Direct marketing. Practical examples of using direct marketing

What's happened direct marketing? This term has been heard by all successful businessmen in the field of advertising for several decades. Previously, this concept was associated with the promotion of goods by mail. However, at the moment this sales tool has taken a strong place.

This rise in popularity and demand is that the manufacturer or marketer of goods can receive reliable information about the product directly from the buyer, which helps to evaluate the quality of the advertising campaign.

The American company HubSpot found out which first sentences do not inspire the reader, but, on the contrary, force them to delete the letter.

In our article, we have collected 5 such phrases, and ways to correct mistakes.

The essence and features of direct marketing

In the field of trade, there has always been an oral relationship between the selling and buying parties. In modern terms, such an establishment of contacts with consumers is called direct marketing.

This term came to Russian from English (from direct marketing or DM), which means the interaction between the consumer and the distributor or manufacturer of products. Such contact is possible when selling a product or service. At the same time, the parties to the transaction are actively involved in this trading process.

The main goal of direct marketing is the sale and, accordingly, the purchase of the proposed product. Thus, direct methods are an advertising tool that includes both interaction with the consumer and the absolute embodiment of all the requirements for a successful service and product sales. In the light of the above definition, we can speak of this activity as the sale of goods.

The use of direct technology today is widespread in various areas of product promotion and even in all marketing in general. Experts predict a great future for those businessmen who use DM methods in their business. Direct marketing will probably even take the place of advertising as the main mover from producer to buyer. Such statements are not unfounded: direct sales technology has taken a strong place in the business market in a short time.

According to the European Direct Marketing Association, the cost of launching these methods in Western countries by the end of the last century was 35% of the total costs required to start a sales business. In the US, spending reached about $180 billion, which is 60% of the budget. For the Russian Federation, the amount of costs is in the range from 5 to 10% of the total costs.

It is the advantages of direct marketing that explain such a lightning-fast development of this tool in today's market. Now let's talk about this in more detail.

The variety of goals and expected results from the use of direct technology also increase the growth in their demand. The main objectives of this business idea are as follows:

get the buyer's attention
interest him and leave him within the zone of his control;
to establish communicative cooperation within the framework of "producer-consumer" for a long time;
to encourage the implementation of the transaction and create all the necessary conditions for subsequent acquisitions;
in exceptional cases, analyze consumer feedback on the purchase of various goods.

If we consider direct marketing in more detail, we can distinguish the following tasks and goals:

arouse the interest of the buyer;
force him to stay in his zone of influence;
establish long-term contact with the consumer;
induce to make a purchase;
form the prerequisites for further wholesale transactions;
analyze the consumer's opinion about the purchase;
increase sales turnover;
expand the range of products offered;
increase the number of purchases;
achieve increased customer loyalty.

All types of direct marketing differ from each other in a number of features. Of course, some details are peculiar to each of its forms. Here are the common features common to all branches of direct marketing:

direct cooperation between the seller and the buyer;
concentration on the consumer and targeting in relation to the audience;
maintaining a dialogue with the client;
easy controllability of the trading process through the analysis of clear numbers;
flexibility, adaptation to the needs of the consumer;
convenience for both parties;
small volume of the target audience and the ability to ensure its full coverage, using a minimum of operations and time;
the value of each new interaction.

When is direct marketing needed?

Closing a specific deal is one of the reasons why many business communities are turning to direct marketing, but it's far from the only reason. More preferable of all the advantages of this method for companies is the possibility of establishing a direct and long-term contact aimed at each buyer, the so-called market interaction. The transition from mass and individualization of trade relations is associated with many aspects of our daily life: the technological complexity of goods, the emergence of new opportunities for acquiring items and paying for purchases, close competition, the creation of adjacent channels and the use of the latest computer technologies.

In sectoral terms, direct marketing is most widely used by banks, in the insurance system, in electrical engineering, instrument making, mechanical engineering; somewhat to a lesser extent - energy, chemistry, construction, food industry, transport and services.

A company's direct marketing is successful if the following criteria are met:

narrow specialization of a product or service, requiring constant contact between the seller and the buyer;
frequent price changes;
a large sales turnover, which more than doubles all direct marketing costs;
all buyers are distributed in small areas close to shopping centers;
all shopping centers have equipped places for storing goods;
small target audience;
the quantity of each delivered product is a multiple of the used container.

Advantages and disadvantages of direct marketing

Why is direct selling so popular? Here are the main benefits of direct marketing.

