Being at the higher end of the marketing cost ladder, magalog marketers are more focused than most in getting the maximum return from their investment.
While any number of mistakes can cause a magalog to fail – such as a bad mailing list, weak copy or design, a poor offer – I’m going to tackle three common mistakes that are relatively easy to avoid.
1. Not enough sidebar stories.
This is important for a variety of reasons. First, magalogs are longer than most other marketing material. So you’re asking a lot for your readers to stick with it until the end. Even the best copywriters realize readers have only so much patience.
Sidebars break up the main copy and give the eyes some visual relief from page after page of flowing sales copy.
The second reason is related to the first. Readers are often more accurately called scanners when it comes to marketing material. Before they decide to invest the time to read your magalog, they’ll probably quickly thumb through the pages to see if anything catches their eye.
Page after page of plain copy with no breaks? A likely candidate for the trash can. Some sidebars to break things up? Your odds of converting the scanner into a reader just shot up.
Third, your sidebars can tell stories that don’t quite fit within the main copy. Maybe it’s a testimonial, maybe it’s a quick history of your company that helps the reader make a deeper connection with your product or service.
A skilled copywriter with magalog experience already knows that sidebars are vital to its success. If you’re writing the copy yourself, look for stories that support the main message you’re wanting to get across.
2. Too much information, too little space.
This may seem a bit at odds with the first point, but let me explain the difference.
Magalogs aren’t cheap to produce. So if you have a budget for a 16-page magalog, but 18 pages worth of information, it’s tempting to push the limits of what can actually fit in 16 pages while still being readable. Direct market designers have all sorts of tricks to make things fit. But there comes a point where you have to be realistic about what’s possible.
Generally speaking, if you add pages to a magalog, you add them in 4′s. In other words, a 16-page magalog would increase to 20 pages, then 24, etc. Obviously, that page increase means an increase in your costs… from design, to printing, and possibly mailing.
For good reasons, you want to avoid increased costs. But remember the point about the layout being enticing for a reader. If we’re cramming in copy, it’s far less enticing and then what have you gained? Certainly not more sales.
Instead, and I know this can be painful, it may be time to start hacking away at the copy.
Safe to say the copywriter felt all that copy was important which is why he or she has it there in the first place. But as someone who had a long career as a writer prior to becoming a designer, I can tell you that there are usually places you can cut. For example, something that was said in four paragraphs can be said in one. Or, a sidebar might be dropped if there are plenty of other sidebars and visual relief points.
3. Not bringing in creative and production people until the last moment.
It’s not a surprise that creating and printing a magalog takes more time than creating and printing a business card. The latter can be done in a matter of days if all the pieces are in place. The former can take at least a week or two in the best of circumstances.
From a design point of view, part of that time relates to the second point above: trying to fit all the pieces into a given amount of space.
Layout is a bit like a puzzle, but a puzzle that has multiple valid solutions. So it takes time to make all the pieces fit just right and find the best solution for your project. But that’s why you’re paying a professional to handle it, otherwise you’d do it yourself.
I’ve had more than a few calls over the years from potential new clients who want to get the copy to me by that afternoon and have a completed magalog done within a few days.
I’m not saying it can’t happen in that time frame. I am saying you should be worried if your new designer says it can. Here’s why…
Magalogs are a bit of a specialty item in the direct market realm. A lot of work goes into putting the pieces together properly and that comes with experience.
As in any industry, experience not only comes with a price, but it usually comes with a waiting list for new clients to get the benefit of that experience. In other words, a skilled designer in any niche is likely already busy with existing clients. That means ultra-quick turnarounds can be a bit unrealistic.
Plus, any creative person worth working with is going to want to know about your business before jumping into a project. For a designer, that usually means looking at past marketing material you’ve done. That includes material you’ve used that makes you cringe.
Both the good and the bad help the designer get a better sense of what you’re looking for and come up with ideas that will work for you.
I also mentioned production people and by that I mean your printer. For larger projects like a magalog, some printers may need more time to work that into their schedule.
From a design point of view, your designer actually needs to know some things about the eventual print process before he or she starts work.
Choosing a printer after the design is done is asking for trouble. In fact, working with a designer who doesn’t ask some questions about the print process right at the start is asking for a double-dose of trouble.
Here’s the takeaway: Magalogs are not rush projects. When you treat them as such, the odds of success drop dramatically. When you’re serious about getting your magalog done right, contact me.
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