Download Direct Marketing Activity

Direct Marketing Plan Template
Direct marketing is defined as an interactive process whereby marketers send communications
directly to the customer. The aim of direct marketing is to attract a consumer, and in turn use the
customer’s data to maintain an ongoing relationship.
It is a branch of marketing communications used by organisations to attract individual consumers
through targeted channels such as catalogues, mail-outs, email, telemarketing and direct-response
advertising such as use of infomercials.
An effective direct marketing plan will act as a reference document to help you to execute your
direct marketing activities and achieve your objectives. It will also help you to develop a methodical
approach to monitoring and evaluation of the activities the campaigns lifecycle.
When developing your direct marketing plan you need to be clear about your business needs and
marketing objectives and how you’re going to achieve them. Effective marketing plans set realistic
and measurable objectives; includes budgets and action plans, timelines and schedules of tasks
and allocates responsibilities.
Your market research plan will include the following elements:

Business summary

Campaign objectives

Assessment of past campaigns

Direct marketing strategy

Customer retention strategy

Customer loyalty strategy

Resource acquisition plan

Expense budget

Monitoring and reporting strategy

Supporting documentation
Keep it up to date
Planning your market research should be a well-planned and thorough process involving extensive
research, evaluation, consultation and communication with key stakeholders. Throughout the
research project, you will need to revisit many of the ideas and strategies outlined in your market
research plan. By referring to your plan and updating it regularly, you will ensure that your business
keeps heading in the right direction.
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
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How to use this template
Prior to completing this market research plan template, consider the following:
1. Gather together your key business documents. Before you begin, gather together your
key business documents. This includes business plans, budgets, marketing plan and action
plans. Having the right information on hand will mean you can be more accurate in your
forecasts and analysis as you move through the market research plan template.
2. Take your time and consider your specific needs. Work through the template at your own
pace. Start by deciding which sections are relevant for your business and set aside the
sections that don’t apply. You can always go back to the other sections at a later date.
3. Decide on your audience. It’s also important to consider your audience when writing your
market research plan. Will the plan be used internally? Or will you be sharing it with others?
Deciding on the purpose of the plan can help you target your answers appropriately.
4. Use the [italicised text]. The italicised text is there to help guide you by providing some
more detailed questions you may like to answer when preparing your responses. Of course,
if a question does not apply to your circumstances it can be ignored.
5. Ask for some assistance. If you aren’t confident in completing the market research plan
template yourself, you can enlist the help of a professional (i.e. business adviser or
accountant) to look through your plan and provide you with advice.
6. Review your work. Avoid mistakes by asking a number of impartial people to proofread
your final plan. This way your market research plan will make a great impression and be an
inspiration for you when times are tough.
7. Print. The [italicised text] is instructional and will disappear on “preview print” or “print”. To
print a copy, select the Printer icon on the toolbar, or select File then Print on the main
menu. FORMATTING WILL NEED TO BE COMPLETED
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
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Direct Marketing Plan
Prepared: [Date prepared]
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
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Table of Contents
Direct Marketing Plan Template ..................................................... 1
Keep it up to date ......................................................................................... 1
How to use this template .............................................................................. 2
Table of Contents ......................................................................................... 4
Direct Marketing Plan Summary .................................................... 5
Business Summary ...................................................................................... 5
Direct Marketing Strategy Objectives............................................................ 5
Organisational objectives: ............................................................................................. 5
Direct marketing strategy objectives: ............................................................................. 5
Assessment of Past Campaigns .................................................... 6
Corrective actions: ......................................................................................................... 6
Direct Marketing Activity ................................................................................................ 7
Customer Target Market ................................................................................................ 7
Details ........................................................................................................................... 7
Customer Retention Strategy......................................................... 8
Direct Marketing Activity ................................................................................................ 8
Details ........................................................................................................................... 8
Customer Loyalty Strategy ............................................................ 9
Direct Marketing Activity ................................................................................................ 9
Details ........................................................................................................................... 9
Resource Acquisition Plan ........................................................... 10
Resource ......................................................................................................................10
Supplier ........................................................................................................................10
Responsible Person .....................................................................................................10
Approval .......................................................................................................................10
Expense Budget ............................................................................ 11
Financial summary: .................................................................................... 12
Monitoring and Reporting Strategy ............................................. 12
Performance measures ................................................................................................12
Positive performance indicators ...................................................................................12
Supporting documentation .......................................................... 13
Glossary ......................................................................................... 14
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
Page 4 of 14
Direct Marketing Plan Summary
[Please complete this page last]
[The direct marketing plan summary is a snapshot of your more detailed answers from your market
