What are major Direct Marketing tools or channels?

There are many tools at a marketer’s disposal for contacting the prospective buyers through Direct Marketing. We will discuss the major tools-

1) Direct mail – It is referred to a message sent to the prospective buyers through mail. It can be an announcement, offer, reminder, products (pre-approved credit cards, etc.), etc. It advertises the organisation, and its product and services. Marketers need to shortlist the buyers carefully and send the messages accordingly. Most of the organisations get the benefit of lower rates when the mails are sent in bulk. The organisations get the details of buyers when they visit store.

For example, some retailers ask the buyers to fill small form to get membership at minimal costs. This way the organisation gets the contact details as well as the preferences of the buyer. The online shopping sites track the visitor’s site visits for certain products. Then mostly a reminder message is sent to the visitor. For example, “you were interested in an x product. Now it’s available at a discounted rate.”

2) Telemarketing – It involves reaching the potential customers over the phone to sell the product and services. To run a successful telemarketing campaign, the organisation has to rely on well researched customer data. The customer’s profile should match the product which the customer may buy. This is a tool that is gaining lot of significance as it reduces the cost of personal selling, and is considered reliable on following up on direct marketing campaigns. For example, after sending a catalogue or an offer via direct mail, telemarketing representatives do follow up calls to remind as well as influence buyers to buy the product or service. The organisations need to ensure that the telemarketing representatives are well trained on products as well as soft skills.

3) E-mail marketing – This is a very cost effective direct marketing tool. It can include newsletters, promotional offers to generate sales. The marketers can send the message at any time as it is at the discretion of the customer when to access the email. Most of the customers get irate to receive a telemarketing call at an unpleasant time. It is also easy and inexpensive to edit the email and send to different potential buyers.

4) Mobile marketing – The marketers try to reach out the prospective buyer via messages on their mobile phones like SMS, MMS, push notifications, mobile APS, etc. When a mobile user opens a certain APP, he/she may receive various notifications, ads, etc. promoting certain products. The APPs (Application) automatically detect a person’s location information and displays relevant promotion message. Organisations strive to make this tool as efficient and effective as possible. If the user is inclined to explore or buy a certain product, he/ she should face minimum hassle for the same.

5) Internet marketing/ online marketing – Internet today is accessed for everything from reading news, buying merchandise, communication, information, relationships, etc. This gives a great opportunity for marketers to reach the masses directly and individually. Search Engine Optimisation is done on large scale to ensure prominent listings in the search results on internet. Display Ads like pop-ups and pop-downs give opportunity to buyers to respond directly to the message. Social media sites like twitter, facebook, etc. are a great medium to directly reach the buyers. Direct mail, newspapers, etc. hardly give an opportunity to marketers to interact with buyers. Internet or e-marketing gives ample opportunities to interact directly with buyers.

6) Catalogue marketing – The organisations send details of their products in the form of a catalogue to the potential buyers. These can be in the form of a print media or even a CD or an online link.

7) Direct response marketing – TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. carry ads of products that an individual can order by dialling a toll-free number. Almost all the TV channels have these kind of Ads where people from different walks of life share their experience of using the product and how a person can buy the same product exclusively by dialling a toll-free number or sending an email. These Ads can be for 5 minutes to 60 minutes. Some sellers have a dedicated channel of their own which broadcasts 24 hours and 7 days a week. For example, Home Shopping Network. We hear similar ads on radio stations.