Top Vendors for Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing

Every business has advertising needs. It doesn’t matter what product you are producing or what services you are offering; there is most likely a section in your budget to cover marketing. There are so many ways to advertise, including e-mail, direct mail, social media, catalogs, and television. Each of these options carries with it different benefits and pitfalls that should be considered before investing your advertising dollars. Deciding who your target audience is and the best way to reach them is one of the cornerstones of a successful business. Making the right choices in advertising could be the best thing you ever do for your business.

Benefits

Helps the Environment

The use of direct marketing is actually a great way to help the environment. When customers purchase things through a catalog, either online or through the mail, it reduces the amount of exhaust and pollution that is put into the environment just by driving to a local store or mall. If our entire country was able to reduce the amount driven by just over three billion kilometers, there would be 650 million dollars in savings in fuel costs and also a three billion pound emissions cut.

Social Media Marketing

With the sudden mass use of social networking sites, marketing has taken a turn for the better because of lower costs. This is because most social networks are free and offer a great way to establish an online presence for your business without the expenses associated previously with most forms of media advertising. Social media gives a business access to millions of users who are all organized by demographic. This makes it simple and quick to find the correct market to advertise to.

Catalogs

Direct mail-order catalogs have been a long-time consistent profit maker for many businesses.

This is because it provides a customer with a physical copy of all of your products, not to mention the free advertising provided by the customer who leaves a copy of your catalog, which has your company brand all over it, in different places around the house. Catalogs are a great way to have your brand noticed and are a convenient way for customers to shop.

Online Advertising

Although media buyouts and advertising have taken many different forms throughout the years, there has never been anything quite like online marketing because a normal person is given access to a cornucopia of professional marketing tools that were previously only available to marketing firms or established businesses with large advertising campaigns. The small business is able to get a large amount of exposure for a very nominal cost when compared to traditional forms of advertising (i.e., television, magazines, and newspapers). There is no arguing that online advertising has changed how marketing is conducted and will no doubt continue to do so.

Pitfalls

Although direct marketing is a great way of generating a response from the customers, there are certain things that marketers should consider before its implementation.

Understand Your Audience

Perhaps the most important thing to consider is your audience. Direct marketing requires a considerable amount of time and money. If you are not careful about targeting the appropriate people, you may end up wasting your efforts. Are you launching a new online business, or do you just want to grab the attention of your existing customers? Are you promoting to certain demographics or geographies? After you have figured out your audience, you can start to make a direct marketing plan.

What’s the Offer?

The next thing you need to consider is your offer. This is the main part of your campaign that your customers would be most interested in knowing about. Is this a new product or service launch? Is it a one-time offer with special discounts for customers? Will the price increase in the future? Are you going to close the offer soon? All of this information is useful for customers in making their decisions, so include it when making a plan for direct marketing.

Budget Considerations

Another important thing to consider is your budget. Businesses make the mistake of overlooking the costs associated with direct marketing.

One of the major expenses is the cost of postage. While businesses do get hefty discounts on the postage, it will still make up about one-third of your total direct marketing budget. Therefore, budgeting is imperative when planning a direct marketing campaign.

Be Practical

The most planned and successful direct marketing campaign yields only a small percentage of customer responses and even less sales. Therefore, it is necessary for a business owner to be realistic about the expected results when allocating a budget for the campaign. Remember that direct marketing is not only about the immediate sales. It is also about attracting the interest of customers so that they return to your business when they are ready to purchase.

Pricing

E-mail

E-mail marketing services charge on per e-mail, per customer, or per month basis. Companies that offer only autoresponders range from $100 to $300 per year, whereas companies that also design marketing campaigns can cost $1,000 or more.

Direct Mail

Mailing company Pitney Bowes estimates that direct mail campaigns generate $10 in sales for every $1 spent. Direct mail is generally an inexpensive form of direct marketing, but prices depend on whether an address list is purchased or rented, whether the advertising is designed internally or by the mailing company, whether the materials are printed in full-color or black-and-white, the type of materials being mailed, and whether the project qualifies for a bulk mailing rate. Businesses can estimate about $1,500 for 1,000 color postcards and postage.

Online Marketing

Direct advertising over the Internet can occur on a CPM basis at $0.50 to $2 per 1,000 views or on a CPC basis for $0.50 to $5 per click. The lowest rates tend to occur in markets with few buyers.

Conclusion

Choosing the appropriate direct marketing strategies for your business can be a huge task. Considering the many benefits and disadvantages of each type will help you make the best choices for your advertising budget. Studying each type of direct marketing, pinpointing your audience, and deciding how much money to invest in your ads will give you the best outcome possible.

There is no one right way to advertise. Each business will have different variables to consider. Experimenting with your many options may be the only way to narrow the field and focus on the best strategy for your business needs.