research needs analysis. It should be easy to read and simple to follow. ]
Business Summary
Business name: [What’s your business registered business name? If you haven’t registered a
business name, add your proposed business name here.]
Business structure: [What’s the formal structure of your business? Are you a sole trader, in a
partnership, a trust or company?]
ABN: [What’s your registered Australian Business Number.]
ACN: [What’s your registered Australian Company Number, if applicable.]
Business location: [Where does your business operate from?]
Date established: [When did you begin trading?]
Business owner(s): [Who are the owners of the business?]
Owner/s experience: [Create a brief summary of your (and other owner’s) experience in the
industry and any major achievements/awards.]
Products or Services: [What products and/or services do you sell?]
Direct Marketing Strategy Objectives
Organisational objectives:
[What are the overall goals of the organization for the next 12 months? What are the strategic goals
of the organization for the next 3-5 years?]
Direct marketing purpose:
[Write a purpose statement for the direct marketing strategy. This should be your over-arching goal
and aim for the strategy. Your strategy objectives below should explain in more detail how the aim
of the campaign will be achieved]
Direct marketing strategy objectives:
[What are the key objectives that support the project goal? Write these based on as many aspects
of the SMART model as possible. Document both your customer acquisition and retention
objectives. Ensure your marketing objectives support the organizational objectives]]
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
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Assessment of Past Campaigns
[What are the recent marketing campaigns that have similarities to this direct marketing strategy?
What were the successes and failures and what were the possible factors and reasons for these
outcomes? Consider how these learnings can be applied to this campaign in terms of corrective
actions.]
Successes
Failures
Details
Contributing
factors
Corrective actions:
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
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Direct Marketing Strategy
[Based on your research and evaluation, list and explain the direct marketing activities you will
implement to achieve your direct marketing objectives. Record the customer target market or profile
in the second column and the specific details of each activity in the third column; this should include
the product/ service details, advertising and communications, pricing and distribution points]]
Direct
Marketing
Customer Target Market
Details
Activity
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
Page 7 of 14
Customer Retention Strategy
[Based on your research and evaluation, list and explain the customer retention strategy including
all of the activities you will implement to achieve your customer retention and direct marketing
objectives. Record the specific details of each activity in the second column including
communications methods, up-selling/cross-selling, contract renewals or reactivations]
Direct Marketing
Details
Activity
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
Page 8 of 14
Customer Loyalty Strategy
[Based on your research and evaluation, list and explain the customer loyalty strategy and specific
activities you will implement to achieve your long-term marketing objectives. Record the specific
details of each activity in the second column; including management of customer data, rewards
programs and communications]
Direct Marketing
Details
Activity
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
Page 9 of 14
Resource Acquisition Plan
[Using the following table, list all of the physical and human resources needed to achieve your direct
marketing objectives. Consider who is responsible for purchasing and organizing the resources and
who needs to give approval for the acquisitions]
Resource
Supplier
Responsible
Person
Approval
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
Page 10 of 14
Expense Budget
[What are the specific resources and costs needed to achieve your direct marketing objectives?
What is the marketing budget allocated for this campaign? Calculate the total funds required and
subtract the sum from the total budget. If the remaining number is positive you are working within
your budget]
Budget (inc GST)
Item
$
Allocated funds
XXXXX
Costs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Total Costs
Total funds allocated minus total costs
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
Page 11 of 14
Financial summary:
[Based on costs identified in the budget and the performance measures, what is the financial return
on investment and ultimate profitability of the direct marketing strategy? Consider calculating Return
on investment (ROI), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), payback period or customer profitability to
express the financial viability in quantitative terms]
Monitoring and Reporting Strategy
[How are you going to monitor and report on your direct marketing activities throughout the
campaign? Consider performance measures – both positive performance and outcome indicators,
sources of reliable data to use in measuring performance, responsibilities for monitoring and
reporting, the frequency of monitoring and reporting and to which stakeholders you need to send
your performance reports to.]
Positive performance indicators
Performance
measures
Outcome indicators
Data sources
Frequency of
monitoring
Reporting
format
Name:
Responsibilities
Actions:
Key stakeholders
Communication
Reporting frequency
strategy
Reporting and communication channels
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
Page 12 of 14
Supporting documentation
[Attach any supporting documentation in relation to this direct marketing plan such as quotations,
recommendations or communication with key stakeholders. List all of your attachments here. These
may include market research data, statistical analysis or copies of previous direct marketing
campaigns customer survey/questionnaire and/or financial documents.]
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
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Glossary
Australian Business Number (ABN) – a single identifying number used when dealing with other
businesses and the Australian Tax Office.
Australian Company Number (ACN) – the number allocated by the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission (ASIC) when you register a company under the Corporations Law.
Customer acquisition – the process of attracting and securing new customers to the business
Customer loyalty – a strategy aimed at recognising and rewarding existing customers who have
demonstrated a strong return on investment
Customer retention – the process of maintaining ongoing communications to strengthen
relationships with existing customers
Direct marketing – an interactive process whereby marketers send communications directly to the
customer. The aim of direct marketing is to attract a consumer, and in turn use the customer’s data
to maintain an ongoing relationship.
Evaluation – An assessment of the viability of one or more marketing activities or options.
Goods and Services Tax (GST) – a broad-based tax of 10 per cent on the sale of most goods and
services in Australia.
Market research – The process of collecting, analysing and interpreting data about customers,
competitors and industry environment to improve marketing effectiveness
Resource – any tangible or intangible business item that helps the marketer to achieve its goals
Stakeholder – any person who has an influence on, or is influenced by the marketing activities of
your business
Global Star Enterprises is a fictional company created for educational and training purposes only.
Direct Marketing Plan - Template
V:1 April 2015
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