Targeting the audience and its selection. For the best implementation of this task, direct mail and the so-called telemarketing are used, which surpasses even television advertising in the quality of its result. Radio, too, is not very effective at targeting, unless it's about winning over fans of a particular musical genre. Billboards also poorly cope with this task, and therefore are not a direct marketing tool. Of all the mass media, the most useful in terms of direct technology is printed matter, namely magazines.
Geographical selectivity. What does it mean? When using telemarketing, direct mail and magazine advertising, it is important to understand where and in what territory your target audience lives in order not to throw large sums of money on print ads distributed throughout Russia. After all, your clients are not the whole country, but a certain region, on which it is worth concentrating your financial forces.
Selectivity based on the demographic principle (age, gender, marital status, nationality, etc.). From the point of view of these characteristics of the population, telemarketing is the most useful in terms of direct promotion of goods, although radio and television channels can have a positive effect on the process of demographic selection in their own way.
Selectivity on a psychological basis. Thanks to telemarketing, the target audience is selected, which is characterized by certain psychological habits: the same lifestyle, hobbies, style, etc. Magazines also do an excellent job of this function, since they are created to meet the interests of a certain group of the population (sports publications, needlework, fashion, etc.).
Exclusion of meaningless dissemination of information. Obviously, people very rarely pay attention to ads in newspapers, on radio or television, no matter how flashy their headlines are. Telemarketing, in contrast, delivers information to consumers in a more targeted way, without giving them the choice to opt out.
Fast buyer response. If you want to check how customers react to your offer and you need to do it quickly, then use telemarketing. If you have more time, then radio and television are suitable for this purpose. Advertising on television bears fruit, but it requires too much time and material costs.
Measured response. If you can quickly assess the customer experience of your product, then you can immediately start distributing these products to other markets. The fastest customer response is provided by telemarketing, which presents you with data on consumer activity in the first hours after the start of an advertising campaign.
Various response options. When ordering a product, it is very important to provide people with a sufficient number of ways to order it. If customers want to place an order by phone, fax or mail, then telemarketing is the best way to do this, since, for example, television does not provide consumers with such opportunities. In the case of TV advertising, the buyer is limited in the choice of options for placing an order. In addition, if the viewer did not have time to remember the number by which you can make a purchase, he is unable to rewind, and a pencil or pen is not always at hand at the right time. In such situations, the reaction of buyers to your advertising is reduced to zero. The same story is typical for radio advertising: being on the road and hearing a number on the radio where you can order a product, you cannot remember the numbers by ear, and if you reach for the handle, you risk getting into an unpleasant situation on the road.
Full control of demand and a huge variety of opportunities. Telemarketing allows you to make some changes to the advertising script and immediately monitor consumer demand for certain innovations. Magazines do not provide this opportunity due to their print characteristics, and television and radio advertising is usually short and too expensive to test various offers and control demand for them.
Large volume of messages. Other media, with the exception of marketing, offer only short advertising time. Telemarketing involves advertising at a speed of 150 words per minute, which is more than half of the standard A4 format.
Ability to change the advertising script. The high cost of television advertising makes it almost impossible to make adjustments to it. In the case of telemarketing, edits are made in minutes. Periodicals involve a long input and output process, which also makes changes difficult. Even the local radio is more suited to this role due to its fast input times.
High percentage of consumer participation. Through telemarketing, the listener is drawn into the conversation, which also happens when watching long television shows, especially when all kinds of polls and other interactive methods of working with viewers are used.
Intrusive adware. If the viewer has no other choice but to watch your ad, then it is very annoying. For a long time, TV advertising was considered as such, but today the opinion has changed: after all, you can simply switch to another channel. And will you be able to not answer the calls that keep breaking your phone? No! This means that telemarketing advertising is very intrusive. Advertisements in a magazine are often simply skipped, and on the radio the listener may ignore the offer.
Reaching audiences wherever they are. If the object of interest to you, namely the consumer, is at home, then you can reach him using standard television advertising. If a customer is driving a car or subway while reading a newspaper, then radio and print media can also be helpful. Telemarketing is an even more reliable means of reaching the target audience, no matter where the person is at the time of the call.
Quick entry and collapse of an informational message. The practicality of the time structure influences how often your offer is reviewed and how quickly an ad campaign is terminated in a given situation. A flexible time system is a characteristic feature of telemarketing, as well as newspapers and radio. The magazine cannot be produced in a short time, which means that the speed of entering information leaves much to be desired.

Downsides of direct marketing

minor flaws can be fatal to the prestige and reputation of your company, so if you are not sure that you can handle it, do not be stingy to hire a competent marketing specialist;
the direct method of promotion will bear fruit only in the long term;
when introducing direct marketing in some economic areas, significant investments are required;
sometimes there are situations when the consumer is not inclined to conduct a dialogue with the manufacturer, which can cause a conflict (this is especially typical for the post-Soviet space);
in the absence of a clear distribution of responsibilities in the company, embarrassment can occur: an advertising campaign sells one declared product, while the agent, when communicating with the buyer, tries to sell him another product.

Needless to say, the buyer thinks he has fallen into a fraudulent trap, and then you can forget about the prospect of making a deal.

Direct marketing is possible only when there is a clear division of responsibilities in the company, and each employee of the company acts according to one common goal. Success is guaranteed to the team in which each member stands up for the common cause and clearly understands his tasks.

Traditional direct marketing channels

Individual approach to selling. The sales professional aims to make a one-on-one sale that identifies potential customers, connects with them, and turns that interaction into a long-term partnership.

Marketing through direct mail. Thanks to direct mail, every customer is aware of all the innovations of your products, because he regularly receives brochures, product samples and information about promotions.

There are three main forms of mail communication with clients.

Fax - modern technology makes it possible to transfer paper versions of proposals by fax to other telephones, and this happens in a matter of minutes.
Electronic message - by means of e-mail, mail is sent from one PC to another.
Voice message - such mailing is relevant when sending information to other phones.
Marketing using a catalog.

This element of direct marketing allows you to keep consumers up to date with all the innovations and additions to your product range. You can mail catalogs, sell them or distribute them for free, and experiment with design and presentation using videos, online catalogs, disk drives, and more.

Phone marketing. With this method, the main tool of communication between the seller and the buyer is the telephone. There are two types of product promotion by phone.

Outbound telephone marketing means that the operator himself contacts customers and informs them about existing offers, establishes contacts, and also conducts various opinion polls, evaluates the results of his work with consumers, and creates customer databases.

Inbound telephone marketing - involves the creation of customer hotlines where people send their orders. As a rule, this is the reaction of buyers to advertising messages on radio, television or in newspapers. In addition, there is a hotline, by contacting operators, users can leave their suggestions or express dissatisfaction.

Modern forms of direct marketing

Direct response telemarketing

This type of promotion involves the use of television commercials with programs for feedback - this is a contact phone number for a free call, which allows customers to find out the details of the product or place an order. There are two types of such telemarketing:

direct response promotional messages - the video itself informs the buyer about the characteristics of the product and invites you to contact the company for further details. A contact phone number is provided in the video;
television channels of a narrow focus, engaged only in advertising products.

Interactive Marketing

Direct marketing also includes the purchase of goods online, which is carried out using a computer online. There are two forms of this type of direct technology:

commercial online shopping services that inform about possible products, promotions, bonus offers and other marketing services only to those customers who have signed up for a monthly subscription by paying a certain amount. Such commercial organizations have their own local networks, which is a guarantee of their reliability;
interactive platform - the Internet allows customers to exchange opinions about the product and communicate with each other.

Direct marketing on the Internet is no less powerful tool for promoting goods than television or telemarketing. But it should be noted that there are problems with its use.

Interactive marketing does not cover the entire market segment, thereby creating difficulties for limited access to consumers and, as a result, insufficient volume of purchases made by them.
Incomplete demographic and psychographic information about customers.
Clutter and too much information.
Incomplete guarantee of safe shopping. The customer runs the risk of transferring his data to fraudsters who intervened in the process of an interactive transaction. Credit card numbers are not safe, and therefore, the funds on them.
Consumers become vulnerable, unable to prevent businesses from using their personal data. There is discrimination against customers and a lack of ethical considerations among the representatives of the seller.

Recently, integrated direct marketing has become another popular type of promotion, which provides for a variety of delivery options for selling notifications and multi-stage advertising campaigns.

Stage-by-stage organization of direct marketing in the company

Individual promotion of goods and services is possible in almost any business idea. But the success of this tool depends on the skill and experience of a marketing specialist.

