Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is a promotional strategy where businesses communicate directly with consumers to promote products or services. This approach often involves personalized communication through various channels such as email, direct mail, telemarketing, and targeted online advertising. The goal of direct marketing is to generate a direct response from the consumer, such as making a purchase or requesting more information.
8 Key excerpts on "Direct Marketing"
eBook - ePub- Sally Dibb, Lyndon Simkin(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...26: Direct Marketing Key definitions Direct Marketing is a decision by a company's marketers to select a marketing channel that avoids dependence on marketing channel intermediaries, and to focus marketing communications activity on promotional mix ingredients that contact directly targeted customers. Key issues Originated in the 1960s to describe direct mail and mail order, Direct Marketing is now one of the ‘hot topics’ of marketing, enabled largely by the growth of e-commerce. Direct Marketing includes all of the marketing communications tools that permit a marketer to deal directly with targeted customers, including direct mail, telemarketing, direct response television advertising, door-to-door and personal selling, plus Internet-based marketing. Direct Marketing is more than promotional mix activity: it involves a decision by marketers to avoid or minimize the role of marketing intermediaries in the distribution channel, preferring instead to contact customers directly. Direct Marketing evolved from the mail order industry. Database improvements, telecommunications and recently the Internet have facilitated a rapid growth in Direct Marketing for all types of profit and not-for-profit organizations. All core facets of Direct Marketing are increasing: direct mail, telemarketing, personal selling, door-to-door marketing, direct response advertising and more than any other facet, Web-based marketing. Direct Marketing must still reflect customer expectations and buying behaviour, offer differentiated and competitive propositions, reflect the organization's brand positioning and corporate objectives, and be professionally managed and executed. Conceptual overview The recent advances in media, telecommunications and computing use have facilitated a massive increase in what has been termed Direct Marketing...
eBook - ePub- Geoffrey Lancaster, Lester Massingham(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The emphasis is on Direct Marketing communication. Simkin et al. define Direct Marketing as: ‘A decision by a company’s marketers to select a marketing channel that avoids dependence on marketing channel intermediaries, and to focus marketing communications activity on promotional mix ingredients that contact directly targeted customers.’ 1 Pickton and Broderick describe the essence of Direct Marketing with emphasis on its use of customer information: ‘Direct Marketing is a marketing system based on individual customer records held on a database. These records are the basis for marketing analysis, planning, implementation of programmes, and control of this activity.’ 2 Fill defines Direct Marketing as a strategy: ‘A strategy used to create a personal and intermediary free dialogue with customers. This should be a measurable activity and it is very often media based, with a view to creating and sustaining a mutually rewarding relationship.’ 3 Direct personal selling formed the bedrock of the Direct Marketing industry at the time of the establishment of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) in the USA in 1917. The World Federation of Direct Selling Associations was founded in the USA in 1978 as a non-governmental voluntary organization representing the direct selling industry globally to support direct selling associations in areas of governance, education, communications, consumer protection and ethics in the marketplace. We have examined the nature of Direct Marketing and its role in the communications mix. The discussion that follows is not exhaustive, but it covers the main Direct Marketing tools and examines their application in different marketing situations. We start with direct mail and email, which has seen enormous growth as a Direct Marketing tool over the past 30 years. We then discuss the use of telephone or telemarketing, which has been used particularly in B2B marketing...
- Robyn L. Blakeman(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...10 Direct Marketing and Sales Promotion T his chapter defines the ways that Direct Marketing can be used to build a relationship with the target. Its various forms are dissected oneby-one to show how this customized media vehicle can reach the selected target with a message that reflects and embodies their lifestyle. Discussions also cover how sales promotions can be used as an enticement to further research a brand, visit a brick-and-mortar store, or increase brand awareness and brand value. Direct Marketing Makes Reaching the Target Personal As previously discussed, marketers and advertisers have typically used traditional advertising vehicles to launch or reposition a brand, build awareness, define image, and announce a sale. Unlike mass marketing’s generic approach to message delivery, a personalized, relationship-building tactic is possible with Direct Marketing, in order to further enhance the relationship between buyer and seller. These highly customized messages call the target by name and tie the sales message directly to the target’s interests and lifestyle. Because of this, the cost to reach the target is relatively expensive but extremely measurable. One of the most encompassing definitions of Direct Marketing comes from Daniel Cortes: “a promotion and communication strategy that allows you to target a specific market using different media in order to stimulate your customer’s behavior in a way that you can measure, track and analyze all the information involved in the process and store it on a database for future use” (Cortes, 2011, p. 1). Direct Marketing—also known as relationship marketing —is a great way to develop and maintain a relationship with the target over time. It ignores the middleman or retailer and allows the manufacturer to interact and sell directly to the targeted audience...
