What is Direct Marketing
Direct marketing, by definition, is a unique type of advertising that focuses on targeting a specific person or business to make a sale instead of marketing to a large audience. Depending on what your business plan is, this type of marketing can be extremely effective if done correctly.
But in order to deploy any marketing strategy successfully, you need to be aware of the current trends. So today we’re going to be taking you through some direct marketing trends and tips we think you should know about.
But first, let’s talk about the main direct marketing tactics you have at your disposal…
Most Common Direct Marketing Strategies
Before you can really get into the current trends in direct marketing, you need to understand what strategies are common with this type of advertising. So this brief section is for those that aren’t as familiar with direct marketing.
There are two main types of direct marketing, online and traditional.
Direct marketing as a concept has been around for a long time. And so some of the methods that you can employ are traditional ones that don’t rely on the internet. Some good examples would be door-to-door sales, telemarketing phone calls, and fliers/brochures.
But as more and more business has moved online, direct marketing strategies have been developed for this new field as well. Examples of online direct marketing include things like sending custom emails, using a social media network to connect directly with a desirable potential customer, etc.
3 Current Direct Marketing Trends
All these trends have something in common, you’ll notice that they all center around making your pitch be something that people or businesses would be interested in. Because at the end of the day, if you don’t have a good pitch then you’re simply wasting your time marketing.
1. Don’t Use Too Many Words
It’s no secret that the minimalist style is trendy but especially with direct marketing, less is truly more when it comes to word count. Whether you’re mailing out a letter, creating a brochure, or emailing potential clients you need to make sure you aren’t overloading them with information.
You want to catch their interest quickly with your pitch so that they’ll want to know more. But don’t try to tell them everything you have to say in the opening act! If a potential client opens something that looks like a book, they’re going to close it.
Very few people would commit to reading through too many words if they aren’t already intrigued by a product or service. So come up with something quick and snappy for your pitch, and follow it up with a call to action for your potential client to pursue.
You’ll win over significantly more customers this way.
2. Make Your Customer’s Experience Interactive
One of the best ideas for a sales pitch in today’s digital age is to make that sales pitch interactive. Use artificial intelligence to give your customer a simulated experience that shows what your product or service would be like.
For instance, if you’re selling a home renovation service then use computer generation to show the potential client what their home would like once you’re through with it. Maybe even give them a way to walk through the virtually remodeled home.
Customers are more likely to buy your product or service if they can see exactly what they’re getting. It’s a thousand times more effective than just a regular sales pitch, and if you’re going to directly market to people then this is one of the best ways to do so.
3. Make Sure You’re Direct Marketing To The Right People
A lot of time and resources go into marketing directly, and you don’t want to waste that time or those resources. You want to give yourself the best chance of turning a potential client into a dedicated customer, and one of the ways you can do this is by pitching to the right people in the first place.
One mistake that many businesses make is targeting by demographic, instead of targeting by need, when they’re choosing people to market to.
Demographics are an important thing to understand, but everyone has different needs and challenges. Just because someone is in your target demographics doesn’t mean they’ll have a need for what you’re offering.
Look for people to market to that have an issue that you can fix, or need a product that you can provide. By searching for clients through needs and not focusing so much on demographics, you’re ensuring that your direct marketing won’t go to waste. Creating a buyer persona can go a long way in helping you understand your target audience’s needs.
To Wrap It Up
Direct marketing can be a powerful tool for any business to have, but only if you do it correctly and keep up with the current trends for marketing in your field.
The single most important thing about this type of marketing is perfecting your sales pitch, and hopefully, the tips in this article helped with that. You want to be thinking outside of the box and giving potential clients something they haven’t seen from the competition.
And secondly, just make sure that you’re giving your sales pitch to the right people.
If you do all of these things then it could give you a real edge against your competition. Because keeping up with trends always keeps you one step ahead.
