Direct Marketing

Dr. Suraj Kushe Shekhar

surajk.shekhar@vit.ac.in
The New Direct Marketing Model
 Direct marketing consists of connecting directly with ca
refully targeted consumers, often on a one-to-one, interac
tive basis.
 However, for many companies today, direct marketing is
more than just a supplementary channel or advertising me
dium─it constitutes a complete model for doing business.
 Firms employing this direct model use it as the only appr
oach.
Growth and Benefits of Direct Marketing
 Direct marketing continues to become more Inter
net-based, and Internet marketing is claiming a fa
st-growing share of marketing spending and sales
.
Benefits to Buyers

Direct marketing gives buyers ready access to a

wealth of products. No physical store could offer
handy access to such vast selections.

Good catalogs or online sites often provide more

information in more useful forms than even the
most helpful retail salesperson can provide.

Finally, direct marketing is immediate and

interactive. Moreover, direct marketing gives
consumers a greater measure of control.
Benefits to Sellers
Because of the one-to-one nature of direct marketing,
companies can interact with customers by phone or online,
learn more about their needs, and personalize products and
services to specific customer tastes.

Direct marketing also offers sellers a low-cost, efficient

speedy alternative for reaching their markets.

Finally, direct marketing gives sellers access to buyers that

they could not reach through other channels.
Forms of Direct Marketing
Direct-Mail Marketing
 Direct-mail marketing involves sending an offer, annou
ncement, reminder, or other item to a person at a particula
r address.
 Direct mail is well suited to direct, one-to-one communic
ation.
 It permits high target-market selectivity, can be personali
zed, is flexible, and allows the easy measurement of resul
ts.
 However, even though the new digital forms of direct mar
keting are gaining popularity, traditional direct mail is stil
l by far the most widely used method.
Catalog Marketing
 Catalog marketing is direct marketing through print, vid
eo, or digital catalogs that are mailed to select customers,
made available in stores, or presented online.
 Online catalogs can offer an almost unlimited amount of
merchandise.
 Online catalogs allow real-time merchandising; products
and features can be added or removed as needed, and pric
es can be adjusted instantly to match demand.
Telemarketing
 Telemarketing involves using the telephone to s
ell directly to consumers and business customers.
 Marketers use outbound telephone marketing to s
ell directly to consumers and business.
 They also use inbound toll-free numbers to receiv
e orders from television and print ads, direct mail
, or catalogs.
 Direct-Response Television Marketing
 Direct-response television (DRTV) marketing ta
kes one of the two major forms:

Direct-response
Interactive TV
television
(iTV)
advertising
•• It lets viewers
Direct interact
marketers with television
air television programming
spots, often 60 or 120and
seconds in
advertising.
length, which persuasively describe a product and give customers a
• Also, increasingly,
toll-free number or as the lines
a Web continue
site for to blur between TV screens
ordering.
• and other
It also video full
includes screens, interactive
30-minute ads and
or longer infomercials
advertising are
programs,
appearing not just onfor
called infomercials, TV, but also
a single on mobile, online, and social
product.
media platforms, adding even more TV-like interactive direct
marketing venues.
Kiosk Marketing
 Many companies are placing information and ord
ering machines─called kiosks (good old-fashione
d vending machines but so much more)─in stores
, airports, hotels, college campuses, and other loc
ations.
 Some machines can even use facial recognition s
oftware that lets them guess gender and age and
make product recommendations based on that dat
a.
Online Marketing
 We define online marketing as efforts to market
products and services and build customer relation
ships over Internet.
 Wide-spread use of the Internet is having a drama
tic impact on both buyers and the marketers who
serve them.
Marketing and the Internet
• A vast public web of computer networks,
connects users of all types all around the world
Internet
to each other and an amazingly large
information repository.

• The so-called dot-coms, which operate online

only and have no brick-and-mortar market
Click-only presence.
companies • They include a wide array of firms, from e-
tailers such as Amazon.com that sell products
and services directly to final buyers.
• Traditional brick-and-mortar companies that
have added online marketing to their
Click-and-
operations.
mortar
• Now, almost all of these traditional companies
companies
have created their own online sales and
communications channels, becoming click-and-