The Page-Smart Catalog - Total Retail

By Susan J. McIntyre

Web-Only Tip: Maximize Hot Spots

5. Focus on maximizing hot spots when you paginate, they're still fundamental.

Catalogers sometimes forget about hot spots in boom times because it’s more fun experimenting with new presentations and placements. And in boom times, it’s possible to get OK results when experimenting.

In down times, stick with hot Spot fundamentals.

Prescription: Hot spots are places that users see early and easily. Their attention will be grabbed by great products in those easy-find spots, making those readers more likely to buy and more likely to decide to slow down and look at more of your pages.

Easy-to-find hot spots include the front cover, back cover, inside front-cover spread, inside back-cover spread, around any bind-in — catalogs tend to naturally fall open around bind-ins — and near your order form, even if it isn’t a bind-in, because many users look there for information.

If you’re mailing mostly to prospects, fill those hot spots with proven best sellers. If you’re mailing to a mix of prospects and customers, try a mix of proven and new products. If you have a great offer on a proven best seller, put that in a hot spot — it'll appeal to both prospects and customers.

PATIENT: Doc, last visit you gave me a prescription to help turn my sick catalog well again. This economy’s so bad, I think I need an additional prescription. You got anything?

CATALOG DOCTOR: Last issue’s dose of catalog fundamentals to combat “lazy cataloger syndrome” boosted copy, eye flow and scannability. Now try this shot in the arm for pagination and product selection.

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Susan J. McIntyre Author's page

Susan J. McIntyre is Founder and Chief Strategist of McIntyre Direct, a catalog agency and consultancy in Portland, Oregon offering complete creative, strategic, circulation and production services since 1991. Susan's broad experience with cataloging in multi-channel environments, plus her common-sense, bottom-line approach, have won clients from Vermont Country Store to Nautilus to C.C. Filson. A three-time ECHO award winner, McIntyre has addressed marketers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, has written and been quoted in publications worldwide, and is a regular columnist for Retail Online Integration magazine and ACMA. She can be reached at 503-286-1400 or susan@mcintyredirect.com.

Catalog Doctor: The Page-Smart Catalog