Bells and Whistles!

Product catalogs will be in production over the next few months and the question arises, "Do I spend more money this year making my catalog stand out by using added design elements like UV coatings, die-cuts, metallic inks or embossing?"

This is a legitimate question, and we are happy to go down this road with you. The first thing to know is that we can certainly offer you all of these services (and many more). The second thing is that the answer is a matter of personal opinion. So, in order to help you (which is what Ag Printers is known for) let's examine the questions below and come to a conclusion together.

1. What am I spending now, per customer, on my catalog? Start with a baseline.
2. What is my bottom line profit per customer?
3. What is my sales growth goal for the coming year?
4. What is my margin goal, per customer, for the coming year?
5. What additional amount am I willing to spend per customer?
6. Will the additional amount I spend on the catalog return the investment times 3?
           (i.e. will a $10,000 investment yield a $30,000 return?)
7. Does the additional time needed to add design elements outweigh the potential for standing out more from other catalogs?

Is it important to differentiate yourself from your competition? Absolutely! The question becomes, is your catalog THE place to spend your money in differentiating your seed company from the others? 

Again, there is NOT a solid right or wrong answer here. It depends on your overall sales and marketing program goals and your personal opinion of how crucial this marketing piece is to reaching those goals. 

The bottom line is, whatever road you want to travel down this season, we can get you there. 

Before starting Ag Printers I was in the commercial printing industry for 8 years. Our printing company produced some of the highest-end catalogs and annual reports for the largest and most profitable companies in central Indiana. Some of the best work came from a designer at a pharmaceutical testing facility, so I hired her first and Sara now heads up our design teams. 

If you have an idea, let's discuss it. If you want to analyze your marketing strategy, let me know. We are here to help keep it simple, but also to give you so much more!

Please take 10 seconds to answer the poll to the right of this post so we can get a feel for the overall opinion on this subject! 

Have a wonderful spring (should it ever warm up)!
Steve