How to Advertise Using Online Product Catalogues

Published on November 17, 2021
3 min read
Marketing
Icon Saphyte Team
3 min read
Updated:

Product catalogues are powerful tools to showcase business products and services at one glance. Find out how they can help convert leads into loyal customers.

Catalogs used to be popular in print. Companies have been using them to display their product and service information, which helps customers decide quickly which product or service to go for.

Today, product catalogs are making a comeback. Companies that have been using them online— via email, for example— have observed a 28% increase in sales and a 77% lift in inquiries

How do you advertise using product catalogues? What are the best practices that you should keep in mind when using product catalogues? Read more to find out.

What are Product Catalogues?

Product catalogues are tools that businesses use to showcase all important information about their products and services. This helps buyers make a purchase decision, therefore shortening the sales cycle. Details in the catalogue may include product descriptions, features, and price, among others.  

Today, product catalogues are more commonly used online. They can be downloaded on companies’ websites or sent via email. (Read more: Business Growth Combo: Email Marketing and Sales Pipelines)

They may also be automated— where you can automatically populate them in your future quotes and invoices and send them to target recipients. Watch the video below to find out how:

How to Advertise Using Online Product Catalogues

Below are five best practices to be mindful of when using product catalogues online:

1. Choose your type of ad

The first thing to be mindful of is choosing the type of ad when promoting your products and services online (e.g. social media). Below are the common options:

Dynamic ads: This type of ad shows relevant items from your catalog to specific users. The banners adapt automatically to users based on their interests, intent, or actions. 

Collection ads: This is a type of ad that shows four items from your catalog in an immersive way. Here, users can click on items to learn more or browse similar items. 

Carousel ads: This ad format shows multiple images or videos that can be scrolled through. Each image or video can have its own headline, description, link, and call to action.

Ads with product tags: Ads with product tags can be made for users to click on. After clicking, they are directed to a product details page to learn more about the product and buy it. 

Products from Facebook Page shops or catalogs in photos and videos can be tagged.

Collaborative ads: A type of ad where brands can run direct sales campaigns by selling products through retailers and merchants. This allows brands to run performance marketing campaigns for their products while directing traffic to a retailer partner’s website or other online channels.

2. “More” is more

Information about your products must be complete, accurate, and detailed. Here, “more” is more. Every important detail matters to the buyer. Relevant images and videos can make purchase decisions easier and faster.

Includes technical attributes, images, videos, availability, units of measurement, product usage combinations, and related/alternative products, if possible.

3. Centralize your product catalogue using a tool

Use a tool like a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software if possible to centralize your product catalogue.

Make use of functions like automation where the catalogues are populated in quotes and invoices for the benefit of target recipients. Tools make it easy for businesses to manage their catalogs and send them to specific customers to maximize sales opportunities.

4. Upsell and cross-sell

Catalogs can be used to upsell and cross-sell. Suggest alternative products to encourage buyers to purchase products with better quality (at a higher price). This gives buyers options to weigh when buying— which increases the likelihood of the purchase happening.

5. Personalize your catalogues

Your catalogue’s content must be tailored to cater to each customer’s needs and interest. It must differ per customer or per ordering situation. 

For example, you can have two different catalogues with different pricing and descriptions, which are adjusted specifically for two different customers— one from the pharmaceutical industry and another from the automotive industry. (Read more: 16 Stats for Automotive Companies in 2021)

Catalog personalization is important as it allows you to not only maximize sales opportunities but also to ensure customer satisfaction at the end of the day.

Conclusion

Want to know more about product catalogs and how they can help your business? Book a demo now. Get started here.

May 17, 2022