Digital Marketing
Direct marketing means contacting customers and prospects in a direct way with the intention of generating immediate & measurable responses.
In our daily life; we’re frequently exposed to different channels of direct marketing such as mailing, catalogs, telephones & brochures.
What is really distinctive in ‘Direct Marketing’ is that it reaches the customers or prospects without any intermediaries as dealers, retailers, or sales teams.
The basic philosophy of ‘Direct Marketing’ is to consider each customer as an ‘investment’. Customers are personally addressed & are able to respond.
Objectives of direct marketing:
Direct sales
Direct marketing may be used as a direct sales channel or distribution technique. The best example is the mail-order business catalogs that are mailed to prospects & orders are taken by phone or mail.
Customer retention & loyalty
- Direct marketing is used to improve relations with customers & increase their satisfaction & loyalty.
- Others claim that lack of loyalty shows company performance by 25% to 50%.
- Customer retention in combination with gaining new customers leads to a higher number of customers.
the longer they stay the more profitable they become, therefore the return per customer increases.
Sales or distribution support
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Direct marketing can also be used to support the activities of the sales team, dealers & retailers.
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DM prepares, stimulates & facilitates sales. It has a funnel function reducing the great number of potentials (suspects) to a limited number of qualified prospects which is the main objective of direct marketing.
Direct Marketing Media Channels & Tools:
To meet the direct marketing objectives; there are two types of tools that can be used. They are: addressable & non-addressable tools(media)
First: Non-addressable Media:
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Direct Response Print Advertising:
It is also called “Coupon Ads”. it means placing your ad in a newspaper or a magazine. The results of that tool are characterized by the following:
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direct feedback from the reader to the advertiser
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Clear linkage between the response & the message advertised
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Identification of the respondent.
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Direct response TV ads (DRTV)
It uses TV as a medium to generate reactions. The effectiveness of that tool -DRTV- can be measured by the success of teleshopping programs or even teleshopping channels.
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Direct response radio ad:
It is clear that it is an interactive form that uses radio ads. It aims at generating direct behavioral responses from the listening audiences using phones, posts, or the internet.
From a perspective, that type of direct marketing is more suitable for services.
Second: Addressable Media Channels & Tools:
It is the media in which it is possible to communicate individually with each customer or prospect.
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1) Direct Mail
It includes written commercial messages, personally addressed & sent by mail. This media channel has positives as well as negatives.
Pros of direct mail:
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Selectivity
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Personalized messages
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Too flexible
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Use creative ideas
Cons of direct mail
The response is rather low due to the ‘clutter’ & the resulting ‘junk mail’ images
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2) Telemarketing
It can be defined as any measurable activity using the phone to help find, get, keep & develop customers.
There are two main types of telemarketing: outbound telemarketing & inbound.
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Outbound telemarketing (Telesales): The marketer takes the initiative to call the clients or prospects.
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Inbound telemarketing: the interested clients or prospects are using the phone to contact the company & ask for product information, orders, ask for help or file a complaint.
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3) Catalogs
It is a list of products or services presented in a visual or verbal way. It may be printed or stored on CDs or even published on a website. There are two main types of catalogs:
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Reference catalog: an extensive overview of all products with their prices, references & characteristics.
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Hard Selling catalog: it should be able to sell without the involvement of a salesperson, a dealer, or a distributor for instance “IKEA” catalogs.
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4) New interactive media
It is nowadays a trend & became the core of Digital marketing. It is where the customers get the information only when he wants to receive it.
The channels of that media include websites, email, the internet…etc.
Measuring Direct Marketing Effectiveness
Through the RFM model which is the three behavioral response parameters for all customers in the database:
1)Recency(R): It is the time since the last purchase
2)Frequency(F): how many times the customer places an order
3)Monetary value (M): the average amount of money a customer spends per purchase.
– It can be used to mail those members of the target group that have the highest score on one or two of the three factors or a combination of the three factors.
– That model can be used to:
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Measure the effectiveness of the mailing campaign
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Improve the effectiveness of subsequent campaigns
Blue Ocean strategy is a book that opens up new boundaries, taking you from what people would assume is the only possible profitable approach in an industry, to an innovative one that opens up new options for you.
