Custrack Newsletter February 2008

What is direct marketing?
Direct marketing includes advertisements, promotions, gifts and give-aways or it can be a brief letter. Measurability is the hallmark of direct marketing. It is directly measurable. Direct marketing is not limited to any one medium. A combination of media is far more effective than a single medium. It can be in mailing, television or radio.

Why do you need to do direct marketing?
True marketing is not advertising or selling, it is a customer-oriented attitude that is adopted by a company and which permeates through the entire organisation. It’s that magical something about the way you communicate and care for your customers that makes them come back to you again and again. Marketing is an investment. The closure rate from qualified leads can be two to four times as effective as cold calls. Direct marketing can cost you as much as you want to. You can do it all yourself and it is measurable, which means that at all times you will know if it is working or not. Making your marketing response-driven means that you will get your market, or a percentage of it, to talk to you.

Effective direct marketing constitutes…
The right choice is the one that works for you. Your marketing sends out more messages about your company than just the product being marketed - It also builds perceptions and company image.

In a highly competitive environment, the only distinguishing factor in attracting and keeping customers is your capacity to provide outstanding service. The only way to achieve this is to communicate with your clients. It also builds perceptions and company image. People buy benefits, not features. Offer the reader or recipient a reason to read your mailing. The longer you can keep someone reading your copy, the better your chances of success. Interactive marketing has proven more successful than an advertisement by two to one.

What role does your database play?
Maximising direct marketing success depends on the database list you use, rather than the copy or graphics. The database lists are possibly the most important areas of direct marketing. They need to be accurate. The names and addresses need to be correct. They need to be personalised. Sending the letter to “Dear John” or “Dear Mr Edwards” has the effect of speaking to John himself. A follow-up to the same list will pull 40 to 50 percent of the first mailing. This statistic has been proven by some of the world’s top marketing gurus.

Database marketing is a channel for exchanging information with customers. It causes incremental improvements in customer retention rates, response rates, referrals and frequency of sales.