Direct marketing
Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected[1] customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as direct response marketing. In contrast to direct marketing, advertising is more of a mass-message nature.[1][2]
Not to be confused with Direct selling.
Response channels include toll-free telephone numbers, reply cards, reply forms to be sent in an envelope, websites and email addresses.
The prevalence of direct marketing and the unwelcome nature of some communications[3] has led to regulations and laws such as the CAN-SPAM Act, requiring that consumers in the United States be allowed to opt-out.[4]
Overview[edit]
Intended targets are selected from larger populations based on vendor-defined criteria, including average income for a particular ZIP code, purchasing history and presence on other lists.[1] The goal is "to sell directly to consumers" without letting others "join (the) parade."
Compared to general marketing which is not as targeted, direct marketing is targeted to speak directly with the consumer. [5]
Objectives[edit]
Direct Marketing has a few objectives such as: selling, generating leads, and developing relationships with customers. [5]
Selling is a major objective of direct marketing. An example of this can be newspaper with an advertisement promoting a certain product to buy.[5]
Another objective of direct marketing is to both generate leads and qualify leads. Leads that are qualified can also be identified as prospective customers. [5]
Developing relationships with customers is also an objective of a direct marketing campaign. If a direct marketing campaign is executed correctly, the loyalty ladder shows that a target company can go from suspects to prospects to customers to clients and finally to advocates. [5]
List brokers provide names and contact information,[25] but their services need to be contrasted to expected "return on investment."
Success can vary based on factors such as:
Some direct marketers use individual "opt-out" lists, variable printing, and better-targeted list practices to improve success percentages. Additionally, in order to avoid unwanted mailings, members of the marketing industry have established preference services that give customers more control over the marketing communications they receive in the mail.
The term "junk mail", referring to unsolicited commercial ads delivered via post office or directly deposited in consumers' mail boxes, can be traced back to 1954.[27] The term "spam," meaning "unsolicited commercial e-mail," can be traced back to March 31, 1993,[28] although in its first few months it merely referred to inadvertently posting a message so many times on UseNet that the repetitions effectively drowned out the normal flow of conversation.
To address the concerns of unwanted emails or spam, in 2003, The US Congress enacted the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act to curb unwanted email messages. Can-Spam gives recipients the ability to stop unwanted emails and set out tough penalties for violations.[29] Additionally, ISPs and email service providers have developed increasingly effective Email Filtering programs. These filters can interfere with the delivery of email marketing campaigns, even if the person has subscribed to receive them,[30] as legitimate email marketing can possess the same hallmarks as spam. There are a range of email service providers that provide services for legitimate opt-in emailers to avoid being classified as spam.
Consumers have expressed concerns about the privacy and environmental implications of direct marketing. In response to consumer demand and increasing business pressure to increase the effectiveness of reaching the right customer with direct marketing, companies specialize in targeted direct advertising to great effect, reducing advertising budget waste and increasing the effectiveness of delivering a marketing message with better geo-demography information, delivering the advertising message to only the customers interested in the product, service, or event on offer. Additionally, members of the advertising industry have been working to adopt stricter codes regarding online targeted advertising.[31]