eBook - ePubPrinciples of Advertising
A Global Perspective, Second Edition
- Monle Lee, Carla Johnson(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...With the advent of computers and the development of extensive databases, it has become possible for an advertiser to develop one-on-one, two-way communication with those most likely to be in the market for a certain product at the time the customer is ready to buy. Some industry leaders believe that all Internet advertising should be categorized as Direct Marketing. 2. Direct Marketing involves one or more media (e.g., mail and telephone). 3. Direct Marketing is measurable. That is, Direct Marketing allows the marketer to calculate precisely the costs of producing the communication effort and the resulting outcome. 4. Location is not an issue in Direct Marketing. Direct Marketing takes place at a variety of locations—by phone, mail, or Internet—and the order can be made at any time of the day or night. Product delivery can also be made to the consumer's home or to the business client's workplace. Direct Marketing dominated the marketing services industry in 2003, with revenues of $2.87 billion making up 48.2 percent of the marketing services pie, followed by sales promotion at $1.71 billion (28.8 percent of the pie), and interactive at $ 1.37 billion (23 percent), according to data compiled by Advertising Age. 5 Direct mail (other than catalogs) remained the preferred Direct Marketing method. Other Direct Marketing methods commonly utilized appear in Table 16.1. T HE G LOBAL P ERSPECTIVE : A D IAMOND IN THE T RASH ? Should you throw away direct mail or keep it? Consumers are infamous for tossing away direct mail without reading it. Some consumers in The Netherlands might rethink their position on this practice. To celebrate its tenth anniversary, a Netherlands jeweler sent out a direct mailing to 3,800 customers. The direct mail piece included 200 authentic diamonds; the rest were fakes. Recipients of the mailings were supposed to take the “diamond” to the jeweler's store to verify its authenticity...
eBook - ePub- Matthew Housden, Brian Thomas(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Hundreds of years ago, a manufacturer of, for example, clothing or fine tableware, would use one-to-one marketing methods, seeking out selected customers, identifying their precise needs, and developing specific products to satisfy those needs. Direct Marketing is a discipline, a subset of marketing, which permits us to carry out certain marketing tasks more efficiently. It does this by gathering, analysing and using information about individual customers and prospects. This information enables us to identify which of the people on our customer and prospect files are likely to be interested in a particular product, service or offer. After the first round of one-to-one marketing, came mass production, which, successfully it must be said, adopted the ‘this is what we make, now go and buy it’ approach. But today, as customers have become more affluent and more individualistic, they have also become more knowledgeable and more discerning, and the ‘broad brush’ approach does not work so well any more. One of the reasons for IBM’s change of fortunes in the early 1990s was Gerstner’s abandonment of its former policy, quoted by one of their senior executives as ‘We make, you take; we talk, you listen’. This policy would be commercial suicide today. Happily, today’s marketers have modern technology to help them deliver the more focused communications and service required whilst still dealing with a high volume of customers and prospects. One expert recently defined Direct Marketing as ‘Using tomorrow’s technology to deliver yesterday’s standards of service to today’s customers’. So what is Direct Marketing? Direct Marketing is a discipline, a subset of marketing, which permits us to carry out certain marketing tasks more efficiently. It does this by gathering, analysing and using information about individual customers and prospects...
