Direct Marketing 11

In order to achieve their level of success, companies need to produce an effective creative brief which includes the following:

1. Communication objectives This spells out what the campaign is hoping to achieve 2. Target market analysis Target consumers will be identified, profiled and their needs and buyer behavior analyzed 3. Brand benefits (and weaknesses) The customer benefits that the brand's features create need to be identified

The importance of data base marketing is reflected in this applications

1. Direct mail. 2. Telemarketing. 3. Loyalty marketing. 4. Campaign planning. 5. Target marketing. 6. Distributor management systems. 7. Marketing evaluation.

A useful set of guidelines for conducting a telemarketing call has been developed by the Bell Telephone System of America:

1. Identify yourself and your company. 2. Establish rapport: this should come naturally since you have already researched your potential clients and their business. 3. Make an interesting comment 4. Deliver your sales message: emphasise benefits over features 5. Overcome objections: be skilled at objection-handling techniques. 6. Close the sale: when appropriate do not be afraid to ask for the order or fulfil another objective. 7. Action agreement: arrange for a sales call or the next telephone call. 8. Express your thanks.

Typically information store on databases

1. Information on actual and potential customers 2. Transactional information 3. Promotional information 4. Product information 5. Geodemogra-phic information

Setting Campaign Objectives

1.Financial objectives Sales volume and value Profit Return on investment. 2. Communication objectives Awareness Stimulate trial Positioning of brand in consumers' minds remind and reinforce. 3. Marketing objectives Customer acquisition Customer retention Lead/enquiry generation Number of orders Response rate (proportion of contacts responding).

In order to achieve their level of success, companies need to produce an effective creative brief which includes the following: 2

4. Development of the offer Potential offers should be pre-tested with the target audience to establish their attractiveness 5. Message communication In direct mail the offer can be communicated by the envelope as well as the internal contents In telemarketing, scripts are often used to communicate messages 6. Action plan An action plan focusing on when the campaign is to run

Telemarketing 2

Computerization can also enhance productivity in outbound telemarketing. Large databases can store information that can easily be accessed by telephone marketing operators. Call lists can be automatically allocated to operators. Scripts can be created and stored on the computer so that operators have ready and convenient access to them on screen. Telemarketing is often conducted from call centers where trained operators accept and send thousands of calls a day.

Mobile Marketing Advantages

Cost Effective Interactive Measurable Personalized Targeting Database Building

Media decisions

Direct mail is material sent by post to a home or business address with the purpose of promoting a product and/or maintaining an ongoing relationship. An important factor in the effectiveness of a direct mail campaign is the quality of the mailing list. Business to business lists may be bought from directory producers, from trade magazine subscription lists or from exhibition lists. Perhaps the most productive mailing list is that of a company's own customers which is known as the house list. This is because of the existing relationship that a company enjoys with its own customers.

Database Marketing

Direct marketing activity requires accurate information on customers so that they can be targeted through direct mail or telemarketing campaigns. Help firms identify their most profitable customers and improve customer retention and referral rates while reducing marketing and promotion costs. List of Names Addresses Transactional Behaviour Types of Purchase Frequency/value Response to promotional offers

Enquiries.

Enquiries may arise as a natural consequence of conducting business. This source of prospects is an important one and the salesperson should respond promptly.

Of particular importance is the use of geodemographic bases for segmenting consumers. Population census data are used to classify households according to a wide range of variables such as:

Household size Number of cars Occupation Family size Ethnic background.

The target audience

Is the group of individuals at which the direct marketing campaign is aimed. For consumer markets the target audience may be described using market segmentation variables such as age, gender, social class and lifestyle.

What is Direct Marketing?

It attempts to acquire and retain customers by contacting them without the use of an intermediary. The objective is to achieve a direct response which may take one of the following forms: A purchase over the telephone or by post A request for a catalogue or sales literature An agreement to visit a location/event (e.g. an exhibition) Participation in some form of action (e.g. joining a political party) A request for a demonstration of a product A request for a salesperson's visit

Factors Rising Direct Marketing

Market Fragmentation Computer Technology The List Explosion Sophisticated Analytical Techniques Co-ordinated Marketing Systems

When to use direct response

Products that require a demonstration Products that have a mass appeal An effective DRTV attracts and maintains the interest of target audience A successful DRTV is supported by telemarketing operation to handle the response

The campaign should be evaluated against clearly defined objectives which include:

Sales Volume and Value Response Rate Number of Enquiries Cost per Order / Enquiry / Sale Number of New Customers Number of Existing Customers Re-buy Conversion Rate from Enquiry to Sale Renewal Rate Repeat Purchase Rate

Direct response television:

The most basic is the standard one with telephone number., other variants are infomercials (25 min commercials) and broadcasts.

Mobile Marketing

The sending of short text messages to phones.

Campaign management

The starting point for campaign management is the marketing plan. Direct marketing should be fully integrated with all marketing and promotional mix elements to provide a coherent marketing strategy. In particular direct marketers must understand : How the product is being positioned in the marketplace in terms of its target market 2. And differential advantage

Lifetime Value

This is a measure of the profits of customers over their expected life with a company. Where lifetime value is high it can pay to invest heavily in customer acquisition, particularly if customers once attracted tend to stay loyal.

Mobile Marketing Disadvantages

Wear off Visually unexciting Short text messages

Once the target audience has been defined,

a list is required that may be obtained from an in-house database or through an external broker.

Database marketing is defined as

an interactive approach which uses individually addressable marketing media and channels (such as mail, telephone and the sales force) to: 1. Provide information to a target audience 2. Stimulate demand 3. Stay close to customers by recording/storing an electronic database memory of customers, prospects and all communication and transactional data

Telemarketing

is a marketing communications system where trained specialists use telecommunications and information technologies to conduct marketing and sales activities. Telephonists work from prepared scripts designed to give different selling approaches according to the circumstances of the prospect, these circumstances being established before the sales talk.

Direct marketing, then,

is the distribution of products, information and promotional benefits to target consumers through interactive communication in a way which allows response to be measured. Direct Mail Telemarketing Direct Response Advertising Electronic Media Catalogue Marketing Inserts Door-to-door Leafleting Text Messaging

Catalogue marketing

is the promotion and sale of goods through catalogues distributed to agents and customers by mail or at outlets if the catalogue marketer is a store.

Despite this spread of possible objectives

it is true to say that direct marketing usually is more concerned with making a sale - with immediate action - than with advertising.

Direct marketers also

need to understand the buyer behavior of the target .