Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing: 5 Easy Ways to Get It Right

Direct marketing — the practice of using impactful one-on-one communication to get your carefully chosen prospects to respond in a desired way — is a smart, cost-effective strategy for increasing your sales and business. The best direct marketers align the right message, audience, format, timing and measurement to create outstanding direct-marketing results. To do so, you need to develop the following:

Right Message: Compel your prospects to take action by giving them fresh, insightful information that will save them time and money, add comfort and convenience, or make their lives safer and more enjoyable. Attach guarantees, discounts and deadlines to make offers stand out even more.

Right Audience: These are the people you believe will benefit most from your products and services. On all of your communications, include a sign-up or subscribe button, along with your contact information. Continue to cull and cultivate your contacts and treat them like the gold they are.

Right Format: Your message and audience will often influence the format(s) your direct marketing will take. These formats include direct mail in the form of letters, postcards, flyers and brochures; electronic media such as emails, blogs and social networking sites; telemarketing; and point of purchase (POP) displays. Each, however, must be high-impact and professional looking. Collect direct-marketing examples you have admired and use them to influence your own pieces.

Right Timing: Tie your value-added information to holidays, birthdays or breaking news (i.e., changes in interest rates or new government homebuying incentives) to make it all the more timely and valuable. Providing customers with timely information that increases their knowledge and options will quickly set you apart from your competition.

Right Tracking: If you are not getting the results you want, continually refine and tweak your message, audience, product, service, offer, packaging, format, and/or timing. That's the beauty of direct marketing: It's measurable.


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