eBook - ePubBusiness
The Ultimate Resource
- Bloomsbury Publishing(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
...Planning a Cost-effective Direct Marketing Campaign GETTING STARTED For businesses of all sizes, Direct Marketing works most effectively when it is aimed at a precise audience that cannot be easily reached by any other medium. A campaign should be carefully planned in accordance with the target market and the product or service concerned. Short-term results can be measured accurately and directly by the level of response, so the effectiveness of a campaign can be assessed quickly. There are, however, many different factors that can affect the outcome, such as product price or the quality of the campaign material. As with any direct approach, it is essential to make it as easy as possible for customers to respond. FAQs Is Direct Marketing the same as direct mail? No. Direct Marketing (DM) is any marketing activity that depends on a direct and measurable response. Conventional advertising can be “direct,” as can telephone, fax, email and, of course, the Internet. Direct mail is Direct Marketing communication sent by mail and therefore often has a poor reputation because of the amount of unsolicited mail that people regularly receive. Can Direct Marketing be used to sell products? There are many situations in which you can use Direct Marketing to build direct sales. You may not have a sales force or a retail network, so customers can only buy direct from you. If you want to sell to niche markets, or if your customers are widely spread or even global, Direct Marketing may be the only cost-effective way of reaching them. If you decide to sell direct, you must insure that the products themselves are suitable for selling through Direct Marketing—that is, that they do not have to be demonstrated, or inspected by the customer. How does Direct Marketing build relationships with customers? The stronger your relationship with your customers, the more opportunities you have to influence the future direction and success of your business...
eBook - ePub- Drayton Bird(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Kogan Page(Publisher)
...What are direct marketers normally trying to achieve? FIVE MAJOR OBJECTIVES OF DIRECT MARKETERS … Actions, not just feelings Although we’ve looked at many ways in which Direct Marketing can be applied, you can break down all the activities I know of into five simple categories. You can ask people to: Buy through the post, over the phone, or off the TV set, either for cash or by quoting a credit card or account number. Here I include charity donations. Ask for catalogues, or literature, or information which may come through the post, on the telephone or in the hands of salesmen (with or without the consumer’s prior knowledge). Request a demonstration either in the home, at work, or even at the seller’s premises. Visit a retail establishment, a film show or exhibition – or even a political or community event. Take part in some action like joining a protest demonstration, or writing to an MP or some foreign power. Notice that in all cases we are asking people to do something. Direct Marketing is asking for action, whereas advertising is usually trying to influence thoughts and feelings. A critical distinction. To reach your chosen objective, you can choose from a variety of routes. The possibilities and permutations are bewildering, but it is essential that you are aware of them all. A sale you could never make profitably in one step, for example, could be easily made if the product is broken down and sold in stages as a continuity product, or if the sale is made by asking for an enquiry and then following up repeatedly...
eBook - ePub- Dave Chaffey(Author)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Of course, this is the key elements of permission marketing, which is described in more detail in Chapter 2. Since e-mail is a push medium, this makes it a great medium for time-critical information. E-mail alerts and offers about promotions are the obvious application. A less obvious (but very powerful) application is the use of e-mail which is automatically triggered based on the marketer’s understanding of the customers’ lifecycle and the content they are interested in, and the marketer’s objectives in converting the customer from one stage to the next. My US contacts call this approach ‘sense and respond’. Less frequent e-mail alerts can also be of value – weekly and monthly alerts can be used for less critical knowledge. Such alert information can be added-value information in e-mail newsletters – you act as a source of knowledge for your customers. E-mail is also potentially better than a web site for targeted communications. It is superior since you, not the visitor, choose who sees what information. Web-site designers have to cater for a range of audiences, and this can make it difficult for customers in any segment to find the communications that have been developed for them. Similarly with special offers; these often have to be highlighted by a space on a panel little more than a postage stamp, and it’s often better to use the space provided by an e-newsletter. With e-mail you choose the customers who will receive the communications, using standard database marketing selects. For example, Boots the Chemist has used e-mail to target customers within a 30-minute drive of a new range of opticians – try doing that via a web site! Customers can also choose the information they need and when they need it. Advanced e-mail services give customer choice regarding which information is delivered and when it is delivered...