Clear control and detailed preparation for the implementation of this type of activity is required. At the moment, this niche is not occupied in Russia, so there are great opportunities for companies and advertisers to develop this area. Residents of Europe receive a daily mailing list with similar messages and offers, the Russians, on the contrary, are not yet so integrated into this process. When using direct marketing, the invested funds tend to quickly return in an increased amount, which makes this advertising tool a leader in comparison with promotion in the media and its other types.

The individual focus of direct methods allows you to expand your customer base, as well as increase the number of leads coming from the same consumer. Also, this advertising tool makes the brand recognizable and creates the conditions for successful research of your niche in the market.

Stage 1. Preparatory stage of direct marketing.

This preliminary stage involves the definition of goals and objectives, the choice of advertising tools, the development of a portrait of the future consumer and a description of the target audience.

At this stage, you need to achieve the following:

ensure an increase in the personal client base;
to carry out a personal sale and an individual approach to each consumer;
establish a continuous flow of customers and build a lead generation system;
return lost customers.

At this stage, it is important to decide what percentage of consumer response and conversion you expect to receive from your campaign. If you planned for 30% of the reviews, then, naturally, the result in the form of half of this amount is a failure. But a conversion of 1% under such conditions is a success.

In order to set your goals and objectives correctly, you must conduct a detailed market study: analyze the industry, competitors, the average check and the percentage of leads that become buyers, as well as dozens of other criteria. Next, you need to test the campaign and, if necessary, adjust it.

There is an opinion that due to the underdevelopment of individual marketing in the Russian Federation, if a company manages to overcome the threshold of 2-4% conversion, which is the average level in the West, then the advertising event can be considered successful.

The essence of direct marketing is direct contact with the customer. The most important thing is to define the target audience. For example, to find persons in whose interests it would be to purchase programs for planning routes for the delivery of goods. It can be a manufacturer, a wholesaler, and a retailer. It is also important to find out to whom exactly to send your proposal: to the general director, his deputy, commercial representative or the company's chief logistics officer?

The main task is to describe a portrait of a future client - a consumer of a product or service. If you doubt that you can handle this case, a consulting company will come to your aid.

The direct marketing tools used depend on the goals and objectives of the advertising campaign, as well as on the characteristics of the target audience that you have previously chosen as your customers. For example, if you are engaged in the distribution of goods for needlework, then advertising will work more effectively on Odnoklassniki than on Instagram, since, you see, more customers use the first social network.

Stage 3. Conducting a direct marketing campaign.

Goal: increase the customer base. Having a large target audience, you should select only those who would be interested in your particular offer. This can be achieved with coupons or printed media supplements. All stakeholders are your target audience. Feedback advertising on radio and television can also be helpful.

Turning just interested people into potential customers. At this stage, you must conduct in-depth work with the audience that responded to your promotional offer. Contact can be made via SMS or email.

Purpose: to encourage customers to buy. In this case, the direct marketing process involves informing people about all the possible nuances of your offer. You can simply remind the consumer of your organization, or you can offer a discount, gift, lottery ticket, or other marketing service.

Purpose: to maintain contact with established customers. It is much cheaper for a manufacturer to try to retain a regular customer than to find a new one. You may face the problem of reducing the turnover if you lose even a few of your customers. That is why in no case should we forget about established client relationships. For your part, you must constantly maintain contact with customers, inform them about discounts, promotions, sales and new arrivals of goods.

Purpose: return of departed customers. If some customers no longer use your services, this does not mean that all is lost. You must find out the reason for the refusal of customers from your service or products. Thanks to this, you can identify your weaknesses, study the advantages of competitors. Gently contacting lost customers can be helpful in improving your company.

Stage 4. Analysis of the implemented direct marketing campaign.

At the end of the campaign, a thorough evaluation is required. If the activity was unsuccessful, its analysis is still necessary, because thanks to this you can understand the shortcomings of the promotional event and prevent them next time. Major mistakes include:

incorrectly formed target audience;
an erroneously written message and addressed to the wrong people;
wrong timing for the DM campaign.

If everything went well, you should also analyze and find out what exactly served as a prerequisite for a successful conclusion, and what could jeopardize the success of the event.

It is necessary to take into account all consumer feedback, whether it be general information requests, interest in the company's activities or the purchase of goods and services. Customers who left your offer unattended should also be in the field of view - this will help further planning advertising campaigns.

According to most Western experts, direct marketing (direct marketing) or DM will acquire a dominant role in the advertising market and will replace all other types of promotion. On the world stage, the progress of this technology is constantly on the rise, its development does not stop, and the profit it brings is twice the income from advertising in the media.

How to evaluate how effective direct marketing tools are

There are certain criteria by which you can judge the effectiveness of direct marketing.

The percentage increase in the audience of customers who contact the organization after the implementation of a particular advertising campaign (this data can be obtained from a company registered after the event).
The percentage of sales increases that occurred after specific direct marketing activities (this information can be obtained by analyzing sales volumes after an advertising campaign). Evaluation capabilities make it possible to judge the effectiveness of direct marketing by monitoring these communication systems, types of frequency and duration of direct marketing (mailing list, print publications, online advertising).

The success of the direct method, according to popular opinion, depends on the quality of the product offered, its distinctive characteristics, brand, and specific market conditions by about 40%. The other 40% is determined by the impact of products on the client audience and the level of this impact. The last 20% of success provides direct contact with the consumer. Experts believe that several elements make direct marketing effective. Personal selling is one of these main criteria, when used, the consumer feels like a truly important link in the sales process.

A meaningful contact budget is another important metric in determining direct marketing success. To determine the cost of interaction with a client, it is necessary to take into account several parameters, without which it will be impossible to make correct calculations. The first criterion includes limit values from the total cost of contact with the consumer. The second element reveals the proportion of successful interactions that, at the end of the direct marketing campaign, translate into a purchase. The third criterion testifies to the planned approximate results at each specific stage.

The measure of the success of any direct marketing campaign is the number of people who respond to the promotional event, as well as the results obtained.

These parameters can be assessed by testing. At the same time, it should be complete, covering all aspects of direct marketing - this is the main rule for analyzing results.

Solid data can also be obtained by conducting interviews with a certain number of consumers pre-selected from the general list of the target audience.

Due to the fact that there are different groups of buyers, it is necessary to analyze each of them separately.

For example, if you want to choose packaging for your product, then it is best to ask the opinion of buyers and conduct testing. Of course, such measures cost money, but the losses in case of choosing a package that is unattractive to the consumer will exceed your costs for organizing trial promotions.

