Driving Demand in a Digital B2B World

Ji Sport uses digital catalogs to increase marketing ROI and activate customers on all online channels

Location
Denmark
Industry
B2B
Website
https://jisport.dk
ROI
on catalogs increased
2.1x
More Engagement
Time saved
on customer activation
Recording of iPaper's content marketer showing Ji Sport's digital catalog.

We use digital catalogs in all steps of our marketing funnel, from awareness to decision. This makes the digital catalogs an indispensable resource for both counseling customers and upselling.”

Anne-Cathrine Jørgensen
Sales and Marketing, Co-owner Ji Sport

Challenge: Creating demand and activating B2B customers in a digital age

Ji Sport is a leading Scandinavian B2B sports equipment wholesaler. They operate across Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Historically, Ji Sport have effectively used printed catalogs to upsell to existing customers and create demand to attract new customers, and with good reason:

“The curated format of a catalog and the additional product information are really effective in the product discovery phase.” - Anne-Cathrine Jørgensen, Sales and Marketing, Co-owner Ji Sport

But for years now, B2B sales have been changing.

The new digital direction

The digitalization of the past few years means that a larger part of the B2B customer journey has moved online.

“This shift has significantly improved our sales efficiency and reduced the need for time-consuming physical meetings. It has also prompted us to rethink our sales approach to fit with the new digital buying patterns of our customers.” - Anne-Cathrine Jørgensen, Sales and Marketing, Co-owner Ji Sport

Now, catalogs' role as a look-up tool has been replaced with ecommerce, where customers now also can order.

But when it comes to facilitating inspiration, the catalog “still excels with its curated format, that takes customers on a journey through the entire product assortment.”

And this is where the catalog can become a playmaker in the online sales-strategy.

Solution: Taking catalogs online

Given that the marketing departments spend significant resources creating the PDF for print, it was a low-hanging fruit for Ji Sport to bring the format online.

Digital catalogs can build a bridge between the physical buying journey and online.”

- Anne-Cathrine Jørgensen, Sales and Marketing, Co-owner Ji Sport

It can also help activate customers by letting both marketing and sales push it across digital channels, as an inspirational tool to generate demand.

Digital catalogs can create demand and activate customers

Digital catalogs are intuitively familiar to B2B customers.

Therefore, they can facilitate the same product discovery and explanation as printed catalog, but in a way more suited to today’s marketing campaigns and sales methods.

“The biggest quality of our digital catalogs is its ability to present a wide and well-organised assortment of products in a visual way.” - Anne-Cathrine Jørgensen, Sales and Marketing, Co-owner Ji Sport

Digital catalogs can deliver sales

Digital catalogs can easily be shared. On top, they are interactive, shoppable and can even be personalized.

iPaper help keep the customer in the digital catalog for a longer time, and thereby keep them in “buying” mode for longer.”

- Anne-Cathrine Jørgensen, Sales and Marketing, Co-owner Ji Sport

And, when the customer is ready to proceed from product discovery, the digital catalog can become an active sales tool – for example by linking to your ecommerce or starting a dialogue with a salesperson.

Digital catalogs can open new possibilities

In this way, digital catalogs can support the entire customer journey for both new leads and existing customers – all the way from product discovery to purchase.

Thereby, digital catalogs can become a centerpiece of both marketing and sales.

“We use digital catalogs in all steps of our marketing and sales funnel, from awareness to buying decision. This makes the digital catalogs an indispensable resource for both counseling customers and upselling.”  – Anne-Cathrine Jørgensen, Sales and Marketing, Co-owner Ji Sport

Ji Sport now drive demand in a digital B2B world

With digital catalogs, Ji Sport have now found a format that can be easily shared, can inspire and activate leads and existing customers, and finally lead to upselling and new customers.

On top, it’s easy to do:

It’s easy and user-friendly to work in the iPaper platform. It requires minimal guidance, and everyone can get started quickly.”

- Anne-Cathrine Jørgensen, Sales and Marketing, Co-owner Ji Sport

After implementing iPaper, Ji Sport have seen an increase in time spent in the catalog, a doubling of visitors who engaged with the catalog and an increase in sales for many products with interactive elements.

As a bonus, Ji Sport have discovered an additional revenue stream by selling password-protected e-books with supplementary learning materials.

Want to take the B2B buying journey to the next level?

Get the complete overview of digital catalogs and leaflets for B2B here:

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