Use of direct marketing in the company. Direct marketing: exploring new ways to sell. Direct marketing is




Direct marketing is a system of activities aimed at collecting, recording, analyzing information about consumer demand through direct communications and communication with the client.

The dialogue is built using special templates and advertising texts using various communication channels:

  • phone calls;
  • mail, fax;
  • television, radio broadcasting;
  • Internet services;
  • personalized communication using directories.

Direct action marketing is designed to directly contact the consumer to study the feedback on the proposed product (direct response to the offer).

Characteristics of direct marketing:

  • implemented without intermediaries and retailers according to the "business-to-consumer" (B2C) scheme;
  • relies on pre-programmed advertising, suggesting a buyer's response (tactical conversational mode);
  • demonstrates the targeting of actions in relation to the target audience;
  • is a more hidden and lengthy method of promoting goods and services;
  • requires the creation of a data bank at the preparatory stage (information about customers, products);
  • needs constant accounting and control of demand for the product;
  • organized individually without reference to points of sale (anytime and anywhere);
  • the main goal is contact with the consumer (sales are secondary).

Examples of direct marketing are email distribution of commercial offers (mail), placement of a banner with a product promotion (Internet).

What is Integrated Direct Marketing

Integrated direct marketing (maxi) is a communication system that uses multiple appeals to the consumer and a multi-level advertising campaign. Such marketing involves all sorts of techniques for the implementation of the product, which are worked out synchronously according to a well-thought-out strategy (advertising, special offers, agency promotion, public relations, mailing list, etc.).

Maxi marketing is characterized by the presence of "tempting" offers and promotions. Advertising is carried out with the help of coding, which is able to bring the audience to a purchase decision. Employees of the branch network are stimulated with percentages of sales and bonuses (gifts) for fulfilling the plan. Interactive mailing is widely used. New customers are massively attracted by organizing exhibitions and fairs.

The essence of direct marketing

The essence of direct marketing is to increase sales with the help of targeted messages to a certain circle of buyers in an interactive or dialogue mode.

Direct marketing is based on product databases (electronic Information Systems), as well as systematized information about each buyer. The advantages are an individual approach to the client and his interests. At the same time, advertising of goods is carried out secretly from competitors.

The stumbling block in the development of direct marketing is access to consumer personal information (phone numbers, mailbox addresses, passport details). Its effectiveness is largely determined by the reliability of the data received and the opponent's desire to read intrusive "electronic waste paper".

Features of direct marketing

  • used in trade in specialized goods;
  • used with a flexible pricing policy or in conditions of price instability;
  • requires significant expenses and is inefficient at low sales volumes;
  • has an indicative territory for product promotion;
  • the trading network must have warehouse space;
  • involves an increase in sales due to potential demand (analysis of the number of consumers in the territory);
  • focuses on the buyer as part of its own media strategy.

Direct marketing establishes a long-term mutually beneficial relationship between the buyer and the manufacturer by engaging in a communication environment based on consumer preferences, indicative purchases and questionnaire data.

Main forms (types) of direct marketing

  • direct advertising (booklets, flyers, promotions);
  • Fax;
  • direct mail marketing and SMS-mailings (advertising letters and offers);
  • catalog marketing (personal selling);
  • television (video clip with contacts);
  • telemarketing (calling customers);
  • online marketing (banners, electronic signs);
  • advertising campaign in the media with feedback (announcement);
  • radio marketing (audio message);
  • network (a network of organized agents);
  • kiosk marketing;
  • integrated (cumulative sequential promotion plan).

What is not a form of direct marketing

  • verbal advertising or recommendation;
  • publication of a fact-finding nature in the media;
  • distribution of information leaflets;
  • single presentations for the purpose of advertising the assortment;
  • distribution of trial samples;
  • distribution, franchising, dealership, merchandising.

Direct Marketing Goals

  • finding potential customers from among the target audience (coupons, advertising on the Internet and the media, television and radio marketing);
  • attraction to purchase (advertising message);
  • search for new consumers (discounts, promotions);
  • retention of market share and development of trade relations with buyers;
  • receiving new orders;
  • stimulating repeat purchases and creating conditions for this;
  • attracting the attention of the client (congratulatory and informational messages);
  • providing full information about the product and its quality.

Methods and tools of direct marketing

All marketing methods are based on real market data, consumer psychology and indicators of the company's current activities (sales, profitability, payback).

  • direct sales (mail, telephone, radio, TV, catalogues);
  • Internet marketing (conferences, online e-commerce platforms, forums, interest clubs);
  • relationship marketing (consumer policy based on sales forecasts).

Direct Marketing Channels

Direct marketing does not involve an intermediary network, because it works according to a simple scheme, where the initial link is the manufacturer, and the final link is the buyer. This sales organization has a zero-level marketing channel.

Examples include general peddling, mail-order products, or online advertising of your products. Industrial products, for the most part, do not require marketing channels at all because of their necessity. The entire advertising campaign is devoted to creating the image of the company.