The test results will help you anticipate the sales volume of your entire group of potential customers, as well as assess your customers' needs and test your financial competence in the development and production process.

What mistakes make direct marketing activities ineffective

Every year, experts make unforgivable mistakes when conducting direct marketing campaigns. Here are the main ones.

Mistake 1. Inexperience in sales. Many organizations initially present their product to the wrong group of customers. The blame here lies with the specialist who incorrectly drew up a portrait of the future consumer and carelessly approached the development of the text of the advertising message. To avoid such misses, it is necessary to create individual advertising messages for each target audience. Moreover, maximum attention should be focused not on the merits of your company, but on the benefits and advantages of working with you.

Error 2. Unwillingness to spend money on building a quality customer base. The database must be valid, real, not misleading.

Mistake 3. Savings on specialists. To achieve success, you need a highly qualified employee. You should not reduce your expenses by saving on this. The profit that such a professional can bring to the company will cover all costs.

Mistake 4. Using the experience of other, more advanced agencies.

Mistake 5. Good copywriting plays a huge role. The text of your messages should be unique, bright and catchy.

Mistake 6. Don't try to save money everywhere. The desire to minimize costs is not always the key to a profitable business.

Mistake 7. Test the niche of your business before investing big money in it. Thanks to this, you will find out if your product is in demand and what to do next.

Direct Marketing: Examples of Successful Campaigns

A direct marketing campaign should be unusual in its idea and clearly aimed at the target audience. Here are some examples of Western direct marketing activities.

The well-known company "Haggis" organizes an action. All new moms leaving the maternity hospital will be presented with free diapers. Women, in turn, send the barcode of their packaging and fill out a questionnaire, after which they proceed to communicate with the company that sells the goods, while receiving discounts, promotional codes, prizes and gifts. This campaign involves a big spend of $10–20 million, but it hits the target audience perfectly. Naturally, the gifts were paid off with the proceeds from further sales, since the purchase of diapers costs several hundred US dollars annually. Such promotions can be carried out only with a preliminary analysis, comparing costs and profits. In the Russian Federation, experts consider an acceptable spending threshold of 2-3% of the total cash flow.

In this example, we see a 100% hit on the target, but such cases are not frequent. The success of direct marketing in the Russian Federation is small when compared with foreign countries.

Another element of direct technology are events aimed at encouraging fans of a particular brand (Brand Loyalty). Similar methods are used by the owners of automotive industries. For them, it is extremely important that the next purchase, the consumer returned to the same brand. In Europe, car owners change cars about once every 3-4 years. We also see this trend: clubs are created for car enthusiasts of a certain brand, for example, RENAULT, BMW, 4x4, etc. Fans of these cars arrange their parties, meetings, and racing competitions.

The Audi Car Concert hosted a customer loyalty event in Spain that included free maintenance, replacement of an old car with a new one, and a travel club. Obviously, every Audi driver was aware of the company's plans in advance.

The goal of direct marketing is an individual sale through interaction with the consumer, which is greatly helped by customer loyalty programs. Organizations establish close contacts with buyers, which means they invest money in ongoing cooperation.

The condition for the effectiveness of direct marketing programs is frequent interaction with the consumer, at least 2-10 times a year. For example, the network company "KS", which sells shoes, informs its customers about monthly sales, promotions, lotteries, new software?

Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing(direct marketing, DM, from the English direct ring, DM) is a direct (in the absence of intermediate links) interactive interaction between the seller / manufacturer and the consumer in the process of selling a particular product. At the same time, the buyer is given the role not of a passive object of influence on the part of the communicator, but of an active and full participant in the business dialogue.

classic definition.

Direct Marketing is the planned, ongoing exercise of accounting, analysis and observation of consumer behavior expressed as a direct response in order to develop a future marketing strategy, develop long-term positive customer relationships, and ensure continued business success.

Types of direct marketing presented in the table.

Table 2. Types of direct marketing

Recently, direct mailings by e-mail are being used more and more. Mailing lists are considered legal (not spam) when consent is received from the addressee in one form or another to receive information.

telemarketing- the use of telephone and telecommunication technologies in conjunction with database management systems for the direct sale of goods to consumers. Often this service is called call-centers.

TV Marketing:

use of special commercial television channels intended only for the transmission of commercial and advertising information, after reading which the consumer can order goods at competitive prices without leaving home;

Interactive Marketing- electronic commerce (carrying out trade operations using infocommunication technologies), connecting the consumer with the seller's computerized data bank.

Database Service- services for the formation and processing of databases for direct marketing.

Practical examples of using direct marketing

The direct marketing program must be targeted and original. I will give examples of the use of direct marketing by large foreign companies.

The company "Haggis" is holding a promotion. When leaving the maternity hospital, all young mothers are given a bag with diapers. Then, after sending the questionnaire and the barcode from the package, the mothers entered into a dialogue with the manufacturer, receiving gifts, prizes, discount cards for the next purchases. Spending -10-20 dollars per contact, but hitting the target audience - diaper buyers - was accurate. It is clear that the costs of the first gifts were paid off by the subsequent expenses of consumers (several hundred dollars are spent on diapers per year). It is possible to carry out such actions only by correlating costs with future profits. In Russia, it is considered expedient to spend no more than 2-3% of the turnover on building such relations.

This example was with a precise hit on the target, but this happens quite rarely. The effectiveness of direct marketing in Russia is still low compared to other countries.

Another direct marketing tool is Brand Loyalty programs. These techniques can be observed in automobile concerns. It is extremely important for them that when changing a car, a person does not change the brand. In the West, on average, 50% of car owners update their cars every 3-4 years. In Russia, this phenomenon is also developing: there are RENAULT, BMW, 4x4 clubs (fans of all-wheel drive cars). They organize their parties, car races, competitions.

Audi in Spain ran a loyalty program that included free maintenance, replacement of an old car with a new car in case of a serious breakdown, and a travel club. Naturally, each Audi owner was promptly informed about the opportunity to join the program.

By developing loyalty programs, the company enters into a long-term relationship with the client, i.e. invests in permanent contacts, which is possible only if the company itself plans to work in this market for many years.

An extremely important condition of these programs is the frequency of contacts. On average, it is necessary to “get in touch” with a client 2-10 times a year. For example, the network of shoe stores "KS" actually informs its regular customers (who filled out the relevant questionnaires) on a monthly basis about ongoing marketing events (sales, lotteries, delivery of a new collection).

