What Type of Direct Marketing Is Right For You?

As the name suggest, direct marketing cuts out the middle man, focusing directly on the consumer. It foregoes the traditional channels of advertising – television, radio, newspaper, or display advertising – and instead hopes to engage with the consumer via more targeted means.



Such means include door-to-door advertising, catalogue distribution, street advertising, and leaflet distribution. This straight to the point method is favoured by many SMEs over the more costly, brand driven world of media advertising.



Much direct marketing activity is dominated by the concept of direct response. In other words, any instance of this form of marketing will place a strong emphasis on a "call to action" to be carried out by the consumer. This may be calling a contact number, filling in a form, entering a competition, or purchasing a product.



The call to action can be incentivised to further encourage potential customers to respond to it.



So, for various companies of various means and sizes, different marketing strategies are more suitable than others. If you are able to recruit a sufficient level of feet on the ground, perhaps street advertising or door to door is the way forward. The former allows for a certain level of specificity in your target audience, while the latter allows you to take an even more personal approach.



For example, if the product or service you hope to provide is going to be targeted at students, it makes sense to carry out a street advertising campaign in and around a university campus. However, if you would like to provide a more intimate and arguably more professional approach, direct mailing or door-to-door leaflet distribution provides the perfect opportunity for such an intimate method. The latter works especially well if you are targeting existing customers who already have some experience of your brand or service.



Of course, direct marketing may not be as effective as media advertising, but, if done well it can generate a great ROI. It is a cost effective means of providing your prospects with the essential details of your new product in a straightforward manner.



It can however be a time consuming process, demanding large amounts of your time and effort. On the other hand, there are numerous direct marketing companies all over the UK ready to do all the hard work for you. For example, a quick Google search for "direct mail scotland" will no doubt present you with a host of companies ready to carry out your direct mailing requirements north of the border.