Why Direct Marketing?

– North Star Direct Marketing

There are two major forms of advertising; General Advertising and Direct Marketing.  General advertising is what’s playing on your TV or Radio.  It’s on billboards as you drive down the highway and fills the pages of your newspaper and magazines.  It’s a good medium, but General Advertising’s main strength is creating awareness for National Brands.

If you’re Coke or Adidas, then a billboard with the hottest athlete, actor or actress coupled with a provocative (think memorable) message can spur demand and lead to market share.  However, what if you have more of a niche business?  What if your product or service is only useable by a fraction of the market?  In that case, general advertising will not be cost effective.  In fact, you could spend yourself out of business!   That’s where Direct Marketing comes to the rescue!!  DIRECT MARKETING targets your ads specifically to the audience that is interested in what you have to offer!  Another distinction between General Advertising and Direct Marketing is that Direct Marketing solicits a specific action (also called a Call to Action or CTA).  A call to action might be “buy now” or “make an appointment”.  Direct Mail produces results by targeting the right audience coupled with a specific call to action.

There are many forms of Direct Marketing.  Catalogs, letters and brochures mailed directly to the home or business of the customer have been around for hundreds of years.  There are other forms as well like Package Inserts and Statement Stuffers (the leaflets in the bottom of a package or in the envelope with an invoice).  You can mail in a shared environment like ValPak or RedPlum (and lower your postage expense) or even ride along with a catalog or magazine.  Direct mail comes in many shapes and sizes, but the end game is the same; get the right offer in the hands of the right prospect.

Simple right?  What’s involved?

• Audience – You need to start with a target audience. Who wants or needs your product or service?  Who are they and where do they hang out?  What are their demographics and interests?  The more specific you can drill down and define the target audience, the more likely you will be successful.
• Offer – The next element you need is a killer offer. This is the Call to Action or CTA.  You want something that is exciting and compelling.  Something that gets the prospect off their proverbial butt and drives some sort of action.  The desired action will be different depending on the business.  It could be getting someone to visit a restaurant or coffee shop.  It could be having someone sign up for a newsletter, seminar or workshop.  Often the CTA is getting someone to purchase right now.  The point is, the offer must be compelling for the audience you’re sending it to.  That’s very important.  The offer and Audience go hand in hand.  You don’t want to send an offer for ice to Eskimos.  It may be the best ice available in the world, but if the audience doesn’t have a need, you’re not going to see a return.  Audience + Offer
• Creative – This is the last piece of the puzzle. Creative ties the offer together and presents it in a way that the audience can understand.  Good creative includes visual elements that spur action.  You need a clear call to action.  You need the marketing piece to be easy to understand and easy for the potential customer to do what you want them to do.  Remember the offer?  The creative pitches the offer.  It shows it off.  The audience selection puts the offer in potential customer’s face.  Audience + Offer + Creative

You need all three elements to produce strong results.  The biggest and first step needs to be defining the audience.  If you have the best offer in the world and present it in the most creative manner possible but send it to the wrong customer, no-one will buy.  Not because what you’re offering isn’t awesome.  Just because they don’t need it.  Common sense.  What isn’t common sense is how to find the right audience with the right offer at the right time (oh, I didn’t mention that did I?).  Let’s touch on timing for a quick minute.

Timing is an important aspect too.  If you are a restaurant and send a text message to a customer just after they’ve eaten, then it’s not likely to have an impact.  They may think of you the next time they’re hungry, but the immediate need has been satisfied.  However, what if you have a more durable good like a deck or patio?  Then, if you’ve missed your opportunity, the next one may be years or even decades down the road.  Kiss that potential customer goodbye.

Let’s work together to develop an offer that goes to the right audience with a compelling creative design that DRIVES RESULTS!!