I don't really like articles that have minimal practical application. For this, there is Wikipedia and all the questions from the series “What is it?” can easily be solved there. But this article will be an exception. It will be a kind of abstract telling you about the types of marketing. But at the same time, it gives an understanding of practical application and relevance for classical business.

Let's decide right away

This article will talk about marketing, but not marketing, because marketing is bad marketing (thanks for such a short and concise explanation). Well, if we figured out the stress in the word, now let's find out what marketing is all the same.

Although, in fact, what marketing is and how it differs from advertising and PR, I described in detail in the article. Just in case, I repeat.

Marketing is the control and management of the marketing activities of the products manufactured by the enterprise (of course, it can also be services) using all kinds of tools, such as analysis, research, advertising and PR.

The simplest explanation for me of what marketing is will remain those same 4 letters (4 P or 4 Pi, in Russian). What is included in this concept can be read in this article or learn from this video:

And if everything is clear with the concept itself, then it is not at all clear what is included in marketing, what types and main types of marketing are. For example, content marketing, is it part of Internet marketing or is it, roughly speaking, a separate area? And trade marketing, what classification does it fall into? By demand or marketing goals? Now we'll figure it out.

Important! For many, this material may seem theoretical. But if you want to know not only chips, but also strategies, then overpower yourself and read to the end.

Bad news

I have to disappoint you, but the news is not joyful. If you dig globally, then the classification of types of marketing is very versatile and rather “theoretical”, that is, it is hardly applicable to small earthly businesses. For example, marketing is classified by:

consumer demand

By the way, this is the most common classification of marketing that can be found on the Internet. The most common, most famous and probably the most “legitimate”, because it was announced by the American Marketing Association back in 1985. In it, the main criterion for division was the nature of consumer demand. Which could be:

Conversion

The main task of such marketing is to change the negative demand for the product (when it “did not go”). Tools - re-release / re-branding of the product, reducing its cost, or a complete change in its promotion strategy, as in the following example.

One of my favorite examples of conversion marketing is Toyota Corporation, which produces 2 lines of its cars: Toyota and Lexus.

She thought about how to increase sales of Lexus cars. After all, they are economically more profitable, but poorly bought. The ingenious solution was found with the help of conversion marketing.

The design of Toyota cars has become, to put it mildly, not very attractive, to put it in Russian, they have become specially “nightmare”. But against this background, the design and insides of the Lexus began to cause surprise. As a result - an increase in the overall profit of the company, as sales of Lexus crept up. And the company was not affected by the decline in demand for Toyota cars. Here is a successful example.

Stimulating

The task of such marketing is to change the indifferent attitude of potential consumers to the promoted product. That is to make them interested in it. Most likely, this type of marketing is better known to you by the following tools:

A sharp decrease in prices at the initial stage of entering the market (“first, we will lure customers with low prices”);
Holding promotions;
Conducting tastings.

Developing

I would even call it spy marketing. That is, you understand that there is a demand, or rather it will be, for a specific product that you need to bring to the market. Developing marketing is aimed specifically at offering effective tools for turning hidden demand into real. Something similar with .

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 45,000 people.
TURN ON

Remarketing

Marketing that revives demand when it is fading. It seems to me that the tool that returns visitors who were on your site back to your site is called precisely because of this (revival of demand). In Russia, this instrument is known as . Most often used in and.

Synchromarketing

This type of marketing is used to stabilize fluctuations in demand, such as seasonality. Examples of marketing in synchromarketing (sorry for the tautology) can be seen especially in construction and services.

Example 1 A company that manufactures and sells bricks, in order to avoid subsidence in winter (and this is the worst off-season for builders), is holding a promotion: “20% discount on the purchase of bricks until February 20 + free storage until spring.”

Example 2 The network of World Class fitness clubs began to receive complaints from regular visitors about the clogged club at certain hours. In this regard, schedules of the club's workload during the day were prepared, which allowed visitors to plan their day and time of visiting the club, and thus relieved the problem a little, but.

Or else, for example, here is an example of a promotion:

supportive

Used when the demand level is equal to the supply level. That is, stable demand, stable competition. The perfect picture for me. An example, of course, is the well-known company Coca-Cola. Or rather, one of its products, Sprite drink. It has become so popular and the demand for it is so stable that the company's marketers only occasionally change the shape of the bottle and run commercials "just to remind you of the product."

Demarketing

Imagine that you produce products that are so popular in the world that your production (offer) is simply unable to meet all the demand. It is the regulation (reduction of demand) to the level of supply (technical production capabilities) with the help of marketing tools that is demarketing.

A striking example of the use of a demarketing strategy is Apple, which not only keeps rather high prices compared to its competitors, but even raises them in order to control the ever-increasing, I would even say, rush demand for its products.

Reactive

In fact, this is the same as demarketing, that is, marketing aimed at reducing demand. The only point is that the decrease in demand occurs for goods that are not approved by society (alcohol, drugs, tobacco). As a rule, the introduction of such marketing (very aggressive marketing, I must say) is the state. The most obvious and famous example is Prohibition in the United States from 1920 to 1933.

By nature and scale of activity

Mass (undifferentiated marketing)

Remember the right marketing? When you choose a target audience, prescribe, paint a product, make several products for different pains of the target audience?

So in mass marketing, it doesn't matter. You make one product, completely ignoring the difference between target audiences, enter the market with one single product that, in your opinion, should turn a large number of interested consumers into buyers. Something from the series “there is a buyer for this product”, such a kind of aggressive marketing.

An excellent strategy in the presence of mass character and large, or rather very large, budgets for promotion. Examples of successful mass marketing are Coca-Cola and Ford (cars for any person, any wallet and any purpose). True, they succeeded in all this largely due to large budgets and minimal competition.

Differentiated Marketing

Usually, manufacturing plants entering the market go this way. They break their products down into several product segments (milk/kefir/yogurt/prebiotics), each of which caters to the needs of a different target audience. Accordingly, marketing is also built by adjusting to individual segments of the target audience.

Concentrated (targeted) marketing

This is exactly the marketing that we believe is right and suitable for small businesses. Focusing on a specific segment (specific target audience), identifying and covering all needs with a product or service. In the conditions of hypercompetition in the market, it is concentrated marketing that is considered the most correct for the development of small businesses.

May be enough?

These are the types of marketing and their characteristics that have appeared in history throughout its formation. True, not all classifications are presented here. I don't really see the point in that. Why do you need to know most of the traditional classifications in marketing, such as individual marketing. If these concepts have long been changed? For example, personality marketing (ego marketing) has long turned into branding, that is, brand promotion.

