Wednesday, 3 June 2015

Methods of direct marketing



Direct marketing
Is a communication between seller and buyer directly, no intermediary media is used. No distractions come between hopefully. It is direct communication but with a marketing purpose.Drayton Bird (2000) describes it as’ an advertising activity, which creates and exploits a direct relationship between you and your prospect or customer as an individual’. Direct marketing as the delivery of a marketing message or proposition to a target customer or potential customer, in a customer favorable format, put to the customer from the seller or the seller’s agents (including call centers) without an intermediary person or indirect media involved.
Direct response
In direct response marketing the customer responds to the marketing message directly. An example, of this would be media such as television, where audience view a television presentation of a product offering, and can make a purchase with a credit card over the telephone or internet. You can use communications in magazines, newspapers, radio, e-mail, and direct mail to solicit a response or receive discounts on products are techniques that have been used very successfully in increasing sales.

Personal selling
This is among the method of direct marketing where by sellers needed to go and meet with consumers physically( face to face selling) As a seller, by doing so a seller will be in a position to easily identify who are the most  potential customers in your business and what are customer needs and wants. The advantage of this method is that, as a seller you are able to know the consumers need and complains if any and represent to the management for changes

Direct mail
This is one of the most commonly used methods in direct marketing. Direct mail allows you to design marketing pieces in many different formats. This includes envelope mailers, catalogues, self-mailers, snap mailers, dimensional mailers, brochures, and postcards. When you write your direct mail piece make sure you know your target market, and how you are going to appeal to their wants and needs. Write your objective and refer to it often. You can purchase a mailing list of businesses and services in your target market from a list company, or you can develop your own list by gathering email addresses on your web site.

Telemarketing

Telemarketing is another method of direct marketing selling technique that has the advantage of speed in a marketing campaign. When you are a conducting a telephone solicitation you should first introduce yourself then offer an incentive in solving a problem that you know exists (to do this would require you to do some research on the business or what individuals would be looking for in your product). Do the following when applying telemarketing:
Ø  Ask question that you know will lead to a yes answer (keep prospects on phone answering yes to your questions).
Ø  Describe your product or service and how it solves the client's needs.
Ø  Ask if they have any questions.
Ø  You now can ask for a face to face meeting, or to get permission to send information via mail or e-mail, or make another brief follow-up call. If unavailable, ask what would be a good time to call back.
..............BY SYEKEYE MATHAYO M..................