As a supplier, you’ve probably asked yourself, “What can I do to get more distributors sharing my catalog?” or maybe it went something like, “I need to figure out how to get more catalogs and flyers in the hands of customers.” 

Whatever it was, we’re here to put your mind at ease.

We’ve asked distributors (in this awesome industry marketing survey you can also fill out) what they want most from supplier catalogs and they told us. Now we’re going to tell you. 

Here are 4 things distributors are looking for in your promotional products catalogs and flyers:

1 – Customization Capabilities 

It’s no surprise here, but distributors want the ability to jump in and customize catalogs and flyers with their own branding and logo. When asked, over 75% of distributors said they customize supplier catalogs before sharing them—that’s right, 75%. 

Giving distributors the ability to customize catalogs and flyers makes them look good to their customers. Your distributors get to be the hero instead of just a messenger shuttling product info between two other parties. If you make distributors look good, they’ll keep coming back to you for more. And the best part is, it doesn’t require much effort.  Simply apply white labeling to the necessary parts of your catalog or flyer, leaving ample space for distributors to showcase their brand. 

(Don’t know what white labeling is? Hop over to this quick read about it.)

2 – Visible Pricing

Yes, distributors want to see pricing. There will always be those who want to keep it out of catalogs, but over 50% of them want to see some form of pricing. Of the most popular types of pricing, 72% of distributors prefer quantity/price tables or as low as pricing. 

Here is a great example of that from Move In Media.

We understand the challenges of fluctuating pricing that can lead to your catalog being inaccurate. A great solution is to leverage “starting at” pricing for your primary catalog and quantity/price tables in breakout catalogs. Add in some purpose-built flyers that present pricing in different fashions and your distributors will have a buffet of solutions that meet their needs. 

And, don’t forget, you can always update your pricing with ZOOMcatalog which gives you the flexibility to experiment with what works best for your company and distributors.

3 – Digital-Ready Design

Distributors are moving beyond the barriers of print and into digital marketing. Matter of fact, ⅓ of them are focusing their business exclusively on digital catalogs and flyers. From social media campaigns to eBlasts, distributors are sharing marketing materials online. 

In case you’re a data-driven individual, here’s another fact—over 70% of the 200+ distributors surveyed said they use email marketing as their number one means of promotion. 

That means distributors want to easily access your content, grab a link, and share it wherever they desire—including in their extensive email marketing efforts.

This reminds us, you can jump on our email list right here and we will float lovely pieces of marketing knowledge to your inbox once a month.

4 – Breakout Flyers 

Brace yourself for this one—81% of distributors say they use digital flyers. That’s quite a bit of distributors using flyers to share your products to potential customers.

But what kind of flyers are they promoting? 

These aren’t just any flyers, they are tailored flyers targeted at a specific group of customers. By breaking out different flyers focused on one particular selection of products, like athletic apparel or drinkware, the distributor can speak more directly to a specific customer’s use case. 

They are simple, effective, and help distributors hit more niche customer groups.

There you have it, the distributors have spoken. These are their needs, now it’s your job to go out there and meet them. 

Before you do, you’re going to need the proper platform to serve up these awesome catalogs and flyers, which is why we exist. ZOOMcatalog has everything you need to upload, customize, and share your digital catalogs and flyers with the entire world. 

If you’re looking for more data-driven marketing insights like the ones we shared above, tune in for our complete industry marketing survey coming in January 2021.