It's a shame that these traditional types of marketing and their characteristics are in the curriculum of marketers in institutes. I think this information is useful for revealing the concept, but, unfortunately, it is not applicable in business at all. Especially they are hardly applicable from a practical point of view in small business.

And all why? Because everything in marketing is dynamic and developing very quickly. In Russia, perhaps, its development slows down a bit. Therefore, I propose to skip the traditional types and types of marketing and pay attention to modern types of marketing with examples. At a minimum, because the results of their application can be tracked in small and medium-sized businesses. Forgive me the owners of huge multinational corporations reading this article at the moment 😉

Enough about eternal

The top of the article should give you, as I said, the concept. But then there are already quite specific thoughts for implementation in your company.

So. Modern marketing includes:

Offline marketing;
Territorial marketing;
Mobile marketing;
Network marketing;
Event (event) marketing;

And to be honest, I have a suspicion that these are far from all types and types of marketing that fit the concept of “modern”. I say this with such confidence, because after many years of studying a large number of sources, I have not found an adequate structured list.

The nice thing, at least for me, is that we already have articles for most of the types of modern marketing. With detailed explanations, as well as examples of application in business. To view them, just follow the links above.

However, in those areas where there are no articles yet, so as not to leave you with a broken trough, I will give successful, sometimes even ingenious embodiments.

Territorial marketing

The concept itself appeared quite recently (in 2002) and it means marketing in the interests of the territory. Speaking clearly, the main task of such marketing is to “sell” the territory to potential buyers in order to improve the lives of the people living in this territory.

The best-known examples are spending on advertising to attract tourist traffic. For example, Greece spends about 100 million euros annually to attract tourists/advertise its resorts. Among our well-known territorial marketing projects is the Olympics in Sochi. According to official data, about $52 million was invested in the construction and promotion of this facility, while the income from the Olympics amounted to about $80 million.

Mobile Marketing

This is not even marketing, but something in between (direction) between offline and Internet marketing. A way to promote goods and services using mobile devices. It includes sms, mms, applications, instant messengers.

Consider the option with messages from different companies. For example, “Only until the 20th, 15% discount on our shoes.” We can say that this type of marketing is dying, because people read SMS less and less. But if you look at messages not as standard SMS, but as instant messengers (whatsapp, viber, telegram), then everything becomes different. It is especially fashionable now to build communication through.

And one more practical example, which you can also take into service. It is the interaction through MMS, which is considered by many to be dead. But when one of our clients recently made a mailing to clients using MMS (a picture that comes to the phone instead of text), we saw a different picture.

Moreover, the most interesting thing is that this kind of mailing comes directly from operators and you can tune in to people according to several criteria, for example, you can track them by geolocation and, as a result, make a mailing only to those subscribers who are currently not far from the store / office .

Network marketing

Multilevel marketing (from English multilevel marketing). The concept of developing the sale of a product or service by attracting distributors, who may also attract distributors. Moreover, the last attracted distributors will also have all the rights to sell. The income of each distributor depends on the amount of commission from each attracted new distributor.

Among the most famous companies selling products on the basis of network marketing are: Faberlic, Amway, Mary Kay, Avon. Recently in Russia, network marketing has received a second wind. The rapid development of social networks helped him in this. In particular, Instagram and one of the ways to promote it is .

I also call it creative marketing. Although in fact it is event marketing, which helps to promote products or services through events (events). Among the vivid examples of such marketing, I immediately recall Alfa Future People (the main festival of music and technology), which is organized by Alfa Bank. Here is an example of how the event went in 2016. The scope, of course, is amazing.

However, what if you are, for example, a small coffee shop? Very simple! If possible, take part in various events and use event marketing to the maximum. Day of the city? Hand out balloons with the logo of your coffee shop to children passing by.

By the way, a really worked example from our client. In advance for City Day, he prepared beautiful balloons with the logo of his coffee shop and handed them out to children for free, who circled around the center with them all day long. Here is an example. What is most interesting, after the end of the festive part, many families with balloons went to this particular coffee shop, where they were given loyalty cards for further communication.

Briefly about the main

To be honest, in this article I have considered far from all types and types of marketing. Simply, for example, there is such a direction as creative marketing, which is included in event marketing. And the types of Internet marketing, for example, include trust marketing (when the user gives his consent to the Internet to receive this or that information and all further communication is based on trust).

Most of these species and subspecies are not mentioned here. Otherwise, the classification would be too large and global. My task was not only to give a “Wikipedia article”, but to show that marketing is not only about attracting customers. It's something more. That with its help you can manage the consciousness and behavior of people with a positive message, in the interests of your business.

From the article, you will understand what direct marketing (direct marketing) is with real examples, what key components are responsible for successful direct marketing, and what forms and types of direct marketing there are. And at the end of the article you will find two video cases and a very useful gift))

Over the past few years, I have personally been involved in the design and implementation of over a hundred direct marketing programs. Then, continuing to practice, she defended her Ph.D. thesis on the topic of direct marketing. And then she began to teach various aspects of direct marketing to micro and small businesses through lectures, master classes, author's trainings and courses. I think I have studied and penetrated this topic enough to give a complete answer to what direct marketing is and to explain its essence using real examples.

What is direct marketing anyway?

The term "direct marketing" or direct marketing not intuitive. Someone associates direct marketing with unaddressed mail advertising - the so-called "junk mail" in mailboxes. For some, direct marketing is direct sales, personal visits, or cold phone calls. Some direct marketing is associated with MLM sales. And for someone, direct marketing is associated with sending letters to directors. And someone thinks that direct marketing is the same Yandex direct, which is generally about contextual advertising on the Internet.

So what exactly is direct marketing?

Direct Marketing(aka direct marketing) from English. direct marketing) is a promotion method that ensures that the company addresses the consumer directly without intermediaries in order to obtain a measurable response.

Moreover, the response can be either a sale or any targeted action necessary for the company - requesting information, providing contact information, filling out a questionnaire, etc.

Direct Marketing Examples by Lester Wunderman

The term direct marketing is an analogue of English direct marketing, which was formed in America and was first voiced by Lester Wunderman in 1967, when he gave a talk "Direct marketing - the new revolution in sales" ("Direct marketing - The new revolution in selling") at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institute.

The first steps in the field of direct marketing were taken by him in the 50s. Then he worked with only two companies. One was engaged in the production of glass knives, and the second - the sale of cosmetics for facial skin care. He used direct marketing techniques to implement each marketing strategy.

