Direct marketing is a form of advertising that allows organizations to communicate straight to the customer. Advertising techniques used can include mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, and outdoor advertising.

Direct marketing emphasizes a focus on the customer, data, and measurement and is characterized by:

• Message are addressed directly to members of a target market. Addressability can be email addresses, mobile phone numbers, fax numbers and postal addresses.
• A specific “call to action.” – The message may ask the prospect to call a free phone number or click on a link to a website.
• An emphasis on trackable, measurable responses from prospects.

Direct marketing is practiced by businesses of all sizes — from the smallest start-up to the Fortune 500. A well-executed direct advertising campaign can prove a positive return on investment by showing how many potential customers responded to a clear call-to-action.

Direct mail marketing is attractive to many marketers because its positive results can be measured directly. If 1,000-piece mail campaign results in 100 responses to the promotion, one could say with confidence that campaign led directly to 10% response rate.

For marketing initiatives with a web-based call-to-action, the Internet has made it easier for marketing managers to measure the results of a campaign. This is often achieved by using a specific website landing page directly relating to the promotional material. The call to action will ask the prospect to visit the landing page. The effectiveness of the campaign can be measured by taking the number of promotional messages distributed (e.g., 1,000) and dividing it by the number of responses (people visiting the unique website page).

While many recognize the financial benefits of targeted campaigns, some direct marketing efforts using particular media can often generate poor quality leads, either due to poor messaging strategy or because of poorly compiled contact databases. This problem impacts marketers and consumers alike, as advertisers don’t like wasting money on communicating with prospects not interested in their products or services.

This means that, prior to embarking on any direct marketing campaign, knowing your target customer, and what message will be effective, is key. And the best way to uncover those is through a marketing survey.

To learn more on how customer surveys can help your business, call me – Louie Pateropoulos at 416 219 0905 or email me.