Direct Marketing Vs. Branding

All of your direct marketing pieces should be consistent with your brand. But what is Direct Marketing?

What Is Direct Marketing?

Direct marketing is more than direct mail or sales channels such as mail order catalogs. Other diverse media a direct marketing campaign might include telemarketing and search engine marketing.

Small businesses can benefit from direct marketing (DM). Starting with a clear understanding of DM will help you fully exploit the strategy and drive your campaign to the biggest payoff.

Successful direct marketing campaigns share these three traits:

• Emphasize ROI. The purpose of DM communication is to deliver profit rather than raise awareness or enhance your brand's image.
• Target a specific audience and ask for a response. The money spent on mailing lists or Google ads is wasted if you don't invite potential customers to take an action, ideally with a purchase.
• Capture both outbound and inbound information. The more tracking data you accumulate, the more you'll learn what works and what doesn't. Statistics from past campaigns can help to improve and focus your future efforts.

In short: Understand the definition of direct marketing, and you will move one step closer to seeing what a well-planned campaign can do for your bottom line.

Source: MarketingProfs' Direct Marketing Template.