Often there is a situation when sales volumes increase. Selling goods becomes profitable not only for the company's staff (sellers at points of sale), but also for third-party intermediaries. Both of them form a network of promotion through their personal distribution channels. There is a multi-level channel system with distributors, dealers and sales agents:

  • Level 1: one intermediary (factory - shopping center - buyer)
  • Level 2: two intermediaries (manufacturer - wholesale network - agent - buyer)
  • Level 3: three intermediaries, etc. (depending on production volumes and product type)

Not all manufacturers interact directly with the buyer. Buying goods "from the tray" is sometimes impossible. Marketing company designed only for large wholesalers.

Direct Marketing Tools

Means of direct marketing are ways to convey information to the consumer. Due to the variety of forms of marketing, companies resort to the services of designers, web developers, programmers, call centers, etc. In this case, the means of communication are radio, TV, the Internet, cellular communications and postal services.

Direct marketing properties

  • orientation and targeting;
  • immediacy of contact;
  • individuality of the offer;
  • time-consuming and high costs;
  • the need for constant monitoring;
  • longevity.

Direct Marketing Principles

  1. Database organization.
  2. Positioning of activities (directions, properties).
  3. Price regulation.
  4. Flexible approach to clients.
  5. Conducting tests and questioning (identification of interests).
  6. Use of advanced technologies.
  7. Direct dialogue.
  8. Comprehensiveness of direct marketing methods.

Elements of direct marketing

  • target audience, suppliers, competitors;
  • need and demand;
  • price;
  • materials and information channels;
  • intermediaries;
  • Database.

Direct marketing activities

  • Analytics (collection of information on each order, response, interested offer).
  • Data sampling (filtering by demand segments).
  • Analysis of consumer preferences.
  • Market research and competitive advantages/disadvantages.
  • Building an optimal promotion program that is user-friendly.
  • Selection of products for clients.
  • Forecasting sales from direct marketing and calculating its effectiveness.
  • Maintaining a client base, taking into account periodic surveys.
  • Collection of statistical data on sales, analysis of the most priority areas marketing.

Organization, technology and direct marketing process

To organize marketing, they choose a technology due to which the process of promoting a product will be most effective. The procedure is very time-consuming, in production it is handled by sales and marketing departments. The main work of marketers is to algorithmize actions, develop clichés and draw up loyalty programs.

Foreign experience illustrates various approaches and models of direct sales:

  • model 3M by Dan Kennedy and 5M by Howard Jacobson;
  • model 4P Theodora Levitt;
  • model 4C by Robert F. Lauterbourne.

There is no single answer to direct marketing questions. HubSpot's 2016 sales strategy study identified the top 7 technologies that apply to any business.

The following theories were taken as a basis:

  • Consultative sales (Mac Hanan).
  • Spin selling (Neil Rackham).
  • Concept Selling (Robert Miller and Stephen Heyman).
  • Snap Selling (Jill Konrath).
  • Sales Challenge (Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson).
  • Sandler-sales (David Sandler).
  • Customer oriented.

The same for all sales is considered the technology of the process of direct contact or "finishing off" the client, which consists of 5 stages:

  • establishing contact;
  • identification of needs;
  • presentation;
  • handling objections;
  • transaction directly.

Effectiveness, advantages and disadvantages of direct marketing

The effectiveness of the mission is manifested with a cumulative effect. Direct effectiveness is expressed in the number of sales from direct marketing. Hidden efficiency implies a profit from reminder letters. Hypothetically, the client can use the service in the future.

The advantages of direct marketing are expressed in the establishment of two-way relationships, where the buyer is sent the information of interest, and the manufacturer sells the goods, adjusting to the client.

The disadvantage of direct marketing is a small sales market and a significant investment of time and money in the project. Only a large company that is looking for new markets can afford this way of promotion.

What types of trade are direct marketing

Among all existing types of sales, direct marketing includes personal sales (at home, in the workplace) and personal sales conducted by agents, salesmen and showroom personnel.

Personal selling can be organized through all forms of direct marketing. The main thing here is the demonstration of goods in real conditions and bringing the consumer to a response.

What are new indirect distribution channels in marketing

These include all levels of distribution that are not associated with the direct intermediary of the manufacturer. For example, in Avon, the indirect sales participants are ordinary cosmetics distributors (Avon - wholesaler - regional reseller - representative). The main task of the main indirect channels is to quickly capture the market in all cities of the territory.

What is direct distribution channel in marketing

This is a system for promoting goods directly from the manufacturer to the seller without intermediary. It is organized by the enterprise itself, which gives it full control over sales. At the same time, the firm is also engaged in studying the market and consumers on its own.

    Direct marketing. its communicative characteristics, goals and forms

    The main stages of a direct marketing campaign

    Personal selling as the main means of direct marketing.

    Personal Selling Process

    Other forms of direct marketing (direct mail marketing, catalog marketing, telephone marketing, direct response telemarketing, Internet marketing)

1. Direct marketing (direct marketing) - direct interactive interaction between the seller (manufacturer) and the end consumer in the process of selling a particular product.

There is also a more rigorous, scientific definition:

Direct Marketing– the planned, continuous recording, analysis and observation of consumer behavior expressed as a direct response in order to develop a future marketing strategy, develop a long-term positive customer relationship, and ensure continued business success.

The intended response of the direct marketing communication is the purchase of the product.

Direct marketing accounts for more than 50% of the total spending on QMS in the US and Europe. In Russia so far - 5-10%.

