Expanding Your Business Through Direct Marketing

By Author: Grant Waldman
Total Articles: 4717
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Somewhere in the world, there are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people interested in your product. Maybe it's not your product in particular, but something like it. If you could just reach these elusive potential customers, you know you would see your sales skyrocket. But - where are they, how do you find them and what do you do with them once you have?

What is Direct Marketing?

Direct marketing is just that: marketing directly to the consumer. There's no intervening media like other marketing techniques; it's just you and your target audience.

Direct marketing can come in many forms, but the one thing they all have in common is the call to action. The call to action urges the targeted consumer to call a number, visit a website and enter their email for more information, buy a product today, etc. Although some calls to action are "soft" - "call this number to order this product" -, most are hard sales - "call this number TODAY and find out how YOU can..." The difference is in the urgency of the call to action.

Many marketers are attracted to direct marketing because it can be ...
... directly measured, unlike many marketing techniques. For instance, if you send out 5,000 mailings and 1,000 people respond to the mailed promotion, you can assume - and be right - that the mailings were directly responsible for those 1,000 responses. Since being able to measure results is important in any marketing campaign, direct marketing is an excellent tool for expanding your business.

Direct Marketing Lists

So you have a great idea for an ad campaign. You have your post cards printed up, you have an excellent call to action, the wording is right and you're ready to send them out. How do you know where to send them to? Do you just look through the phone book and write the addresses down? Is there something that you're missing?

You can look through a phone book, but the point of direct marketing is to reach your target audience; if you do things by random instead of having an actual plan, your ROI will not be recognized the way you hope it will be. This is where direct marketing lists comes in.

Certain marketing companies make it their business to connect B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) with their target audience. They gather lists from every area, every age group, every type of business, to give you the lists you need to reach your direct audience.

So when you go to direct marketing company that sells those lists they'll ask you questions. Who is your target audience? Is there a specific area that you want to reach? Do you have a specific age group? With these questions and others, they'll help you gain the customer base you need for business expansion.

Direct Marketing Techniques

Now you have your marketing lists and, if you went to the right company, you're looking at a long line of consumers that are ready to become your customers. How do you reach them?

There are several techniques, and each has their pros and cons, but every one of them work:

- Direct Mail - This is the most commonly used form of direct marketing, and is known by the general populace as "junk mail". Direct mail can include catalogs, free trial CDs, pre-approved credit card applications - even something as simple as little postcards with a short list of your services and a number to call. While much of it may get thrown away, the direct marketing lists target those consumers most likely to respond to your particular product.

- Telemarketing - Otherwise known as "cold calling", telemarketing is the second most used form of direct marketing. Since 2003, however, when the U.S. created the nation do-not-call list, you have to be careful to make sure that the consumers on your list aren't on the do-not-call list.

- Email Marketing - Because of the do-not-call list, email marketing is growing to take the place of telemarketing. The best way for email marketing to work is to through the direct marketing lists; those on the lists have already expressed interest in a products similar to yours and will, at the very least, read the email if not respond to it. The best thing about email marketing is that, even if the consumer isn't interested, they may forward the email to someone they think would be interested.

- Door to Door - If you're bad at face-to-face sales, don't worry. The door-to-door form of direct marketing is merely placing leaflets in their mailbox or the handle of a screen door. Door-to-door is for businesses wanting to reach a particular area, rather than a particular consumer. However, it's much less expensive than many other forms of direct marketing.

While there are several forms of marketing and several ways to get your "message" out to consumers, direct marketing is one of the most traceable marketing methods. If you're limited on budget and can't afford to throw money into the wind and hope it comes back ten-fold, direct marketing is prefect for your business expansion.
About Author:
PinnacleLists.com delivers excellent results from your target marketing efforts by providing you with the best quality business email list and direct mailing lists available. Visit online and take a look at our 3-Step Process for a more detailed understanding of the steps in our List Consulting Process.