To promote these products, Lester Wooderman came up with a new marketing ploy for that time. Featured magazines published an advertisement for a product containing a direct response element. This element was a coupon that had to be cut out and mailed in order to receive the product. This approach turned out to be very successful. In modern marketing parlance, this method is called direct response advertising.

Thus, the strategy proposed by Lester Wooderman (to bring new Ford Lincoln cars to the market) brought Ford a profit of about 1 million 700 thousand dollars. The direct campaign cost was $800,000. And the participants in the test group - the recipients of letters, made purchases in the amount of 9 million 600 thousand dollars. This is a very famous example of a successful direct marketing campaign.

Direct marketing is

So, direct marketing is always:

Direct (address) appeal to the buyer.
A proposal containing enough information to make a decision, most often in a letter.
The presence of a mechanism for responding to the proposal (providing a response).

Targeted appeal to the buyer is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the implementation of direct marketing. Offering and delivering the desired response are the key ingredients for direct marketing success!

Without each of these, you are not doing direct marketing, you are just using a direct marketing channel.

Now let's take a look at the key components that have a direct impact on the success of direct marketing. In total, I single out four such components - this is the contact base, the offer, the means of communication and the creative.

The contact database is the basis of direct marketing

The contact base is the main key component on which the effectiveness of direct marketing depends. It is the presence of contact that makes it possible to directly appeal to the consumer - the main and necessary condition for the possibility of organizing direct marketing.

What is a contact database? This is a collection of records containing information about customers, both potential and existing. And the process of creating, maintaining and using databases is called database marketing.

Without a database of contacts, it is impossible to implement direct marketing in principle. The presence of a database of contacts allows the company to interact with thousands of customers at the same time and at the same time with each consumer individually.

The consumer contact base can be formed by the company itself or by a third-party organization. If the base of contacts for mailing is not formed by the company itself, then it is called the market base. The database of consumers formed by the company is its property.

If a company doesn't care about the origin of the contact base it intends to use for direct communications, it can cause a direct marketing campaign to fail and be a waste of money.

Therefore, when developing a direct marketing strategy, it is important to take this aspect into account and lay it down when predicting the effectiveness of direct marketing.

Offer (offer)

Creative

The task of the creative part is to give the offer the most tempting look, to evoke emotions in the consumer that will lead to a response.

While creative in direct marketing is not as highly valued as a database/list and offer, this element should not be neglected. With a good database and a compelling offer, a great creative can increase engagement by up to 50%.

Creativity corresponds to the development of the text and design (layout) of the proposal. This:

2) the structure of the text in the form of a logical and consistent presentation of information that immediately captures the attention of the addressee, retains the interest shown at the beginning and motivates in a certain way to get the desired answer from him;

3) execution of the proposal (design).

For example, the popular classic AIDA copywriting formula ( A intention, I interest, D esire, A ction) takes into account the following phases of the organization of information of the appeal: attracting the attention (attention) of the recipient, stimulating his interest (interest), motivating desire (desire) and pushing for action (action). There are many other different formulas and techniques for structuring calls, new ones are constantly being developed.

The form of the proposal must fully realize its content and structure. For example, a direct mail message from a company may take the form of a direct mail package that is not limited to 60 seconds of radio or television air, a 18x25 cm magazine page, fax and e-mail monochrome font, a website window behind a screen on the Internet.

Direct mail package allows you to include large, spectacularly illustrated brochures, any number of attachments, color scheme. You can also send out flip cards, folded inserts, product samples, and even CDs. Here, the marketer's capabilities are limited only by his imagination and / or budget. The form of a direct mail package varies from simple (postcard) to complex (drawing prize package).

Another possible modification is the self-mailer, a flyer with space for an address, folded in a special way and sent without an outer envelope.

Direct mails can take a wide variety of forms, from a sheet of paper folded in half for mailing, to complex copies with many pages and already filled envelopes for the recipient's response.

The classic direct mail package consists of an outer envelope, a letter, a flyer/brochure and a response form. Its building blocks must also be structured according to the AIDA formula:

envelope - protects the content, attracts attention, excites interest;
letter - establishes contact, arouses interest, motivates desire, provides an opportunity for negotiations;
prospectus - provides a presentation of the offer, motivates desire, describes the details of the product, transactions;
response form - calls for action, provides feedback.

Direct marketing Olein offer example

The key idea behind Oleina's offer was to provide a gift of a set of canning lids for two Oleina oil labels and a completed questionnaire to be mailed in (see picture).

The action was planned during the period of active conservation (August-September). The purpose of the campaign was not only to stimulate sales and attract new customers to the Oleina club, but also to conduct marketing research.

The task of the creative part of the direct action was to design the key idea of the offer, providing the maximum response. The design of the proposal was (see the figure below):

Personalized letter on behalf of Natalia Zagorodnova (five types of letters were developed separately for each segment of the company's audience).
Envelope with a color logo TM Olena.
Booklet with recipes for home preservation using Oleina.
Questionnaire with the rules of participation (3 pieces, separated by perforation - one forthe addressee and two others for his friends) + an envelope with a prepaid postage rate - for returning completed questionnaires from participants in the action (market research data).

At the end of the article you will find real video examples of using direct marketing for a French restaurant (b2c market) and bank services (b2c market). But be sure to read on>>

Communication media

Communication tools are responsible for the media component of direct marketing, namely, they are responsible for how the key idea of the offer will be conveyed to the target segment.

What communication tools are used in direct marketing? We will talk about this in more detail when we analyze in the fourth paragraph -.

What is the point of direct marketing?

Sigmund Fegele, a German direct marketing specialist, provides the following calculations for the use of direct mail.

On average, a sales representative can make about 20 personal visits per week.

At the same time, a visit does not mean a sale. Often he uses personal contact to provide the necessary information, consult, hold a meeting to strengthen business relations, inform about new services, etc. On average, 3-5 visits are required to complete a transaction.

Although "letter sales agents" are considered to be less effective than direct sales, either in person or over the phone, they cost only 1/100 of the cost required for a face-to-face visit.

Therefore, "on a business trip" you can send at least 10 thousand "written sales agents" at once. From this point of view, direct marketing acquires a special appeal.

