Special Report: Catalog Marketing Action Plans for 2007

Just a month into the new year, catalogers have a mixed bag of enthusiasm. On the one hand, the economy appears strong and consumer spending is solid. On the other hand, there’s another postal rate increase going into effect during the first half of the year.

Catalog Success caught up with several mailers and industry observers to give you an idea of which multichannel prospecting strategies may be best for you this year.

Prospect With Caution

No surprise: Feelings differ about how catalogers should prospect in 2007. “I’m feeling particularly bullish this year,” says Tim Kiss, director of enterprise direct marketing for The HoneyBaked Ham Co. Kiss believes he has reason to feel positive given that HoneyBaked’s sales grew about 10 percent in 2006. A historically strong figure for the 50-year-old Atlanta-based marketer of ham and turkey, it came in response to new prospecting efforts on the Web. He anticipates the company will continue last year’s sales growth pace through increased prospecting, both in print and online.

Although HoneyBaked’s 2007 fiscal year ends in September, Kiss notes that his marketing budget for the remainder of this fiscal year is 7 percent to 10 percent greater than in fiscal 2006. HoneyBaked Ham’s prospecting efforts will proceed on two fronts: an increase in paid search marketing, and mailing more catalogs using successful list sources, including list exchanges and internal gift recipient lists.

The increase in paid search comes in response to the fact that nearly 60 percent of HoneyBaked’s 2006 holiday orders were placed on its Web site.

Further, HoneyBaked’s decision to prospect more deeply with the catalog is fueled both by the company’s recent growth and the cost savings it’s seen by doing more catalog co-mailing. “In the past, we’ve really tried to break even on the customer in the first year or so,” Kiss says. “Since we feel that the economy is a little better, we’re increasing that because we can go deeper with our prospecting efforts and still be very profitable.”