So let’s get right to the point, precisely what is Direct Marketing! And do the Gen-Zers entering the marketing industry all fresh faced really understand how to utilise direct marketing to greatest effect?

It's been misconstrued for years that Direct Mail is the only form of Direct Marketing, with many people using the terms interchangeably. In fact Direct Marketing is best described as reaching out directly to your target market to promote your company, product or brand, so this could be via telephone, email, post, face-to-face selling (like the traditional salesperson), direct-response advertising or mobile (SMS text marketing).

The core goal of direct marketing is to persuade the recipient to take action, by connecting with people on an individual level, with smart targeted messages you can generate greater engagement to spur them into action. This is because unlike mass advertising through press, radio, TV or outdoor, direct marketing is only presented to people who have a known interest or need in your brand, product or service. Their interest is known or at least suspected due to information we know about them.

Why is direct marketing so successful?

So why is direct marketing so successful? If you make your message personal, it makes the recipient feel like they are engaging in a one-to-one interaction that is just meant for them. If the message feels personally relevant to them, the brain is more likely to commit it to memory. Engagement is important because it generates memory encoding in the brain.

There is a bank of research that shows how direct mail is particularly successful in creating a lasting impression:

49% more memorable than email*

Consumers who received direct mail offers were able to recall the brand 75% of the time**. A memorable message is more likely to lead to an action.

38% of consumers bought or ordered products or services as a direct result of receiving a mailing***

Mail is a proven channel to boost acquisition and other media.

45% of direct mail is still ‘live’ within the home after 28 days.***

Mail is kept in the home and on average revisited four times.

Direct mail is more successful than other forms of direct marketing such as email and SMS as the tangible format is more trusted and believed. The problem with email and SMS is unless you are targeting people who already trust and know your brand it can be seen as spam.

Boosting relevance for results.

The more you can boost the relevance in your direct marketing the more cost effective it will be, so target those who are more likely to be interested in your product or service due to their geo-demographic profile.

When we receive communications on products that are relevant or useful to us, or sold to us in a tone of voice we can relate to rather than sales spiel, we’re much more inclined to make a purchase. We are certainly more likely to remember that brand and what they had to say for longer than the five seconds that the brain usually retains it for!

Why is Personalisation important?

With so much noise from marketing messaging everyday, getting personal with your customers and making a human connection is more essential than ever if you want your message to cut through. Every buyer is unique with different buying habits, different interests, at different life stages, and living in different locations, so grouping everyone together and talking to them in the same way makes no sense and it is likely that you will be wasting your marketing budget on people who are switched off and don’t feel your product or service is aimed at them, or worse those who will never be interested.

You can read the full article here: https://www.precisionmarketinggroup.co.uk/exploring-the-fundamentals-of-direct-marketing