2 Main goals, 2 directions of direct marketing:

    Establishing planned relationships with potential buyers.

    Direct implementation of sales operations, providing the necessary pre-sales service.

Communicative characteristics of direct marketing:

    Straight character relationship between the seller and the buyer (unlike all other means of marketing communications).

    Targeting and focus. Clear identification of the most promising target audience. At the same time, the volume of useless audience is reduced to almost zero.

    Dialogue communication mode. The instantaneous response of the recipient of the message.

    Effect measurability. This leads to its controllability.

    Flexibility. You can change the tactics of influence right in the process of communication.

    Purchase of additional amenities by the recipient. For example, the ability to receive goods immediately at home.

    Relatively high cost per contact.

Communication goals of direct marketing:

    Attracting the attention of the recipient.

    Retention of the consumer in the sphere of influence of the communicator.

    Developing a long-term relationship with the recipient.

    Stimulating purchases and creating preconditions for repeat purchases.

    The study of consumer reaction to a particular product.

Main forms of direct marketing:

    Personal (personal) sale.

    Direct mail marketing.

    Catalog marketing.

    telephone marketing.

    Telemarketing.

    Internet marketing, the use of computer communications as communication channels.

2. The main stages of a direct marketing campaign.

Running a direct marketing campaign requires compliance with the three most important requirements

    Selectivity. It is necessary to know what characteristics (socio-demographic characteristics) our potential consumer should have. This is necessary both to determine the target audience and to develop an effective system for influencing this target audience.

    Creativity involves the communicator offering original and interesting moves in the course of the campaign.

    Providing Feedback. Feedback must be clearly presented by the communicator. And its channels are pre-designed.

Marketing: Lecture Notes Loginova Elena Yurievna

5. Goals and objectives of marketing

5. Goals and objectives of marketing

Marketing It is a social science and therefore affects a great many people. For a number of reasons (education, social status, religious beliefs, and much more), the attitude to this discipline is ambiguous, giving rise to contradictions. On the one hand, marketing is an integral part of the life of a product, on the other hand, it carries a negative perception: the creation of unnecessary needs, develops greed in a person, “attacks” with advertising from all sides.

What are the true goals of marketing?

Many believe that the main goal of this science is sales and promotion.

P. Drucker (management theorist) writes as follows: “The goal of marketing is to make sales efforts unnecessary. Its goal is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service will fit the customer exactly and sell itself.”

It does not follow from this that sales and promotion efforts lose their importance. Most likely they become part of the marketing activities of the enterprise to achieve the main goal - maximizing sales and profits. From the foregoing, we can conclude that marketing is a type of human activity that is aimed at meeting human needs and requirements through exchange.

So, the main goals of marketing are the following.

1. Maximization a possibly high level of consumption - firms are trying to increase their sales, maximize profits using various methods and methods (introduce fashion for their products, outline a sales growth strategy, etc.).

2. Maximization consumer satisfaction, i.e. the goal of marketing is to identify existing needs and offer the maximum possible range of a homogeneous product. But since the level of customer satisfaction is very difficult to measure, it is difficult to evaluate marketing activities in this area.

3. Maximization of choice. This goal follows and, as it were, is a continuation of the previous one. The difficulty in realizing this goal lies in not creating branded abundance and imaginary choice in the market. And some consumers, with an excess of certain product categories, experience a feeling of anxiety and confusion.

4. Maximizing the quality of life. Many tend to believe that the presence of a range of goods has a positive effect on its quality, quantity, availability, cost, i.e., the product is “improved”, and therefore, the consumer can satisfy his needs to the maximum, improve the quality of life. Proponents of this view recognize that improving the quality of life is a noble goal, but at the same time, this quality is difficult to measure, so sometimes contradictions are born.

Marketing Tasks:

1) research, analysis, assessment of the needs of real and potential buyers;

2) marketing assistance in the development of a new product (service);

3) provision of after-sales service;

4) marketing communications;

5) research, analysis, evaluation and forecasting of the state of real and potential markets;

6) research activities of competitors;

7) sale of goods (services);

8) formation of assortment policy;

9) formation and implementation pricing policy firms;

10) formation of a strategy for the behavior of the company.

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In the course of commercial activities, each entrepreneur is faced with the problem of selling products. Moving towards the consumer, the product goes through several stages: transportation, warehousing, positioning in stores retail , the movement of goods from the producer to the consumer. There are two main ways of implementation: work to order and work on the free market. Work to order. With this method, the company works for a predetermined market. The release of products is carried out in accordance with the existing portfolio of orders. Terms, technical characteristics of goods, volumes of deliveries of products, prices are agreed in advance. The implementation problems in this case come down to compliance with contractual discipline and mutual agreements: the supplier enterprise is obliged to produce and provide the consumer with the appropriate type of goods or services in a timely manner, while the customer must pay for the goods received within the specified time. this form of sale is typical for the products of the machine-building complex, construction, manufacturing products for industrial purposes. Work on the free market. With this method, the enterprise releases products on the free market without predetermined restrictions on the quantitative characteristics of the goods. The tasks of the sale of goods include the search for possible markets (taking into account their geographical location), the choice of specific forms of sale, and the determination of the acceptable price level. Work on the free market is typical for enterprises in the light and food industries, that is, areas of production that produce goods for personal consumption. In fact, each enterprise, depending on the profile and characteristics of its products, is guided both by pre-orders and work on the free market. The sale of products to the free market is carried out through wholesale and retail trade. A form of retail is direct marketing. It is represented by in-store, non-store retail. Catalog showroom stores are a form of direct marketing based on catalog trading principles and discount prices to market a wide range of hot branded goods sold in regular stores at a high markup. Such stores are widely used in world practice. A characteristic feature of this form of trade is the preliminary selection of goods by the buyer according to catalogs. A form of direct marketing is non-store trade, in particular mail order. The sale of goods is carried out here by attracting buyers through advertisements in the media, after which consumers can order this or that product by mail. In our country, this form of trade is most widely used in the sale of books and medicines.

