With the increase of competition in the day-to-day business world, the importance of marketing has been identified by the businesses who want to grow and thrive. Direct marketing has become a buzzword in the marketing industry as a way of creating a closer and stronger connection with the customer.
Direct marketing is identified as one of the most effective marketing methods with many measurable benefits. It is a type of advertising campaign that helps to attract a selected group of customers to the product as a result of a communication action done by the marketer or the marketing team.
This customer attraction can be an online order or a request for information, a physical visit to the store, or showing any type of interest in the product or the service. The communication between the marketer and the potential customer in the process of direct marketing can happen through postal mail, email, point of sale, or telemarketing.
One major aspect of direct marketing is that the response of the consumer is considered a measurable component. Since the marketer is directly approaching the consumer without having any intermediaries, there are many benefits that have been identified.
Benefits of Direct Marketing
A personalized approach based on the customer expectation – Since the customer expectations from a product can be different from one person to another. The same product can be an essential product for one person while it can be a leisure product for another. When approaching the customer through direct marketing, the marketer can identify the customer’s background, the need they have and promote the product with a personalized touch.
As an example, direct emails can address the customers by name and even mention the past transaction details as well. Apart from that, the promotion can be done based on the customer’s personal preferences, social status, and past transaction patterns.
The key factor of success in this is investing some effort and time to identify the customer’s behavior, lifestyles, and purchasing patterns.
Market segmentation and targeting – When addressing customers personally to promote a product or a service, the marketer can use specific segments such as demographic and customer purchasing behavior. It helps to target the most effective customers and to create a positive impact on them.
Increase the sales with existing and former customers – When approaching a customer directly, existing or past records of the customer with the business is highly important. The marketer can always communicate with the customer about the past values provided through the product and continue to add more value to the relationship with the customer.
Affordability and effectiveness – Most of the communication methods that are used in the direct marketing method are affordable. Direct emails, leaflets, customer visits, and telephone calls are considered as much lower in cost than mass advertising. Apart from that, it can create a more positive effect on the customers as they feel valued and important to the business.
Informative to the customers – Since the marketers will be directly providing the necessary details t the customers, they get an opportunity to clear the doubts they have regarding the product and get more knowledge about the product. It provides an assurance for the customers to trust the product, after services, and the connectivity with the company throughout the product usage period. Indirectly, this can lead to customer brand loyalty towards the product.
Create new business opportunities– Direct marketing helps businesses to be flexible for the market volatility and constant changes in customer demands. It allows the marketers to flexibly approach the customers, identify more potential customer segments and create new business opportunities in the market. In addition, they can act as a communication method between the customer and the production department to make changes in the product according to the changes in the customer demand.