Steve Trollinger

Your customers, via changes in response behavior, will tell you how many times they can be mailed effectively. Remember, the next catalog isn't necessarily for the 5 percent of people who just bought, but for the 95 percent who didn't. —Steve Trollinger, senior vice president, client marketing, J. Schmid & Associates Inc.

Most catalogers don't mail the housefile enough. Evaluate response curves and note: - The "doubling point," or when about half of the orders were in. This is important for projecting. At this point, a low cost follow-up campaign (e.g., postcards, e-mails or outbound telemarketing) could spike response. - The 80 percent point. At this point, another catalog mailing could be introduced provided that contribution per order can be maintained. —Steve Trollinger, senior vice president, client marketing, J. Schmid & Associates Inc.

By the autumn of 2006, most catalogers likely will see Web orders representing more than 50 percent of all orders. With so many customers turning to the Web, it's important to maintain customer gift and wish lists to allow for easy access and manipulation. —Steve Trollinger, senior vice president, client marketing, J. Schmid & Associates Inc.

Most catalogers have lower online average order values (AOV) than phone-in AOVs. As a result, you need to either sell more or sell smarter. A smart cataloger will create a Web site that dynamically generates upsells and cross-sells depending on what customers have viewed or put in their carts. —Steve Trollinger, senior VP, client marketing, J. Schmid & Associates Inc.

By Steve Trollinger How to use square inch analysis Square inch analysis (SQUINCH) is an extraordinary tool for consumer and business catalogers alike. Sorted and executed the right way, a comprehensive SQUINCH can serve as a creative road map to your catalog campaigns, just as your contact strategy defines the plan from a marketing perspective. A comprehensive square inch analysis allows you to evaluate product sales and placement to determine whether the right product, price point or category is given the appropriate amount of space in the right location in your catalog. And by basing the analysis on customer behavior,

By Alicia Orr Suman The Causes of List Fatigue ... and eight tips on how to beat it List fatigue is top of mind for many direct marketers these days. What is list fatigue, what causes it, and how can you combat it? Reductions in catalog prospecting circulation over the past several years, in conjunction with shrinking list and co-op database universes and an overall weak economy, have led to what commonly is being referred to as "list fatigue." How, you may ask, can a list become fatigued? Jo Ann Alberts, vice president of list brokerage and management