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Direct Marketing Savvy New content regularly, to increase your DM knowledge and effectiveness.
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General: Direct Marketing is… Communication aimed at a defined audience and delivered directly, rather than through a media. In most cases, direct marketing tries for direct response, a specific and measurable action by recipients. Direct mail is the most common form of direct marketing, and includes saturation coverage to geographic areas or more targeted communication. Targeting includes: -Literal one-to-one communication, made possible by digital technology. -Small group communication, also a digital breakthrough, allowing the targeting of subsets of prospects or customers -Customer-list communication, generally more efficient than marketing to non-customers. -Demographic communication, targeting those most likely to be interested based on age, income, family status, interests, or other criteria. -Radius communication, targeting by geography, sometimes neighborhoods.
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Pros & Cons The great advantage of direct marketing is targeting, the message can be aimed directly at the intended audience. Targeting provides efficiency, less money spent on geography or audience that is not part of the realistic target. Direct marketing will succeed, or not, on its own communication value, not as a function of whether audience is tuned into or paying attention to a separate media. Direct mail runs the risk of arriving on heavy mail days, but DM proponents argue that the odds of attention are still higher than the risk of poor page placement, or poor time placement in electronic media. Direct marketing is measurable, allowing effectiveness to be measured, and allowing improvements in messaging to be made and measured. Direct mail is relatively expensive per piece and may not be suitable for products having low unit price. Of course, cost is correctly analyzed on a results basis, not a cost per claimed circulation. Direct mail lists are not perfect, sometimes having a non-deliverable percentage of 5-10% or higher. This is DM’s equivalent of the people who grab a drink during TV commercials (or TIVO through them) and those who barely skim print media. Some worry about the environmental impact of direct mail. The printing industry has moved aggressively toward use of material such as soy ink and recycled paper. Recipients can also recycle direct mail products. The idea that paper products are killing important forests is false, as the paper industry has grown and harvested trees for decades. Some resent the intrusion of direct mail, and in most cases, can be removed from offending lists.
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Some Fundamentals AIDA is an acronym some use for effective direct marketing: Attention: It cannot be assumed that direct mail will be read, simply because it shows up in the mailbox. People are busy. Some may not look at all, but most will at least scan. During the few seconds of that scan, a DM piece must earn Attention. Note that a simplistic approach like 20% off, even in a huge headline, likely does not earn attention in a world where 20% off offers are everywhere. Attention is likely earned by something that suggests satisfying a want or need. Interest: After earning a closer look, the DM piece must generate active interest. The idea of lounging on a Hawaii beach might earn attention, but it’s another step to make the idea immediately relevant to the recipient. Hmm...maybe we really could do this. Decision: DM is seeking Action, but the step just before Action is Decision. Why should I act now...an incentive, a limited time window, etc. Action: This is the response sought by the DM piece, sometimes a visit to a store location, sometimes a phone call, sometimes a visit to a website or landing page. The call-to-action should be clear and easy. The odds are very high that a web-based response opportunity should be included, at least for more information, as web grows steadily as an action medium. |
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