You could be forgiven for thinking a product catalogue is old hat these days. Not the case! In fact a good product catalogue can actively bring customers to your website fuelling your online sales. The challenge is to know what makes a good product catalogue.
There’s no getting away from the fact that a printed catalogue is a serious financial marketing investment, but get it right and your catalogue will be the one that sticks around on desks or kitchen counters with bookmarked pages and favourite products highlighted.
We’ve put together 4 key points on what makes a good product catalogue.
Design Matters
A subject close to the heart of our talented design team is how your catalogue will look. The design needs to fit your business 
and your audience. For example, a catalogue of DIY products, where practicality is key, is going to have a totally different look and feel to a catalogue showcasing jewellery or high-end fashion, which should portray elegance and class, or a toy catalogue, brightly coloured, whimsical and fun.
Most importantly your catalogue should go hand-in-hand with your brand identity, encompassing your company logo, colours and tag-line to make your catalogue instantly recognisable among the competition.
It makes sense that an aesthetically pleasing cover will attract interest. It should also convey the contents inside. Your catalogue needs to have user-friendly organisation inside too, especially important for larger catalogues. There is nothing more likely to see a catalogue tossed aside as frustration at not being able to find what you’re looking for!
Image is everything
A great photo is going to make your products more appealing. If budget allows, using a professional photography service will be worth the outlay. Crisp photographs of a high resolution for printing – we recommend 300dpi or above – taken with good lighting will attract the eye and add to the visual experience of your product catalogues.
Use photos in real-life setting, and for even greater effectiveness have images of people interacting with your products. Of course product photos will still be necessary; try to make them secondary to the experience images wherever you can.
Write compelling descriptions
While the images are going to attract the eye, it’s equally important to have a product description that not only gives the specifications and important facts on a product but entices customers to buy that product. Make your descriptions educational with tips on how to use a product, entertaining or fun to read if appropriate.
At Barry Design we offer a copywriting service to help you create the product descriptions that will help you to get that purchase decision.
Catalogue size and layout
There are many things to consider here which is why it’s so important to engage the services of a professional print and design company at the start of your project. The Barry Design team can take your catalogue every step of the way, from concept right through to the finished product.
You want customers to take in the content of a page; this means quality photographs and good descriptions, it also means an attractive page layout, good use of space and promotion of specific products or features. It’s also important to think of the paper your catalogue is printed on. Again, a luxury product is going to sell better when presented on quality paper, perhaps in a more bespoke size too, whereas a DIY catalogue needs a no-nonsense approach.
Now that you have a few nuggets of advice on what makes a good product catalogue, if you’re ready to get cracking on this addition to your marketing tool-kit, why not contact us to discuss your ideas today?
