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Christina Smith
COMM 657
Chapter 22
Direct Response
Every piece of advertising should have a response. The Direct Marketing Association has
defined direct marketing as “any direct communication that is designed to generate a response
in the form of an order, a request for further information, and/or a visit to a store or other
place of business for purchase of a specific product or service.” Marketing with direct response
is not a new technology, but it is making its way into the future of advertising. Instead of just
mail, direct marketing has also become involved with email and other internet opportunities.
Direct response is different from the other forms of media in two ways. The first way
that direct response is different from other media is that it is an interactive marketing system.
The buyer and the seller are linked immediately and most advertising campaigns persuade the
customer directly to take action. The example given is that instead of asking a consumer to go
to the store and buy something, direct response is the store where you would buy something.
The second way that direct marking is different from other advertising media is that it is
measured in a different way. Direct marketing is measured based on the transaction, rather
than how many people you reach. This is reliable because it has an immediate result, and you
know right away whether or not your campaign in direct marketing is working or failing. This
makes direct marketing very accountable in the advertising world, which is why it is a favorite
among marketers. When you want the biggest return on investment, direct response is a great
advertising tool to use.
Direct marketing is also linked with database marketing. Database marketers build and
maintain databases of information on customers that can help to provide a direction of your
advertising campaign. Instead of guessing if you are reaching the right demographic you can
select who you want to receive your information. The databases usually record who the
customer is, how much they have spent and how best to communicate with them. This not only
helps with your product now but also in any future endeavors that you might have.
I am involved with direct marketing on a daily basis, and most of it is pretty annoying
honestly. I have hundreds of letters sent to me each year because I am a young college student
and companies know that I don’t have a lot of credit cards or insurance investments yet, so
they decide to send mail to me almost daily. I think that direct marketing can work if used
correctly, but those companies and brands that constantly send me things are not going to
receive my business. I almost feel like they are preying on me because I am young and not as
skilled with my investments.
Direct marketing also fails for me because when companies send out emails they go
instantly to my spam folder and are deleted. I don’t have time to look through every company’s
miracle product, and frankly I don’t want to. I love that I don’t have to sift through my inbox to
find the mail that I want to read, and I am very grateful for my spam filter on my email. For me,
I just don’t think I can appreciate direct response because it has become overwhelming for me
because I am not financially stable.
Works Cited
Kelley, Larry D., and Donald W. Jugenheimer. Advertising Media Planning: A Brand
Management Approach. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2004. Print.