Direct marketing is great, but advertising creates awareness.
I write about direct marketing frequently. It’s defined as marketing via outlets other than what we think of as traditional advertising (newspapers, TV, magazines and radio). Tactics like direct mail, e-mail blasts, telemarketing, and ad words on the Web get you on the doorstep of exactly who you want to talk to, making your marketing targeted and measurable.
As an example, the direct marketing strategy of mailing a postcard to a targeted list of consumers for a retail business, or a list of specific industries if you’re a company that sells business-to-business products or services, is the most efficient use of your marketing dollars. You can place an offer on the postcard and analyze your return on investment for the mailing.
That’s why direct marketing like this works. Companies are often shortsighted and stay on the mouse wheel of just promoting themselves to small groups without ever really investing in branding.
Companies large and small need the advertising air cover that creates awareness. I always tell clients that in addition to driving sales with direct marketing methods, they need to show their company’s industry dominance or relevance by being top-of-mind.
Tailor ads to your market
Businesses selling a retail product or service for general consumer audiences have lots of options to create that important buzz and demand. TV, radio and print advertising reach the masses. There are ratings and circulation numbers to identify which audience makes the most sense for you. You can slice newspapers and magazines by geographic coverage, content scope and readership, and radio and TV stations by demographic indicators in ratings. This allows the broad stroke of your advertising to have a degree of targeting.
Selling business-to-business? Trade magazines, business journals and newspaper sections, and sometimes general advertising in broadcast or print, can be powerful complements to your direct marketing. If a potential customer reads your ad in an industry trade, that mailer he or she receives may have an even greater chance of being read. With marketing being about multiple touch points, this type of advertising can put your direct marketing offers in the limelight.
The strategy is not to just spend money on general advertising, but to target it as much as possible, and create buzz about your company. In the end, a good advertising program will drive leads on its own and actually increase the effectiveness of your direct marketing tactics.
Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a leading Hudson Valley advertising and public relations agency. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 294-3342, ext. 303.
