No matter what industry you’re in, a well-designed catalog is a powerful medium that is proven to generate results far greater than any online marketing strategy.

But if your company doesn’t have products to sell, where does a catalog even come into play?

The truth is a catalog has so many more purposes than just promoting products you have for sale and even if you do sell products, there are so many different types of catalogs that can be beneficial for your ROI.

Here are 6 catalog marketing ideas that go beyond your average product catalog to help you brainstorm your next catalog project today.

1. Invite Your Audience to Your Events with an Event Catalog

If your company is one that hosts events, then an event catalog is the perfect marketing tool for you.

An event catalog, when well-designed, is an effective material to inform prospects and customers of fundraisers, tradeshows, seminars, conferences, and any other event your company may attend or host.

Include visuals to keep your readers interested and to help them engage with what you are sharing.

Consider using people in your images as well, as people engage with what they can relate and connect to. For example, if your nonprofit organization is hosting a fundraiser, include images of people representing all the wonderful things your nonprofit does to get your readers interested in supporting your causes.

Whenever you hold an event or if you hold events frequently—including yearly or even monthly events—sending a direct mail catalog informing your audience of your event prior to the date of the event will increase brand awareness and the number of people who attend. Make sure to include a call to action directing your prospects and customers to sign up to attend so you can measure how many people are interested and how effective your event catalog is.

With direct mail catalogs, you can even tailor your mailing list to target people who are most likely interested in your event to optimize your results.

2. Share Information That Matters with an Informational Catalog

Sharing information that matters to your company and its audience through an informational catalog or educational catalog is the perfect way to get your message across, teach a specific topic, or just bring awareness to your brand.

These types of catalogs aren’t meant to generate quick sales, their purpose is to simply inform.

Consider outlining your company’s research, informing your nonprofit audience about your organization, creating a compact manual, using your catalog as a repository for data, or even share with your franchisees the importance of your brand and its franchise guidelines through your informational catalog.

Although these catalogs are typically text heavy, it can be a good idea to include a few images or graphics to break up the text and to keep your catalog from coming across as a novel.

3. Create a Catalog Portfolio

Almost every catalog features images and text. However, for some businesses, a catalog full of mostly images—known as a portfolio catalog—can be extremely beneficial.

Companies that can benefit from such a catalog include interior design agencies, commercial photographers, graphic designers, fashion design companies, architectural firms, professional chefs, and so many more.

If your business involves creating something for customers, a portfolio catalog is the perfect catalog marketing idea to showcase what your business can create and offer.

Plus, with a variety of catalog paper options, layouts, binding options, coatings and more, you can create a catalog just as unique as the images you have within it.

Portfolio catalogs aren’t just for creatives either. You can use a portfolio catalog to display your company's previous work or create a map of your company's many locations.

When someone receives your portfolio catalog, they are going to hold on to it to view more than just one time. And a beautifully designed portfolio catalog can be the perfect coffee table book for your readers and their guests to flip through.

Consider handing your portfolio catalog out at events, mailing them to prospects, or displaying them for customers to grab and keep.

4. Show your Audience Everything with a Full Line Catalog

Full line catalogs are the perfect catalog marketing idea to show your audience everything you have to offer.

These types of catalogs are great for sending to your audience once a year or twice a year when your services or product inventory is updated or if prices change.

Full line catalogs can be used to list every single product or act as a service listing, so your prospects and customers know everything your business has to offer and the variety of options they can choose from. When creating your full-line catalog, make sure to include a mail-in form, your company's website URL, a QR code and contact information so that your audience can easily place orders or give you a call to learn more about a service you provide.

Make sure to include images with your listings and be sure to make your most profitable products or services stand out with the largest images or highlight them with design elements to drive attention to these options.

5. Make Your Catalog Fun

Catalogs don’t have to be marketing materials for your audience only to read or order from. They can be even more interactive with fun details.

Your catalogs could be a coloring book or include coloring pages, it could include pages for your readers to jot notes down or even include games like crossword puzzles, word searches etc.

Catalogs like these really get your audience to interact with your brand. And by making your catalog fun, it creates better brand awareness.

6. Feature a Monthly Topic

Many companies make a significant amount of their revenue from catalog subscriptions.

Businesses that benefit from subscription catalogs include marketing agencies, fashion designers, media companies, retailers, real estate agencies, and more.

Any magazine that comes to your door monthly or even yearly is a perfect example of what your company could provide for your audience.

These types of catalogs are great because your prospects and customers choose to subscribe to your catalog, and you make a profit by simply sending them.

Take note of who your audience is and what they like to make sure your monthly catalog reflects what your readers want to see.

You can even drive more people to subscribe by targeting individuals who are just like your current customers and who are most likely to be interested in what your catalog includes as well.

Now that you’ve explored other catalog marketing ideas, you're ready to create the perfect catalog marketing campaign. Of course, these are only 6 ideas, don’t be afraid to get creative. If you have a different catalog idea or are ready to get started on one of the ideas above, click below to get started on your catalog project today!

We even provide catalog templates which you can find here, to help bring your catalog marketing idea to life.