Importance of Direct Marketing

Direct marketing involves a total set of activities by which the seller attempts to elicit a direct action response—for example, a purchase.

A distinction is made between direct marketing and direct marketing media. The former includes the total set of marketing activities involved in obtaining a direct response. Direct marketing media are the tools that direct marketers use in the communications process.

See: Promotional Mix

The Role of Direct Marketing in the IMC Program

Direct marketing activities support and are supported by other elements of the promotional mix.

1. Combining direct marketing with advertising—Direct marketing is in itself a form of advertising. Whether through mail, print, or TV, the direct-response offer is an ad. Sometimes the ad supports the direct selling effort.

2. Combining direct marketing with public relations—Private companies may use telemarketing activities to solicit funds for charities or cosponsor charities that use these and other direct response techniques to solicit funds.

3. Combining direct marketing with personal selling—Nonprofit organizations often use telemarketing to solicit funds. Companies use telemarketing to screen and qualify potential prospects.

4. Combining direct marketing with sales promotions—For example, many local merchants send out mailers announcing sales and promotional offers.

See: IMC Planning Process

Benefits of Direct Marketing

4. 4. • Benefits to buyers:

–Convenient.
–Easy to use.
–Private.
–Ready access to products.
–Ready access to the wealth of comparative information.
–Immediate and interactive.

4. 4. • Benefits to sellers:

–Powerful tool for building customer relationships.
–Offers a low-cost, speedy way to reach markets, including business markets.
–Offers lower costs, improved efficiencies, and speedier handling of channel and logistics functions.
–Offers greater flexibility.
–Gives access to buyers that could not be reached through other channels.

See: Basic Model of Communication

Forms of Direct Marketing

–Direct-mail marketing.
–Catalog marketing.
–Telemarketing.
–Direct-response TV marketing.
–Kiosk marketing.
–New digital technologies.
–Online marketing.