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Learning Objectives
1 Identify the three primary purposes served by direct marketing and explain its
growing popularity.
Many types of organizations are increasing their expenditures on direct marketing.
These expenditures serve three primary purposes: direct marketing offers potent tools
for closing sales with customers, for identifying prospects for future contacts, and for
offering information and incentives that help foster brand loyalty. The growing popularity
of direct marketing can be attributed to several factors. Direct marketers make
consumption convenient: Credit cards, 800 numbers, and the Internet take the hassle
out of shopping. Additionally, today's computing power, which allows marketers to build
and mine large customer information files, has enhanced direct marketing's impact. The
emphasis on producing and tracking measurable outcomes is also well received by
marketers in an era when everyone is trying to do more with less.
2 Distinguish a mailing list from a marketing database and review the many
applications of each.
A mailing list is a file of names and addresses of current or potential customers, such as
lists that might be generated by a credit card company or a catalog retailer. Internal lists
are valuable for creating relationships with current customers, and external lists are
useful in generating new customers. A marketing database is a natural extension of the
internal list, but includes information about individual customers and their specific
preferences and purchasing patterns. A marketing database allows organizations to
identify and focus their efforts on their best customers. Recognizing and reinforcing
preferred customers can be a potent strategy for building loyalty. Cross-selling
opportunities also emerge once a database is in place. In addition, as one gains keener
information about the motivations of current best customers, insights usually emerge
about how to attract new customers.
3 Describe the prominent media used by direct marketers in delivering their
messages to the customer.
Direct marketing programs emanate from mailing lists and databases, but there is still a
need to deliver a message to the customer. Direct mail and telemarketing are the most
common means used in executing direct marketing programs. E-mail has recently
emerged as a low-cost alternative. Because the advertising done as part of direct
marketing programs typically requests an immediate response from the customer, it is
known as direct response advertising. Conventional media such as television,
newspapers, magazines, and radio can also be used to request a direct response by
offering an 800 number or a Web address to facilitate customer contact.
4 Articulate the added challenge created by direct marketing for achieving
integrated brand promotion.
Developing a marketing database, selecting a direct mail format, or producing an
infomercial are some of the tasks attributable to direct marketing. These and other
related tasks require more functional specialists, who further complicate the challenge
of presenting a coordinated face to the customer. Some organizations employ marcom
managers, who are assigned the task of coordinating the efforts of various functional
specialists working on different aspects of a marketing communications program. To
achieve an integrated presence that will break through in a cluttered marketplace, this
coordination is essential.