The roles product and data play in direct marketing

Direct Marketing is one of the most efficient strategies for marketing your product. It is effective because of the tangible results. Direct marketing was first introduced by Lester Wunderman, in 1967. It is said that he coined the term “direct marketing” in his speech at MIT. Then later went on to start a small agency as well. In India, although there have been no references who and when direct marketing started, Eureka Forbes, established in 1982, started direct selling. Eureka Forbes is believed to be the pioneer in direct selling.

Direct marketing, if targeted well, can do wonders for your business.

But what is direct marketing? Let us solve that for you:

Direct marketing, as the name suggests, is as direct as it can be. It eliminates the retailers and middlemen. Your communication directly targets the chosen set of consumers or target market. The vehicle for the direct marketing is telecommunication, postal mail, email, or point of sale.

The performance of marketing is tangible since the response of the target market can be measured at various touchpoints. This aspect is an essential part of the direct marketing process.

Is the hype around Direct Marketing real at all?

Most definitely yes. While we are at it, let’s quickly take a look at the benefits of direct marketing:

1. Segmentation and targeting- Direct marketing due to its nature, offers high segmentation and targeting. It only directs your efforts as a marketer where there is potential for converting the data into customers.
2. Increased Sales- Due to the high segmentation and targeting, you see a spike in sales due to direct marketing. Directed efforts yield increased sales.
3. Enhanced Customer Relationship- The targeted communication to the potential customers is received well by them. Direct marketing, thus helps in enhancing relationships with customers.
4. An easier way to reach the target market- Direct marketing suggests an easier way to reach the target customers. All thanks to our friend, data!
5. Measurable response- As said earlier as well, the measurable response is the most important benefit of direct marketing. With heavy digitization in the recent past, every action of the customer can be tracked and worked upon for the best results in future.

The two important pillars of Direct Marketing are Data and Product.
The direct marketing campaign, since it speaks directly to the niche, data and product play a vital role in this process.

Let us break it down for you, one campaign at a time!

The Role of Product in Direct Marketing-

1. Target Customer- Depending on the product, the target customer is bound to vary. It is the product that decides the target customer.
2. Nature of the Market- The product has the capacity to reach an untapped market. If a product can solve the problem of a market segment that has never been solved before, the product can perform well in such a market.
3. Choice of Channel- The various channels of direct marketing are email marketing, SMS marketing, leaflets, flyers, etc. The decision to choose a channel depends on the product and the target market.
4. Cost of the Campaign- Depending on the cost of the product, the cost of the campaign is also calculated. The price, revenue, and profit play an important role in this decision.

The Role of Data in Direct Marketing-

1. % Market Share- Literally no kidding when we say this is the most important role that data plays. Your research tells you how much market share you occupy. This data becomes essential when you are planning your campaign.
2. Calculating the potential of the market- How good does the market look for your product? How many buyers would there be? How many are your competitor’s consumers? Your campaign is planned, strategized, and executed on the basis of the above questions.
3. Segmentation, Targeting, Penetration- Data brings to light the demographics of a certain market. On the basis of that, the market is segmented, then targeted. Thus, clearly, data tells you who your target market should be.
4. Measure the success of your campaign- Like we mentioned earlier, being able to measure the response of your customers is one of the crucial aspects of digital marketing. The answer to how well your campaign is being received can be answered by data.
5. Sets a benchmark- It being measurable, it sets a certain benchmark for all future campaigns.

Direct marketing is an ever-evolving concept. The beauty of this technique is that it has always adapted to current trends in the industry. We can absolutely say direct marketing is here to stay!

Data and products are at the core of any direct marketing campaign. We can safely say data and product are the two important aspects of any campaign.