What is Direct Marketing?

Direct marketing is really just the term that's given to any form of advertising that puts the customer in direct contact with the company.

Direct marketing is sometimes called target marketing, pinpointing the characteristic where consumers are targeted with matching products/services the marketer provided. Reaching and informing the potential consumers - target market- is essential in marketing.

A list of consumers of refined interest information with geographical, personal demographics, psychographics and business demographics is valuable to every marketer.



What are the channels in direct marketing?
There are various channels of direct marketing. Direct Marketing uses a set of direct-response media including direct mail, telemarketing, print, the Internet and other media while direct mailing, direct delivery and email marketing are the commonest channels.

Direct Mailing and Direct Delivery
More advertising budget continue to be allocated in direct mail than in almost any other advertising medium. Direct mailing provides information on products/services addressed to the consumers personally by post. Advertising by post is one of the most familiar forms of direct marketing, making up on average over four out of ten items of the weekly postbag.

For consumers, when direct mail is correctly targeted to the relevant people, they will be happy to read it as it brings them timely, relevant and interesting offers and information.

Direct delivery delivers promotion materials such as leaflets and free sample to the consumers at the place where the target consumers frequently access. Virtually pushing the advertisement into their hands, increasing awareness.

It is believed that direct mailing and direct delivery initiate nearly half of the purchases

Email Marketing
Industry pundits claim that e-mail marketing is one of-the-most successful way to grab customers. Email offers marketers new opportunities for customer interaction and allows for immediate action. Once you grab the prospects' attention and convert them to buyers or inquirers, direct email allows you to build a special, highly interactive relationship. It is a perfect compliment to direct mail and direct delivery.

(Source from Direct Marketing of Asia Ltd)



Why direct marketing is preferred?

Selective Reach -
Direct marketing lets the advertiser reach their targeted group and reduces or eliminates waste coverage.

Segmentation Capabilities -
Tools including GIS, statistics and categorization can be employed to allow segmentation on the basis of geography, demographics, and lifestyles.

Flexibility -
Direct marketing can take on a variety of creative forms as direct-mail pieces allow for detailed copy that provides a great deal of information.

Timing -
While many media require long-range planning and have long closing dates, direct-response advertising can be much more timely. Direct mail can be put together very quickly and distributed to the target population.

Personalization -
No other advertising medium can personalize the message as well as direct mail.

Cost -
The ability of direct marketing to specifically target the audience and eliminate waste coverage reduces the actual CPM (cost per thousand consumer reached) and thus the cost per purchase also minimized.

Measures of effectiveness -
No other medium can measure the effectiveness of its advertising efforts as well as direct response. Feedback is often immediate and always accurate.

(Source from Direct Marketing of Asia Ltd)