollars to your bottom line. And on that happy note I’ll wish you the best of luck with your hot spots.

Susan J. McIntyre is president of McIntyre Direct, a consulting firm and agency specializing in catalogs and multi-channel sales environments. McIntyre is a three-time Echo Award winner, international speaker and author. She can be reached at McIntyre Direct, 102 N. Hayden Bay Dr., Portland, OR 97217; (503) 735-9515.

So you think you’re creating and mailing a 64-page catalog?

Actually, for more than 90 percent of your recipients you’re mailing just a seven-page catalog. Specifically:

• They’ll glance at your cover (one page)

• They’ll flip the book open and glance at your opening spread (two more pages).

• As they riffle, your catalog will fall open at the order form, and they’ll notice the facing page (one more page).

• They’ll read their name on the back cover to be sure the catalog is correctly addressed and notice any product on the back page (one more page.)

• They may flip to the inside back cover because it’s easy (two more pages).

And that’s it—your seven-page catalog.

Is your catalog as strong as possible within those seven key pages? If not, consider this: up to 10 times more people will see your hot spot pages than the average pages in your overall catalog. Which means that a tiny 1-percent improvement in sales from your hot spots can generate as many extra sales dollars as a 10-percent improvement in sales of products from any other pages.

Clearly, it pays to optimize your hot spots.