Catalogs are an essential tool for sales and marketing. They serve as a central and material part of many businesses. For years, catalogs have been a traditional and proven source of information for many people
But even such status leaders undergo changes in our high-tech age. Being worried about catalogs' future, we've decided to weigh the pros and cons of printed and digital catalogs to know what the forecasts are. Will the printed catalog survive or go away?
Why are Printed Catalogs Still Important?
Main source of information
Catalogs are business partners and colleagues for sales reps and marketers who work with them daily. They have all of the important information that both salespeople and their clients need. Catalogs are their main source of information.
Powerful brand advertising tool
Catalogs can also be a powerful brand advertising and engagement tool. A branded catalog's professional imaginary, products descriptions, up-to-date content, and prices certainly capture customers' attention. They can have an editorial viewpoint and original text that engage people and make a brand's style recognizable.
Tactile experience
Printed catalogs are tactile. They engage the senses of sight, smell and touch. They carry a story with them about the brand itself, its products and their qualities. It's a rich experience. Many people don't want to throw all of that away for digital versions.
Why are Printed Catalogs Being Replaced by Online Ones?
The discussion of whether printed catalogs will survive the digital age has been going on for some time. Many companies turn away from printed catalogs and transfer all of their catalog material to digital catalogs. Let's see what factors lead them to make such decisions.
Relic from the past
Big, printed catalogs seem a bit like relics when more and more businesses tend to go from print to digital.
Piles of materials
In our consumer-based world with its abundant products and services, sales reps have to carry around piles of sales materials. It's very inconvenient and wastes time.
Time-consuming
Time is money, people say. And working with large catalogs, trying to find certain info, can waste both time and money. All of the energy salespeople waste rummaging through catalogs for product details isn't worth the trouble.
Printing expenses
Printing catalogs is expensive. Businesses limit themselves to printing one catalog per few months or less frequently. If information is misprinted or becomes outdated, they have to wait to reprint it. Incorrect information detracts from the good image of a brand.
Are Digital Catalogs a Worthy Substitute?
Digital catalogs are popular sales and marketing tools today, and it is not surprising. Here is why:
Availability
Putting catalogs online makes products and services available to many more clients without increasing printing and distribution costs. It's a great way to raise your brand awareness and
reach a wider audience.
Easy searching
Digital catalogs allow customers to search for specific product information: descriptions, prices, or product images. No matter how large your catalog is, your clients will find everything they need right away.
Accessibility
Salesforce and their clients can access online catalogs from anywhere on any device. The problem of carrying everything with them becomes irrelevant.
Check out how beautiful this digital catalog looks. And the convenient navigation helps your readers to go to any section of the catalog from any page they want.
Product Catalog
What to Choose: Printed or Digital Catalogs?
Many companies for whom catalogs are essential decide to create two versions: printed and digital. Working with both gives them more benefits than working with one alone. Each catalog has a loyal audience and serves its purposes greatly.
When we talk about digital catalogs, we usually mean PDFs that are put online for viewing and downloading. But PDFs don't look great online, can be hard to read, and can load slowly.
If you want to create a digital catalog that is worth working with, FlippingBook Publisher can help. Such interactive digital catalogs allow salespeople to work in many different environments in the field and have all of the information at their fingertips.
Create interactive catalogs with FlippingBook PublisherLearn more
