What is direct marketing?

There are many types of marketing that are elaborate and very complex. Often, however, the best solutions are the simplest and, in this case, also the least expensive!

Today we're talking about direct marketing.

Direct marketing encompasses all direct sales activities that do not use intermediaries between the company and the user (meaning no salespeople are involved).

The characteristics of direct marketing

Direct marketing requires a study of the target audience and the use of lists with the personal details of customers you want to contact.

The characteristics of this form of marketing include:

• Measurability: whether you're creating an online direct marketing campaign (we'll see this) or starting a traditional direct marketing activity, in any case, you will have tangible data to understand how it's going
• Selectivity and personalization: in all cases of direct marketing, you need to know your target audience well. This prerequisite is essential for setting up effective and targeted communication

The great advantages of direct marketing are precisely the ability to measure the results obtained (and therefore adjust the strategy to improve over time) and the definition of an increasingly specific target. Fundamentally, it's a scalable operation.

Types of Direct Marketing

Okay, we've understood the fundamental characteristics of direct marketing but let's give some examples of activities that fall under this classification.

• Telemarketing: the activity of calling a pre-selected list of contacts is a type of direct marketing. Unfortunately, it's a saturated sector with major issues related to the trust that the interlocutor has towards the operator
• Sponsored on social media that allow personalized interaction with the user: indeed, even doing retargeting, which means using data from a website's visitor statistics and reusing it for a highly targeted campaign on Facebook or other social networks, is part of direct marketing because no intermediary is used, and in fact, targeted communication is sent to a specific target audience
• Direct mail and paper letters: newsletters and sending letters through the post (as well as brochures and other communications) are forms (one more advanced, the other more archaic but still effective) of direct marketing. They target a specific audience (in the case of a letter, even just one reader) and a contact list has been pre-selected
• Mobile marketing: another form of direct marketing is sending promotions and discounts via SMS and WhatsApp (or any other instant messaging service), perhaps including the customer's name (there are obviously many ways to automate this)

How to Create Effective Communication for Direct Marketing

We've said it: the fundamental prerequisite for direct marketing is clearly a specific target (very specific!). 

Each user or micro-groups of users will need different communication!

So study the needs of your target thoroughly and use a tone of voice that's consistent with the future reader and/or customer.

The right phrase, the right approach, the right language, and carefully crafted copy can lead to a significant increase in sales!

Direct marketing must be super selective and each customer (or type of customer) should receive a different message compared to another group!

In any case, always engage the potential customer, draw them in and try to put yourself in the shoes of the reader to understand if the communication is right!

Examples of Direct Marketing

Here are some examples of really well-executed direct marketing to inspire you and get started using this often maligned but actually very profitable form of marketing.

2015 Toyota Corolla: a traffic light to create anticipation

A brilliant campaign that sends loyal customers the brochure directly to their homes.

The peculiarity, however, is immediately apparent: upon opening the brochure there's a traffic light.

First red, then as the launch day of the new Toyota Corolla approaches it turns yellow, and finally green on day X. Clearly, a significant investment but the result was impressive: 257% more visits to the website and a 900% increase in requests for a test drive!

Ikea Lack: When Packaging is Worth More Than a Commercial

Ikea could not be missing from the examples of direct marketing.

The wise use of truly amazing packaging combined with the power of direct marketing translates into a very successful campaign in promoting the affordable Lack table.

The package that Ikea customers receive at home through the classic brochure, is a 3D model of the table inserted between the pages of the regular catalog, thereby highlighting the ease of assembly and the stylistic beauty of the furniture!