Catalog and newsletter sales, as well as television and the Internet, are classified as non-store sales because they do not involve the use of traditional stores. Telephone sales cover a wide range of sales activities, from home improvement services to newspaper subscriptions. In addition, selling through vending machines has become quite widespread. The peculiarity of direct selling at home is that sales agents of various marketing organizations and manufacturing enterprises sell products by delivering them to customers at home. Thus food products are sold, Appliances. Among other things, there is peddling; it satisfies customers in terms of convenience and special attention to them. Personal selling is the verbal provision of goods during a conversation with one or more potential buyers for the purpose of making a sale. At some stages of the purchase process, especially at the stages of formation of consumer preferences and beliefs, as well as at the stage of the direct commission of the act of sale, this form of trade is the most effective. The reason lies in the fact that, compared with advertising, the technique of personal selling has the following characteristics: it involves live, direct and mutual communication between or more persons; promotes the establishment of a variety of relationships - from formal "seller-buyer" relationships to strong friendships. A real salesperson who seeks to establish a long-term relationship with a client usually takes his interests to heart; makes the buyer feel somewhat obliged for having had a sales conversation with him. He feels a stronger need to listen and respond, even if all it will be to express polite gratitude. Personal selling is the most expensive of the methods used by the firm. The effectiveness of personal selling incentives on consumer markets and in the markets for industrial goods is different. Firms producing consumer goods, as a rule, spend money on advertising and only then on organizing a personal sale. Industrial goods firms allocate the bulk of their funds to organizing personal selling, and only then allocate the remaining money to sales promotion, advertising, and propaganda. In general, personal selling is much more common in high-risk, high-value goods and in markets with few larger sellers, such as industrial markets. Although the importance of visiting salesmen in consumer markets is inferior in importance to advertising, personal selling still plays a significant role in trade. Personal selling can also make a significant contribution to the consumer goods market. Well-trained consumer product salespeople can recruit many more dealers, convince them to allocate additional display space, and encourage them to collaborate on special incentives.

What direct marketing? This term has been heard by all successful businessmen in the field of advertising for several decades. Previously this concept associated with the promotion of goods by mail. However, at the moment this sales tool has taken a strong place.

This rise in popularity and demand is that the manufacturer or marketer of goods can receive reliable information about the product directly from the buyer, which helps to evaluate the quality of the advertising campaign.

The American company HubSpot found out which first sentences do not inspire the reader, but, on the contrary, force them to delete the letter.

In our article, we have collected 5 such phrases, and ways to correct mistakes.

The essence and features of direct marketing

In the field of trade, there has always been an oral relationship between the selling and buying parties. In modern terms, such an establishment of contacts with consumers is called direct marketing.

This term came to Russian from English (from direct marketing or DM), which means the interaction between the consumer and the distributor or manufacturer of products. Such contact is possible when selling a product or service. At the same time, the parties to the transaction are actively involved in this trading process.

The main goal of direct marketing is the sale and, accordingly, the purchase of the proposed product. Thus, direct methods are an advertising tool that includes both interaction with the consumer and the absolute embodiment of all the requirements for a successful service and product sales. In the light of the above definition, we can speak of this activity as the sale of goods.

The use of direct technology today is widespread in various areas of product promotion and even in all marketing in general. Experts predict a great future for those businessmen who use DM methods in their business. Direct marketing will probably even take the place of advertising as the main mover from producer to buyer. Such statements are not unfounded: direct sales technology has taken a strong place in the business market in a short time.

According to the European Direct Marketing Association, the cost of launching these methods in Western countries by the end of the last century was 35% of the total costs required to start a sales business. In the US, spending reached about $180 billion, which is 60% of the budget. For the Russian Federation, the amount of costs is in the range from 5 to 10% of the total costs.

It is the advantages of direct marketing that explain such a lightning-fast development of this tool in today's market. Now let's talk about this in more detail.

The variety of goals and expected results from the use of direct technology also increase the growth in their demand. The main objectives of this business idea are as follows:

  • get the buyer's attention
  • interest him and leave him within the zone of his control;
  • to establish communicative cooperation within the framework of "producer-consumer" for a long time;
  • to encourage the implementation of the transaction and create all the necessary conditions for subsequent acquisitions;
  • in exceptional cases, analyze consumer feedback on the purchase of various goods.

