You might hear the phrase, "direct marketing" and assume the category is synonymous with direct mail or is limited to a sales channel like mail order catalogs. In fact, these are only two of the diverse media a direct marketing campaign might employ; others include telemarketing and search engine marketing.

Anyone in business can benefit from direct marketing (DM). Starting with a clear understanding of DM will help you fully exploit the strategy and drive your campaign to the biggest payoff.

Successful direct marketing campaigns share these three traits:

• Emphasize ROI. The purpose of DM communication is to deliver a profit rather than raise awareness or enhance your brand's image.
• Target a specific audience and ask for a response. The money spent on mailing lists or Google ads is wasted if you don’t invite potential customers to respond, ideally with a purchase.
• Capture both outbound and inbound information. The more tracking data you accumulate, the more you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t. Using statistics from past campaigns will help to improve and focus your future efforts.

The Po!nt: Understand the definition of direct marketing, and you will move one step closer to seeing what a well-planned campaign can do for your bottom line.

Pro Members can read the MarketingProfs Direct Marketing Template for more information on this subject.

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