The company's "distant sales agents" are a worthy alternative to face-to-face conversation, which is expensive today. As, however, and "cold" calling, when "cold" calls break into the personal space of the addressee and most often cause him irritation and a desire to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

Thus, direct mail marketing is able to provide any business with an army of dedicated salespeople working directly with each client of the company at the same time without holidays and days off. Moreover, sellers who do not “push” anything, do not take time, do not distract from important matters, but gently and tactfully present the company’s offer, which the recipient can be happy to get acquainted with in detail at a convenient time for him.

Some professionals erroneously limit direct marketing to mailing letters in envelopes or by e-mail. Of course, direct mail and direct e-mail are the basic tools of direct marketing.

Or direct mail, a classic direct marketing tool. Although the authorship of the term "direct marketing" was assigned to Lester Wunderman in the 60s of the last century, it is believed that Western companies began to turn to direct marketing methods more than 100 years ago - with the invention of the typewriter at the end of the 19th century.

And postage in the form of a written sales presentation was already a traditional tool in trade. To do this, they collected the names of buyers and sold goods to them personally using the mail.

A letter advertising a fish and seafood delivery service. 1928
One of the earliest examples of direct mail.

Direct mail by e-mail appeared much later with the emergence and development of electronic technologies. And along with it, other sophisticated and at the same time accessible and affordable tools for direct marketing have emerged. These are sms, faxes, social networks, Internet messengers, mobile applications, etc., as well as all kinds of models for their integration.

Thus, modern direct marketing includes a wide range of various tools, the use of which involves personal communication with the consumer. We divide them into individual, niche and mass.

Each tool has its own characteristics, knowledge and mastery of which provide the degree of their effectiveness. Their integration provides the greatest effect - a combination of several tools within the framework of one strategy (integrated marketing communications), which provides a synergistic effect when 1 + 1 = 11.

Direct Marketing in Action - Examples of Selling Direct Mails

And now, for inspiration, I present to your attention successful cases of direct marketing, namely direct mail. These are examples of a classic direct marketing strategy.

direct marketing b2c example

Video case of B2C direct marketing:
direct action with live frogs for a French restaurant - 100% response!!!

direct marketing b2b example

Video case of direct marketing b2b:
direct action "Big Boss" for the bank - 37% response!

Instead of a conclusion

Direct marketing is good first of all as a way to organize sales of goods directly to the maximum number of customers without intermediary advertising and expensive personal contacts. And at the same time, direct marketing is an effective tool for involving the target audience in communication with the company in order to inform and establish trusting relationships with potential customers and buyers.

Direct marketing is a specialized interactive system that involves direct contact with each individual client. Such contact manifests itself in the form of an individualized dialogue with the buyer in order to provide an immediate feedback. Forms of direct marketing can include a wide variety of media including telephone, mail, fax, internet, and a variety of other media and methods.

What does it look like?

In this case, some particular or several media are used in an ongoing advertising campaign in order to ensure the highest possible response from consumers or to achieve a deal in a certain area of \u200b\u200bthe company's business. Of course, such operations are necessarily entered into the database.

Direct marketing is ongoing targeted communication with certain companies or individual customers who show obvious intentions to purchase a particular product.

Unlike the vast majority of other communication tools, direct marketing is different in that it eliminates the presence of various intermediaries as well as retailers. This sales option uses contact with customers to distribute a particular commercial product directly, that is, it relies on advertising that requires an instant response, and is not designed only to familiarize consumers with the features of the commercial product they offer.

A long-term, mutually beneficial and, more importantly, growing partnership between personally known buyers and a manufacturing company is exactly what direct marketing is all about. To achieve this goal, a variety of tools can be used, but in any case, the result should be the same.

Advantages

Extremely high focus, due to which direct marketing is in certain cases much more effective than other types.
A great way to achieve recognition and demand for a product among small or limited circles of people.
Profitability, especially when it comes to a small audience, since in this case direct tête-à-tête contact is provided.
Provide feedback to potential clients.
You can always measure results with the utmost precision, and all elements are extremely flexible.

Flaws

Efficiency directly depends on how accurately and competently the database was created.
Quite often, this option goes unnoticed for the reason that clients are overloaded with information.
Requires considerable expenses in the event that work is carried out with a large audience.

What types are there?

There are different forms of direct marketing, which are separated by how the messages are delivered:

Direct mail. Delivery of any goods or messages in this case is carried out through the postal service or some private delivery service. The success of this system is based on the quality of the mailing lists, as well as the text and packaging.
Catalogs are divided into four categories: offering a holistic product line, retail, business-to-business format, and specialized consumer.
Mass media. This option is one of the most common advertising options, when advertising information about a particular product is distributed in various newspapers, magazines, TV channels and other media.
Telephone marketing through outgoing and incoming calls.
Interactive marketing, which involves the use of interactive computer systems that bring together sellers and buyers in real time. There are two main formats of marketing channels: the Internet, as well as specialized commercial interactive services.

mailing list

Direct mail provides for the procedure for compiling, producing, and then sending an advertising message to specific people who are of interest to the company as potential consumers. It is worth noting that this is quite expensive direct marketing. Direct marketing channels in this case provide a fairly high degree of selectivity of the appeal, as preliminary work is being done. It is for this reason that this method is considered to be quite effective today and is widely used.

This marketing option is based on lists, which ensures an extremely high degree of selectivity in determining the target audience, and also allows you to achieve a flexible and personalized approach to a potential consumer with the possibility of further evaluating the results. In the vast majority of cases, a variety of brochures, bright order forms and a lot of similar products are the main thing that uses such direct marketing. Direct marketing channels provide a lot of advantages here, but there are also many disadvantages.

What are the benefits?

Among the characteristic advantages that distinguish direct mail, it is worth highlighting the fact that a wide variety of formats can be used here, but at the same time it is possible to provide a rather attractive description of the merits of the proposed commercial products. Because of this, using such direct marketing, channels provide a flow of an audience that simply cannot be attracted if only some other means of communication are used.

What are the disadvantages?

If we talk about the shortcomings, it is worth noting that the bases on which such marketing is based are in the overwhelming majority of cases formed according to general criteria, as a result of which it often happens that in the end the message reaches those consumers who are not interested in receiving it.

Everything that together represents the design of direct mail should be distinguished by its harmony, and also contain a certain design concept. The classic package often contains a postal envelope, a brochure, a letter, an order form, as well as a response envelope and a certain number of other papers that are necessary to achieve a certain effect.

The use of such new types of mailing, including facsimile or e-mail, allows you to engage in mailing as efficiently and quickly as possible. Market participants today distribute all kinds of offers, trade and other announcements primarily by e-mail, including both small, limited groups, and a fairly large audience.