Catalog Circulation Planning & Execution

A Proven Approach to Catalog Circulation Planning and Results

J. Schmid’s catalog circulation planning process begins with a single question: What is your goal?

It’s simple: your goal – growing the housefile, increasing profits, generating sales, whatever it is – is the cornerstone of our results-driven catalog circulation planning strategy. You know that your catalog business is unlike any other. So do we. Your data, your history, your merchandise concept, your creative presentation, your operations and fulfillment systems; each play a role in the circulation planning process and are all important factors in achieving your objectives.

The Circulation Planning Process: A Major Part of Your Catalog’s Success

The “40-40-20” Rule says that 40 percent of a catalog-centric venture’s success is in its merchandise concept, 40 percent in its marketing efforts and 20 percent in the creative presentation. Based on the results of the marketing strategies and circulation plans and campaigns that we strategically develop and execute for our clients, it’s obvious that we take marketing’s 40 percent seriously.

The catalog marketing function is, in a nutshell, about two things: getting customers and keeping them. And circulation planning is critical to that process. J. Schmid’s circulation planning services focus on the importance of each phase, customer acquisition and retention, and are built around tested concepts, structured approaches and a proven process that has been successful, and profitable, for multichannelers of all sizes and in practically every industry.

Marketing Strategy and Circulation Planning in One Smart Package

At J. Schmid, you don’t just find strategists, but also tacticians. The same people coming up with the “big ideas” are the ones making them happen. Your circulation project doesn’t get “handed off.” It’s what keeps our marketing team sharp; we don’t just strategize the circulation plan, we execute it. We are your virtual marketing department.

The J. Schmid catalog circulation planning methodology starts with strategy built around your goal and ends with the complete tactical execution of your catalog or direct marketing campaign and encompasses every step along the way, including:

• Annual and seasonal contact strategy development— who you contact, what you contact them with and when.
• New customer acquisition strategies— building the customer file through testing and executing online and offline acquisition programs, as well as running and analyzing all of the critical metrics for determining successful and acceptable acquisition vehicles, such as list rentals, pay per click programs, etc.
• Customer retention and reactivation strategies—developing a logical segmentation schema for your housefile to drive frequency and depth of future customer contacts, as well as developing strategies for moving customers up the ladder to customer loyalty and increasing customer retention.
• Drop-by-drop mail plan execution— employing J. Schmid’s proprietary circulation planning template to handle all of the details associated with getting a mailing out, from segment selection and list procurement to developing test cells and reconciling counts; if its necessary to get your mailing done, we do it.
• Prospect list and data processing services— taking advantage of strategic partnerships with industry leaders American List Counsel and Donnelley Marketing Catalog Division, as well as its relationships with all of the major co-operative databases (Abacus, Next Action, Prefer Network, Wiland Direct and iBehavior), J. Schmid offers comprehensive list research services, solid recommendations and full list procurement services as well as complete, custom data processing and hygiene services from a licensed USPS vendor.
• Comprehensive post-campaign analysis— conducting a full array of catalog and direct marketing analytics to determine what worked and what didn’t across all mailings and all segments, right down to the contribution level. We also offer a comprehensive merchandise square inch analysis to help zero in on appropriate page count, product category growth and positioning best sellers. J. Schmid’s marketing team is renowned for its analytical capabilities, regularly leading session at the Annual Conference for Catalog, Internet and Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) on the topic of catalog and multichannel analysis.

For more than 23 years, J. Schmid has been offering catalog circulation planning services to small and medium catalogers alike, and helping them grow and succeed all along. Call us today to learn more about how our marketing and circulation planning services can help your catalog business flourish, too.

For more information about our Circulation Planning Services, click here

Catalog Circulation | Catalog Marketing | Circulation Planning