If we consider direct marketing in more detail, we can distinguish the following tasks and goals:

  • arouse the interest of the buyer;
  • force him to stay in his zone of influence;
  • establish long-term contact with the consumer;
  • induce to make a purchase;
  • form the prerequisites for further wholesale transactions;
  • analyze the consumer's opinion about the purchase;
  • increase sales turnover;
  • expand the range of products offered;
  • increase the number of purchases;
  • achieve increased customer loyalty.

All types of direct marketing differ from each other in a number of features. Of course, some details are peculiar to each of its forms. Here are the common features common to all branches of direct marketing:

    • direct cooperation between the seller and the buyer;
    • concentration on the consumer and targeting in relation to the audience;
    • maintaining a dialogue with the client;
    • easy controllability of the trading process through the analysis of clear numbers;
    • flexibility, adaptation to the needs of the consumer;
    • convenience for both parties;
    • small volume of the target audience and the ability to ensure its full coverage, using a minimum of operations and time;
    • the value of each new interaction.

When is direct marketing needed?

Closing a specific deal is one of the reasons why many business communities are turning to direct marketing, but it's far from the only reason. The most preferred of all benefits this method for companies is the possibility of establishing direct and long-term contact, aimed at each customer, the so-called market interaction. The transition from mass and individualization of trade relations is associated with many aspects of our daily life: the technological complexity of goods, the emergence of new opportunities for acquiring items and paying for purchases, close competition, the creation of adjacent channels and the use of the latest computer technologies.

In sectoral terms, direct marketing is most widely used by banks, in the insurance system, in electrical engineering, instrument making, mechanical engineering; somewhat to a lesser extent - energy, chemistry, construction, food industry, transport and services.

A company's direct marketing is successful if the following criteria are met:

      • narrow specialization of a product or service, requiring constant contact between the seller and the buyer;
      • frequent price changes;
      • a large sales turnover, which more than doubles all direct marketing costs;
      • all buyers are distributed in small areas close to shopping centers;
      • Everybody shopping centers have equipped places for storing goods;
      • small target audience;
      • the quantity of each delivered product is a multiple of the used container.

Advantages and disadvantages of direct marketing

Why is direct selling so popular? Here are the main benefits of direct marketing.

  1. Targeting the audience and its selection. For the best implementation of this task, direct mail and the so-called telemarketing are used, which surpasses even television advertising in the quality of its result. Radio, too, is not very effective at targeting, unless it's about winning over fans of a particular musical genre. Billboards also poorly cope with this task, and therefore are not a direct marketing tool. Of all the mass media, the most useful in terms of direct technology is printed matter, namely magazines.
  2. Geographical selectivity. What does it mean? When using telemarketing, direct mail and magazine advertising, it is important to understand where and in what territory your target audience lives in order not to throw large sums of money on print ads distributed throughout Russia. After all, your clients are not the whole country, but a certain region, on which it is worth concentrating your financial forces.
  3. Selectivity based on the demographic principle (age, gender, marital status, nationality, etc.). From the point of view of these characteristics of the population, telemarketing is the most useful in terms of direct promotion of goods, although radio and television channels can have a positive effect on the process of demographic selection in their own way.
  4. Selectivity on a psychological basis. Thanks to telemarketing, the target audience is selected, which is characterized by certain psychological habits: the same lifestyle, hobbies, style, etc. Magazines also do an excellent job of this function, since they are created to meet the interests of a certain group of the population (sports publications, needlework, fashion, etc.).
  5. Exclusion of meaningless dissemination of information. Obviously, people very rarely pay attention to ads in newspapers, on radio or television, no matter how flashy their headlines are. Telemarketing, in contrast, delivers information to consumers in a more targeted way, without giving them the choice to opt out.
  6. Fast buyer response. If you want to check how customers react to your offer and you need to do it quickly, then use telemarketing. If you have more time, then radio and television are suitable for this purpose. Advertising on television bears fruit, but it requires too much time and material costs.
  7. Measured response. If you can quickly assess the customer experience of your product, then you can immediately start distributing these products to other markets. The fastest customer response is provided by telemarketing, which presents you with data on consumer activity in the first hours after the start of an advertising campaign.
  8. Various response options. When ordering a product, it is very important to provide people with a sufficient number of ways to order it. If customers want to place an order by phone, fax or mail, then telemarketing is the best way to do this, since, for example, television does not provide consumers with such opportunities. In the case of TV advertising, the buyer is limited in the choice of options for placing an order. In addition, if the viewer did not have time to remember the number by which you can make a purchase, he is unable to rewind, and a pencil or pen is not always at hand at the right time. In such situations, the reaction of buyers to your advertising is reduced to zero. The same story is typical for radio advertising: being on the road and hearing a number on the radio where you can order a product, you cannot remember the numbers by ear, and if you reach for the handle, you risk getting into an unpleasant situation on the road.
  9. Full control of demand and a huge variety of opportunities. Telemarketing allows you to make some changes to the advertising script and immediately monitor consumer demand for certain innovations. Magazines do not provide this opportunity due to their print characteristics, and television and radio advertising is usually short and too expensive to test various offers and control demand for them.
  10. Large volume of messages. Other media, with the exception of marketing, offer only short advertising time. Telemarketing involves advertising at a speed of 150 words per minute, which is more than half of the standard A4 format.
  11. Ability to change the advertising script. The high cost of television advertising makes it almost impossible to make adjustments to it. In the case of telemarketing, edits are made in minutes. Periodicals involve a long input and output process, which also makes changes difficult. Even the local radio is more suited to this role due to its fast input times.
  12. High percentage of consumer participation. Through telemarketing, the listener is drawn into the conversation, which also happens when watching long television shows, especially when all kinds of polls and other interactive methods of working with viewers are used.
  13. Intrusive adware. If the viewer has no other choice but to watch your ad, then it is very annoying. For a long time, TV advertising was considered as such, but today the opinion has changed: after all, you can simply switch to another channel. And will you be able to not answer the calls that keep breaking your phone? Not! This means that telemarketing advertising is very intrusive. Advertisements in a magazine are often simply skipped, and on the radio the listener may ignore the offer.
  14. Reaching audiences wherever they are. If the object of interest to you, namely the consumer, is at home, then you can reach him using standard television advertising. If a customer is driving a car or subway while reading a newspaper, then radio and print media can also be helpful. Telemarketing is an even more reliable means of reaching the target audience, no matter where the person is at the time of the call.
  15. Quick entry and collapse of an informational message. The practicality of the time structure influences how often your offer is reviewed and how quickly an ad campaign is terminated in a given situation. The flexible time system is characteristic telemarketing, as well as newspapers and radio. The magazine cannot be produced in a short time, which means that the speed of entering information leaves much to be desired.

