Is Direct Marketing Dead? Salesmen began with the cavemen, trading pelts for plants, and evolved over time to the door-to-door salesmen. Then came the telephone, which brought about the advent of telemarketing (insert unflattering adjectives here). Eventually digital technology came around and we observed the creation of email, and Al Gore’s invention- the Internet. Today the buzz is all about social media.
Which one is right for your business? Yes.
Zen Marketing knows that the best marketing plans offer diversity. And while today there is a great deal of attention being placed on social media (and internet marketing in general) that doesn’t make it the best option for every audience your business may be trying to reach.
“The figure for available emails is around 20 percent of postal addresses, meaning that by avoiding direct mail you could be missing 80 percent of your target market.” – Market Scan
Remember, it’s all about whom you want to speak to, not what is “right” for your company. And in that vein we suggest that the use of direct marketing should not be overlooked.
Our client’s enjoy professionally designed, messaged, and distributed direct marketing pieces, and these are demonstrating response rates often better than their digital counterparts. And every direct mail campaign is built around measure-ability and tracking – we must define success and then be able to quantify results in order to understand the achievement of that success.
“As the use of email marketing has expanded, Direct Mail has, in comparison, appeared technologically antiquated, expensive, slow, and time consuming. The reality is that there is somewhat of a pendulum swing in favor of Direct Mail.” – Dun and Bradstreet
Direct Marketing is no longer a solo artist- Welcome to Multichannel Marketing
Although the tried and proven best practices of Direct Mail have not changed very much (basically a hopefully interesting piece of mail is sent to prospects to motivate a response), new technologies have come along that allow us to reinforce direct marketing methodology.
One of our favorites is using direct marketing to drive greater conversion opportunities on dedicated landing pages.
Another is the use of Denso or QR codes. These allow a customer to jump from a printed piece to a web location, using a mobile smart device. With this technology, the marketer benefits from the physical attributes of printed mail while leveraging the power of online experiences for reinforcement of the message, persuasion, and better conversion opportunities.
The Rather Obvious Zen Marketing Advantage
Graphic arts, database expertise, IT talent, great writing, and project management all come into play when a client works with Zen Marketing. If your marketing consultants or agencies haven’t introduced this more modern approach to direct mail marketing in your meetings perhaps its time to consider a new agency? Contact Zen Marketing for a complementary initial consultation today.
