Product catalogs are a great resource for sharing comprehensive product information. There are many tools to make this process easier for your team.
How Do I Create a Digital Catalog?
Creating a digital product catalog is a big task for your already busy team. It is important to break this big project into manageable pieces for your team to tackle. Giving them the right framework and resources will help them feel ownership and say “This is my own catalog!”First, determine the structure of your catalog. Look at other catalogs to get inspiration. Think through every detail to create a good framework to build the catalog that will best fit your needs. Next, it is time to gather the content that will bring your catalog to life. Every product detail and image needs to be accounted for. Collect every piece of information you want to showcase in the product catalog.Now that you have all of your content it is time to add it to a Product Information Management (PIM) solution. Loading product information into a PIM streamlines work for your team. With a PIM they have one place to look to find product information.Next, create an interactive digital catalog as a digital experience. By connecting the PIM to your digital experience half of the work is being done for you. Gone are the days of manually typing in product details. If a product is updated, make the change in the PIM and see the updated information in your digital experience in seconds. Like any project, it is important to maintain it after it is done. Keep product information up to date in the PIM so the right information is in the hands of your customers at all times. As you learn customer behavior and industry best practices, make updates. Never stop improving for your customers.
What Is the Best Way to Create a Catalog?
There are many different ways to create a product catalog. First ask yourself how it will be presented. Will this be printed or digital? If it is digital will it be a PDF or an interactive digital experience? We will focus on digital product guides. There are many options when it comes to catalog maker software. It is important to review all of the functionality of each product catalog maker you are considering to ensure it is the best fit for you. There are some digital catalog makers that offer a PIM solution which will help streamline your process. Taking advantage of a PIM allows your team to load product information into one system and update it there. This creates a single source of truth for your team when it comes to product information. They no longer need to reference many Excel sheets or Google Docs to make sure they have the most up to date information. The PIM will be their only reference point. Solutions like Lumavate offer the ability to connect data in the PIM to digital experiences. This means you can create a digital product catalog and pull data from your PIM with only a few clicks. Your team no longer needs to manually enter product information and worry about possibly making a mistake. You’ll save time and reduce the possibility of human error.
What App Can I Use to Make a Catalog?
There are a lot of tools available that can help with the creation of product catalogs. It is important to review all of the features to determine what is the best catalog maker app for your team. Consider how your team works, how you will distribute and present the catalog before purchasing or committing to a catalog management software. You want to make sure you’ve chosen the catalog maker app that is the right fit for your team before you invest. Some tools such as Canva, Adobe InDesign, and Microsoft Word can work as product catalog software but typically limit the presentation of the catalog to a PDF displayed on the company’s website. These types of catalogs work well for products that are not changing often. These product catalogs are not easily updated. Teams need to manually make changes and republish new versions. This takes time and diligence. Give your team the power and confidence to quickly and accurately make changes. Solutions like Lumavate offer the easy creation of digital experiences and also a PIM to allow for easy data management and use. By connecting your product guide to data in the PIM you are ensuring up to date information is in the hands of your customers at all times. Creating a digital experience product guide allows for constant iteration and updates to be made. You are no longer tied to a printing schedule or budget. You can make updates to your product guide as often as you need without dealing with the hassle of printing.
How Much Does It Cost to Make a Catalog?
The investment to make a product catalog varies greatly depending on the number of products listed in the catalog, the tools used to create the catalog and how much of your team’s time is spent working. If your team is using Excel sheets and Microsoft Word to create a product catalog you might assume making this catalog is free. Dig a little deeper and you will find you’re actually accumulating a big bill. The time spent by your team combing through Excel sheets to gather data, manually typing in every line and carefully reviewing every detail for errors quickly adds up. Manually creating a product guide could take upwards of 30 hours of your team’s time, even more if you have a large product line. Help your team see big wins faster by providing them with a solution that works smarter not harder. Your team can build a digital product guide with Lumavate in 30 minutes with data from the PIM. Not only do you have an interactive digital product guide now but your team is free to begin other revenue-generating work. Learn how to create better product catalogs today, book a demo!
Meet with one of our experts to see how easy it is to centralize your product data, manage digital assets, and create digital product experiences. Trust us…you’re going to be wowed.
