Direct marketing is a planned recording analysis of customers’ direct response behavior over time in order to develop future marketing strategies for long term customer loyalty and to insure continued business growth. It is sometimes seen as a controversial sales method by which advertisers approach potential customers directly with products or services.

It changes your way of advertising by reaching your audience without using traditional channels or media, such as TV, newspapers, radio, mailing or phoning. You communicate straight with the consumer or the prospect using techniques such as flyers, catalogue distribution, promotional letters, and street advertising, emailing, etc. It leads to an interactive communication between the customer/prospect and your business.

By using it you have access to additional tools like the Internet to focus on the customer.

Successful direct marketing also involves compiling and maintaining a large database of personal information about potential customers and clients. These information allows you to personalize communication by name/title or with variable messages. Having a comprehensive and updated database drives your marketing programs.

For many companies or service providers with a specific market, the traditional ways of advertising (radio, newspapers, television, etc.) may not be the best use of their promotional budgets. In this case, by using direct marketing for your tour and activity business, the budget’s size can be determined by the success of the promotion.

Moreover, you should know that direct marketing agencies must respect the do-not-call list maintained by government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Customers also have the right to unsubscribe to unsolicited catalogs and to block bulk emails from their in-boxes.

Direct marketing involves an emphasis on trackable, measurable, positive responses from consumers regardless of medium. It is attractive to many marketers, because in many cases its positive effect can be measured directly.

Finally, it has been considered as the new way of looking at marketing because it facilitated both a focused and targeted customer communication.





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