Downsides of direct marketing

  • minor flaws can be fatal to the prestige and reputation of your company, so if you are not sure that you can handle it, do not be stingy to hire a competent marketing specialist;
  • the direct method of promotion will bear fruit only in the long term;
  • when introducing direct marketing in some economic areas, significant investments are required;
  • sometimes there are situations when the consumer is not inclined to conduct a dialogue with the manufacturer, which can cause a conflict (this is especially typical for the post-Soviet space);
  • in the absence of a clear distribution of responsibilities in the company, embarrassment can occur: an advertising campaign sells one declared product, while the agent, when communicating with the buyer, tries to sell him another product.

Needless to say, the buyer thinks he has fallen into a fraudulent trap, and then you can forget about the prospect of making a deal.

Direct marketing is possible only when there is a clear division of responsibilities in the company, and each employee of the company acts according to one common goal. Success is guaranteed to the team in which each member stands up for the common cause and clearly understands his tasks.

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Traditional direct marketing channels

Individual approach to selling. The sales professional aims to make a one-on-one sale that identifies potential customers, connects with them, and turns that interaction into a long-term partnership.

Marketing through direct mail. Thanks to direct mail, every customer is aware of all the innovations of your products, because he regularly receives brochures, product samples and information about promotions.

There are three main forms of mail communication with clients.

  1. Fax - modern technology makes it possible to transfer paper versions of proposals by fax to other telephones, and this happens in a matter of minutes.
  2. Electronic message - by means of e-mail, mail is sent from one PC to another.
  3. Voice message - such mailing is relevant when sending information to other phones.
  4. Marketing using a catalog.

This element of direct marketing allows you to keep consumers up to date with all the innovations and additions to your product range. You can mail catalogs, sell them or distribute them for free, and experiment with design and presentation using videos, online catalogs, disk drives, and more.

Phone marketing. With this method, the main tool of communication between the seller and the buyer is the telephone. There are two types of product promotion by phone.

Outbound telephone marketing means that the operator himself contacts customers and informs them about existing offers, establishes contacts, and also conducts various opinion polls, evaluates the results of his work with consumers, and creates customer databases.

Inbound telephone marketing - involves the creation of customer hotlines where people send their orders. As a rule, this is the reaction of buyers to advertising messages on radio, television or in newspapers. In addition, there is a hotline, by contacting operators, users can leave their suggestions or express dissatisfaction.

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Modern forms of direct marketing

Direct response telemarketing

This type of promotion involves the use of television commercials with programs for feedback - this is a contact phone number for a free call, which allows customers to find out the details of the product or place an order. There are two types of such telemarketing:

  • direct response promotional messages - the video itself informs the buyer about the characteristics of the product and invites you to contact the company for further details. A contact phone number is provided in the video;
  • television channels of a narrow focus, engaged only in advertising products.

Interactive Marketing

Direct marketing also includes the purchase of goods online, which is carried out using a computer online. There are two forms of this type of direct technology:

  • commercial online shopping services that inform about possible products, promotions, bonus offers and other marketing services only to those customers who have signed up for a monthly subscription by paying a certain amount. Such commercial organizations have their own local networks, which is a guarantee of their reliability;
  • interactive platform - the Internet allows customers to exchange opinions about the product and communicate with each other.

Direct marketing on the Internet is no less powerful tool for promoting goods than television or telemarketing. But it should be noted that there are problems with its use.

  1. Interactive marketing does not cover the entire market segment, thereby creating difficulties for limited access to consumers and, as a result, insufficient volume of purchases made by them.
  2. Incomplete demographic and psychographic information about customers.
  3. Clutter and too much information.
  4. Incomplete guarantee of safe shopping. The customer runs the risk of transferring his data to fraudsters who intervened in the process of an interactive transaction. Credit card numbers are not secure, and therefore cash on them.
  5. Consumers become vulnerable, unable to prevent businesses from using their personal data. There is discrimination against customers and a lack of ethical considerations among the representatives of the seller.

