Digital Catalog Manufacturers: How to Choose the Right one!

The digital transformation of print is not only a trend but a necessity to business organizations that want to remain within the competitive industry. The digital catalogs provide the interactivity, ease in distribution and they save costs which could not be compared to the traditional print media. Nevertheless, the key choice that will determine whether this transition is successful is to choose the appropriate digital catalog manufacturers.

Having saturated the market with software providers and firms offering the most optimal digital publishing solutions, it can be daunting to cut through the clutter. Making the wrong decision may result in the creation of unresponsive user interfaces, lack of mobile compatibility and a wasted budget. On the other hand, the right partner can turn your lifeless PDFs into sales engines that will propel interaction and sales.

The Question of Selecting the appropriate Digital Catalog Manufacturers

The process of choosing a digital catalog manufacturer is not a universal one. The most appropriate fit would depend on your unique requirements in terms of customization, budget and technical capabilities. The following are the main criteria to consider when searching.

1. Test the User Experience (UX)

The interaction of your customers to the digital catalog is the most crucial point. Having the flipping effect laggy, the zoom is blurry or the navigation is user-friendly, the users will abandon the catalog in a few seconds.

During the test of possible software or demos, observe the following:

• Page-flipping effect: Is it natural and smooth?
• Load times: Does it load fast with an image of high resolution?
• Navigation: Can one easily search products, access certain sections or refer to the table of contents?
• Mobile responsiveness: This cannot be compromised. A large segment of your customers will have access to your catalog via phone or tablet. Make sure that the manufacturer provides a solution that will easily fit the various screen sizes, and not simply reducing the desktop version.

 

2. Evaluate Interactivity and Rich Media Aspects

Achieving the capacity to incorporate rich media is one of the biggest opportunities of digital catalogs as compared to print. A fixed PDF is not much different than a hardcopy book. The most efficient manufacturers offer the tools to place videos and audio files, GIFs, and links on the catalog pages.

Look for features such as:

• Integration with the shopping cart: Does it allow the users to simply press a product and add it directly to a cart or is it sent to your e-commerce site? This minimizes the resistance during the purchase.
• Pop-ups and overlays: These will enable you to add additional product information without being too messy with the design.
• Internal linking: Are you able to make internal links between various pages of the catalog to lead the user through it?

 

3. Test KSA Checking and Tracking

What you cannot measure you cannot improve. The digital catalogs provide a lot of data as opposed to print catalogs where you are not even aware of which pages were read. Proper platform must give in-depth analytics so that you can know what people are doing.

The main indicators to be sought are:

• Page views and unique visitors: What number are accessing your catalog?
• Time on page: What is drawing attention to what product or article?
• Click-through rate (CTR): Are your product links and call-to-action buttons being clicked on by the users?
• Usage of the devices: Do your customers use desktop, mobile, or tablet?

Enquiring the manufacturer as to whether their platform can be integrated with Google Analytics or they offer an in-house dashboard is necessary. This information is priceless in order to fine-tune your marketing plan and make future issues better.

4. Take into account Customization and Branding

Your online catalogue must be a continuation of your brand and not a template. Other manufacturers have inflexible platforms, in which you can just replace the logo, whereas others support extreme customization.

Make sure that the platform will enable you to:

• Use your own colors and fonts: The point is consistency to get your brand recognized.
• Own domain: It appears less professional to have a third-party URL than to house the catalog in your own domain (for instance catalogs.yourbusiness.com).
• White labeling: By taking off the branding of the manufacturer, the viewer is guaranteed that all the attention is on your business.

 

5. Examine Distribution and Sharing Options

It is not enough to make a beautiful catalog, it is important to ensure that your catalog reaches your audience. Distribution will not be a problem and will be done by the right manufacturer.

Find platforms, which allow:

• Integration of social media: One-click social media sharing such as LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter.
• Email marketing: Simple embedding newsletters.
• Website embedding Simple code snippets to embed the catalog into your site or blog.
• Offline access: Does it provide a chance to download the catalog in PDF or in an app and view it offline? This can prove to be very handy when sales teams are visiting customers within regions that have poor internet connection.

 

6. Comparison of Pricing and Scalability

This industry has wild price models. There are some that charge a flat monthly fee, but some are also charged per catalog or per view and enterprise solutions can also be custom quoted.

Be wary of hidden costs. Ask about:

• Storage: Does it have a limit to how many catalogs or file size?
• User seats: Does the cost go up when several team members require administration?
• feature gating: Does it lock basic functionality such as analytics off to the highest cost plan?

Select a solution that is within your budget at your present time and yet one which can be expanded. With your digital collection of publications expanding, you would not want to be compelled to switch to a new platform just because the one that you are using at the moment cannot accommodate the numbers.

7. Security and Privacy

Unless your catalogs have sensitive B2B prices or specific information that should be shared with only particular clients, then the security features are of foremost importance.

Ask the manufacturer whether he provides:

• Password protection: This is limiting access to authorized users.
• IP whitelisting: Only the access of specific corporate networks should be allowed.
• Data encryption: Keeping your content and user data safe.

Conclusion

The selection of proper digital catalog manufacturers is a significant investment towards the digital presence of your brand. Focusing on user experience, interactivity, analytics, and a solid support system, you can make a choice that will not only present your products in a gorgeous way but will also produce specific business outcomes.

Both request demos, read case studies, and use free trials. Your due diligence done in current vendors will be rewarded with future sales, greater customer understanding, and increased customer participation. It is not a good idea to have an ordinary PDF viewer, but a digital experience to be captivating to your audience.

If you are looking for a fine digital catalog manufacturer, look no further than PageTurnPro digital catalog manufacturer.