Article supplied courtesy of Ignite Marketing

"How To..." Guide to Direct Marketing

Why do you need direct marketing? And how should you set about it? Paul West of consultants Ignite Marketing answers your questions...

Direct marketing encompasses a range of techniques used by businesses to communicate directly with their target markets. The most common techniques are letters, flyers and emails though sometimes phone calls or SMS Text Messages are used. 

Whilst the costs are normally quite high compared to other forms of communication, it is possible to be far more specific as to who you target and this makes Direct Marketing generally more predictable and cost effective.

• Response rates are easy to track and they can vary between 0.5% and 2% for an average campaign, though highly successful campaigns often perform significantly better. The mailer design and message should be sufficiently creative and interesting to instantaneously grab the recipient's attention.
• The best way to capture peoples' attention is through an added-value promotion or discount. Free bottles of wine with a meal purchase or a 50% discount are sufficiently attractive offers to entice people to respond as desired.
   
• Databases can be purchased from a number of different online data suppliers such as Marketscan or Marketingfile who both offer simple search tools that make selection easier and which will help you select the most appropriate data for your objectives. When choosing a list broker look out for industry accreditation as the quality of the data can vary. Good suppliers will allow you to dictate criteria to the data results, such as only households with incomes over £35k. When planning Direct Marketing, it is important to target the right customers with your offer or message.
• A piece of Direct Marketing should include a call to action, usually contact us or buy x. Ask yourself whether you are providing sufficient motivation or encouragement for the recipient to act.
• Try to make the success of your mailer measurable by asking recipients to quote a redemption code or present a voucher that will allow you to record responses. If you can demonstrate that the campaign was successful it will help you make future marketing decisions.
• To help save money in the future build your own customer database. Ask customers to provide their email address when they make a reservation or when cashing-in special offers but don't forget to give them the option to opt-out as this is a legal requirement.
• If sending out large volumes of email, don't try and use your home email system, much of what you send will not get through spam filters and you may have problems with your broadband ISP. Instead find a specialist company who will distribute the email for you, Campaigner offer a free trial. If you are good with computers then installing email broadcast software on your computer may also be an option.
• If sending out small volumes of posted mail you can do this in-house, however for quantities over 1000 you should probably use a mailing house like Baker Goodchild who will charge you per item to stuff your envelopes, frank and post your mailer.
• A cheaper alternative is to distribute flyers by hand, but this is less targeted. You can recruit a team of distributors or use a national agency like CWT who have a nationwide network of distributors.

Website: www.ignitemarketing.co.uk