Recently, integrated direct marketing has become another popular type of promotion, which provides for a variety of delivery options for selling notifications and multi-stage advertising campaigns.

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Stage-by-stage organization of direct marketing in the company

Individual promotion of goods and services is possible in almost any business idea. But the success of this tool depends on the skill and experience of a marketing specialist.

Clear control and detailed preparation for the implementation of this type of activity is required. At the moment, this niche is not occupied in Russia, so there are great opportunities for companies and advertisers to develop this area. Residents of Europe receive a daily mailing list with similar messages and offers, the Russians, on the contrary, are not yet so integrated into this process. When using direct marketing, the invested funds tend to quickly return in an increased amount, which makes this advertising tool a leader in comparison with promotion in the media and its other types.

The individual focus of direct methods allows you to expand your customer base, as well as increase the number of leads coming from the same consumer. Also, this advertising tool makes the brand recognizable and creates the conditions for successful research of your niche in the market.

Stage 1. Preparatory stage of direct marketing.

This preliminary stage involves the definition of goals and objectives, the choice of advertising tools, the development of a portrait of the future consumer and a description of the target audience.

At this stage, you need to achieve the following:

  • ensure an increase in the personal client base;
  • to carry out a personal sale and an individual approach to each consumer;
  • establish a continuous flow of customers and build a lead generation system;
  • return lost customers.

At this stage, it is important to decide what percentage of consumer response and conversion you expect to receive from your campaign. If you planned for 30% of the reviews, then, naturally, the result in the form of half of this amount is a failure. But a conversion of 1% under such conditions is a success.

In order to set your goals and objectives correctly, you must conduct a detailed market study: analyze the industry, competitors, the average check and the percentage of leads that become buyers, as well as dozens of other criteria. Next, you need to test the campaign and, if necessary, adjust it.

There is an opinion that due to the underdevelopment of individual marketing in the Russian Federation, if a company manages to overcome the threshold of 2-4% conversion, which is the average level in the West, then the advertising event can be considered successful.

The essence of direct marketing is direct contact with the customer. The most important thing is to define the target audience. For example, to find persons in whose interests it would be to purchase programs for planning routes for the delivery of goods. It can be a manufacturer, a wholesaler, and a retailer. It is also important to figure out who exactly to send your proposal to: to CEO, his deputy, commercial representative or chief logistics officer of the company?

The main task is to describe a portrait of a future client - a consumer of a product or service. If you doubt that you can handle this case, a consulting company will come to your aid.

The direct marketing tools used depend on the goals and objectives of the advertising campaign, as well as on the characteristics of the target audience that you have previously chosen as your customers. For example, if you are engaged in the distribution of goods for needlework, then advertising will work more effectively on Odnoklassniki than on Instagram, since, you see, more customers use the first social network.

Stage 3. Conducting a direct marketing campaign.

Goal: increase the customer base. Having a large target audience, you should select only those who would be interested in your particular offer. This can be achieved with coupons or printed media supplements. All stakeholders are your target audience. Feedback advertising on radio and television can also be helpful.

Turning just interested people into potential customers. At this stage, you must conduct in-depth work with the audience that responded to your promotional offer. Contact can be made via SMS or email.

Purpose: to encourage customers to buy. In this case, the direct marketing process involves informing people about all the possible nuances of your offer. You can simply remind the consumer of your organization, or you can offer a discount, gift, lottery ticket, or other marketing service.

Purpose: to maintain contact with established customers. It is much cheaper for a manufacturer to try to retain a regular customer than to find a new one. You may face the problem of reducing the turnover if you lose even a few of your customers. That is why in no case should we forget about established client relationships. For your part, you must constantly maintain contact with customers, inform them about discounts, promotions, sales and new arrivals of goods.

Purpose: return of departed customers. If some customers no longer use your services, this does not mean that all is lost. You must find out the reason for the refusal of customers from your service or products. Thanks to this, you can identify your weaknesses, study the advantages of competitors. Gently contacting lost customers can be helpful in improving your company.

Stage 4. Analysis of the implemented direct marketing campaign.

At the end of the campaign, a thorough evaluation is required. If the activity was unsuccessful, its analysis is still necessary, because thanks to this you can understand the shortcomings of the promotional event and prevent them next time. Major mistakes include:

  • incorrectly formed target audience;
  • an erroneously written message and addressed to the wrong people;
  • wrong timing for the DM campaign.

If everything went well, you should also analyze and find out what exactly served as a prerequisite for a successful conclusion, and what could jeopardize the success of the event.

It is necessary to take into account all consumer feedback, whether it be general information requests, interest in the company's activities or the purchase of goods and services. Customers who left your offer unattended should also be in the field of view - this will help further planning advertising campaigns.

According to most Western experts, direct marketing (direct marketing) or DM will acquire a dominant role in the advertising market and will replace all other types of promotion. On the world stage, the progress of this technology is constantly on the rise, its development does not stop, and the profit it brings is twice the income from advertising in the media.

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How to evaluate how effective direct marketing tools are

There are certain criteria by which you can judge the effectiveness of direct marketing.

