Direct Marketing.

Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is a catch-all term that describes a range of promotional activities that are aimed directly at the customer, bringing the promotional message straight to the target audience. Direct mail, telemarketing and email marketing can all be useful methods of targeting the kind of customer who is likely to buy from the business. However, each of them requires careful preparation and consideration towards the audience, and knowledge of how to manage customer data efficiently and within the boundaries of the law.

There are various advantages and disadvantages of each method of direct marketing, these are stated below. 

Direct mail:

This involves sending promotional materials to targeted customers through the post.

     Advantages - 

• Direct mail can be a relatively low-cost exercise with the ability to target specific customers.
• It is also easy to evaluate the successes or failure of each campaign by looking at response rates.

    Disadvantages - 

• The negative perception by recipients that direct mail or ‘junk mail’ is becoming more common.

Email marketing:

The use of email for direct marketing has grown rapidly, becoming more effective.

    

    Advantages - 

• It is a very cheap and quick method of promotion which allows the message to encourage an instant response.
• Viral marketing is a good way to get customers to recommend a friend and increase the size of their customer database in return for a reward, for example a discount etc.

    Disadvantages - 

• The use of spam filters on many email systems makes it harder for legitimate email marketing materials to reach the intended recipient.
• Email marketing must only be sent to those who have opted into receiving such a promotion.
• Many businesses continue to flout this 'golden rule', contributing to the substantial volume of email spam.

Telemarketing: 

Telemarketing encompasses all telephone-based marketing activities including sales, customer services and market research.

    Advantages - 

• It is relatively low-cost, particularly compared to the costs of keeping a full-time sales force on the road.

    Disadvantages - 

• The big downside to telemarketing is that cold calling has a very negative perception, especially in the consumer sector.

Overall, direct marketing has the following advantages and disadvantages:

Here is an example of direct marketing in the form of a postcard which was distributed in Milan, Italy.