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Small Business Marketing

What is Direct Marketing?

This is the first of a multi-part series on direct marketing.

What is direct marketing (DM)? It is any type of marketing that seeks a response by phone, mail, computer or fax from a reader, viewer or listener. To be considered DM, your marketing must contain at the very least these three components: 1. An offer
2. An answer to the question, "Why should I respond?"
3. A way to get your offer

If your direct marketing contains only one or two, but not all three components, it´s simply a likeness of direct marketing, but not the real McCoy.

Let´s take a closer look….

Make Them an Offer They Can´t Refuse
Most simply stated, an offer answers the question, "What do I get for doing what you want?"

Here are some examples of frequently-used offers:

• Contests and sweepstakes (Kodak´s photo contests)
• FREE trial (30-, 60- or 90-day)
• Money-back guarantee (get your money back if you´re not happy with...)
• Payment options (easier payment plans)
• Premiums (the Sports Illustrated cordless phone)
• Free incentives (discounts, sales prices, buy one get one FREE)

The best offers must first grab your attention. Second, they must be very believable and hard to find elsewhere. Making your offer free is imperative. And, relating the offer to your product or service and the target audience is generally a good idea, too. For example, Sports Illustrated has given a free commemorative football with a paid subscription in the past.

The offer is the second-most-important DM success factor—after the mailing list or the media buy. The offer is important because everyone wants to know "What´s in it for me?" The offer is a tangible answer to that question.

Why is the list or media outlet more important than the offer? To illustrate, can you imagine sending a direct mail piece selling specialized fly-fishing gear to a single, 18-year-old female living in Manhattan or buying TV spots to sell subscriptions to Prevention magazine on Nickelodeon?

Remember this: You have to put the right offer in the right hands at the right time for your DM to succeed. A solid media buy or targeted mailing list will ensure that you get the right offer in the right hands.

Tell Them Why They Should Respond
Boil down all the possible reasons for using direct marketing and you´re left with: making money, building a customer list and/or learning something. How? You have to get a response to accomplish these goals.

When telling your target audience why they should respond, keep these points in mind.

• People don´t read a marketing message-- they scan it.
• People look for what´s in it for them, first and foremost.
• People need enough information to make an immediate decision.

A very clear, compelling answer to the question, "Why should I respond?" greatly increases the likelihood that an immediate decision can and will be made.

Give Them a Way to Get Your Offer
After you choose an irresistible offer and write a message focused on the benefits of your product or service, don´t shoot yourself in the foot by making it difficult to get the offer and, therefore, difficult to get your product or service.

The goal is to tell a person exactly what you want them to do and make it simple for them to do it. Direct marketers call this a "call to action". Giving the recipient several ways to respond is recommended in most cases. Here are a few options: toll-free number, business reply card, email address or URL for a web site.

Without a clear call to action and a simple way to respond, the effectiveness of your message will be dramatically reduced. Why? People won´t know what you want them to do, and they won´t take the time to figure it out on their own.

It´s All About Getting a Response
Remember, direct marketing is any type of marketing that seeks some sort of response. All true DM includes a compelling offer, a reason to respond and an easy way to get your offer. By doing these things, it is far more likely that you´ll get a response, make money, build a customer list and/or learn something new.

In the next part of the series, I´ll give you a few more hints on creating a DM message that gets a response. In the meantime, feel free to call or email me your with questions and/or remarks.