  1. The percentage increase in the audience of customers who contact the organization after the implementation of a particular advertising campaign (this data can be obtained from a company registered after the event).
  2. The percentage of sales increases that occurred after specific direct marketing activities (this information can be obtained by analyzing sales volumes after an advertising campaign). Evaluation capabilities make it possible to judge the effectiveness of direct marketing by monitoring these communication systems, types of frequency and duration of direct marketing (mailing list, print publications, online advertising).

The success of the direct method, according to popular opinion, depends on the quality of the product offered, its distinctive characteristics, brand, and specific market conditions by about 40%. The other 40% is determined by the impact of products on the client audience and the level of this impact. The last 20% of success provides direct contact with the consumer. Experts believe that several elements make direct marketing effective. Personal selling is one of these main criteria, when used, the consumer feels like a truly important link in the sales process.

A meaningful contact budget is another important metric in determining direct marketing success. To determine the cost of interaction with a client, it is necessary to take into account several parameters, without which it will be impossible to make correct calculations. The first criterion includes limit values ​​from the total cost of contact with the consumer. The second element reveals the proportion of successful interactions that, at the end of the direct marketing campaign, translate into a purchase. The third criterion testifies to the planned approximate results at each specific stage.

The measure of success for any direct marketing campaign is the number of people who respond to the promotional event, as well as the results obtained.

These parameters can be assessed by testing. At the same time, it should be complete, covering all aspects of direct marketing - this is the main rule for analyzing results.

Solid data can also be obtained by conducting interviews with a certain number of consumers pre-selected from the general list of the target audience.

Due to the fact that there are different groups of buyers, it is necessary to analyze each of them separately.

For example, if you want to choose packaging for your product, then it is best to ask the opinion of buyers and conduct testing. Of course, such measures cost money, but the losses in case of choosing a package that is unattractive to the consumer will exceed your costs for organizing trial promotions.

The test results will help you anticipate the sales volume of your entire group of potential customers, as well as assess your customers' needs and test your financial competence in the development and production process.

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What mistakes make direct marketing activities ineffective

Every year, experts make unforgivable mistakes when conducting direct marketing campaigns. Here are the main ones.

Mistake 1. Inexperience in sales. Many organizations initially present their product to the wrong group of customers. The blame here lies with the specialist who incorrectly drew up a portrait of the future consumer and carelessly approached the development of the text of the advertising message. To avoid such misses, it is necessary to create individual advertising messages for each target audience. Moreover, maximum attention should be focused not on the merits of your company, but on the benefits and advantages of working with you.

Error 2. Unwillingness to spend money on building a quality customer base. The database must be valid, real, not misleading.

Mistake 3. Savings on specialists. To achieve success, you need a highly qualified employee. You should not reduce your expenses by saving on this. The profit that such a professional can bring to the company will cover all costs.

Mistake 4. Using the experience of other, more advanced agencies.

Mistake 5. Good copywriting plays a huge role. The text of your messages should be unique, bright and catchy.

Mistake 6. Don't try to save money everywhere. The desire to minimize costs is not always the key to a profitable business.

Mistake 7. Test the niche of your business before investing big money in it. Thanks to this, you will find out if your product is in demand and what to do next.

Direct Marketing: Examples of Successful Campaigns

A direct marketing campaign should be unusual in its idea and clearly aimed at the target audience. Here are some examples of Western direct marketing activities.

The well-known company "Haggis" organizes an action. All new moms leaving the maternity hospital will be presented with free diapers. Women, in turn, send the barcode of their packaging and fill out a questionnaire, after which they proceed to communicate with the company that sells the goods, while receiving discounts, promotional codes, prizes and gifts. This campaign involves a big spend of $10–20 million, but it hits the target audience perfectly. Naturally, the gifts were paid off with the proceeds from further sales, since the purchase of diapers costs several hundred US dollars annually. Such promotions can be carried out only with a preliminary analysis, comparing costs and profits. In the Russian Federation, experts consider an acceptable spending threshold of 2-3% of the total cash flow.

In this example, we see a 100% hit on the target, but such cases are not frequent. The success of direct marketing in the Russian Federation is small when compared with foreign countries.

Another element of direct technology are events aimed at encouraging fans of a particular brand (Brand Loyalty). Similar methods are used by the owners of automotive industries. For them, it is extremely important that the next purchase, the consumer returned to the same brand. In Europe, car owners change cars about once every 3-4 years. We also see this trend: clubs are created for car enthusiasts of a certain brand, for example, RENAULT, BMW, 4x4, etc. Fans of these cars arrange their parties, meetings, and racing competitions.

The Audi Car Concert hosted a customer loyalty event in Spain that included free maintenance, replacement of an old car with a new one, and a travel club. Obviously, every Audi driver was aware of the company's plans in advance.

The goal of direct marketing is an individual sale through interaction with the consumer, which is greatly helped by customer loyalty programs. Organizations establish close contacts with buyers, which means they invest money in ongoing cooperation.

The condition for the effectiveness of direct marketing programs is frequent interaction with the consumer, at least 2-10 times a year. For example, the network company "KS", which sells shoes, informs its customers about monthly sales, promotions, lotteries, new software?

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