Tag: Advanced Accounting Notes

Personal selling happens when companies and business firms send out their salesmen to use the sale force and sell the products and services by meeting the consumer face2face. The salesmen aim to inform and encourage the customer to buy, or at least try the product.

Advantages of Personal Selling

Personal selling can prove to be a used promotional method in several ways including:

Effective in Building Personal Relationships: The interactive nature of personal selling makes it the most effective promotional method for building relationships with customers, which is particularly important when purchases take a considerable amount of time to complete (e.g., business-to-business purchasing).

Two-Way Form of Communications: Unlike other promotional methods, personal selling is a two-way form of communication, which enables a salesperson to adjust the message as she/he gains feedback from the customer (e.g., adjust message if customer does not fully understand how the product works).

Best Promotion for Hard-to-Reach Customers: Personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who are not easily reached through other methods (e.g., do not response to advertising, public relations, and sales promotions).

Important in International Sales: Building relationships is also a critical part of the personal selling process when doing business internationally, especially in such area as Asia and Latin America, where personal relationships between buyer and seller are often more important than seeking the best business deal.

Disadvantages

More administrative problems:

Personal selling involves more of administrative problems than impersonal selling. Since, the firm is to deal with manpower a driving force behind sales the company has to meet the challenges in the areas of manpower-planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, motivating and controlling. The solutions to these problems, even if found out, are not everlasting because, human content in management is unique.

Stake in consumer loyalty:

Personal selling is such a process-direct and close between the customer and salesman that the consumer loyalty depends on the presence of such a salesman. The firm’s fortunes are tied to the loyalty of consumers which, in turn, depends on the very presence of salesman. The moment the salesman moves out, the clientele drops down to the detriment of the firm.

It is expensive:

Personal selling as a method of promotion is quite expensive. Getting salesman is one thing and retaining him for long is another. Further, there are no definite correlations between his stay and cost of retaining and the contributions of his, in return, to the firm, for such costs.

Training Costs:

Most forms of personal selling require the sales staff be extensively trained on product knowledge, industry information and selling skills. For companies that require their salespeople attend formal training programs, the cost of training can be quite high and include such expenses as travel, hotel, meals, and training equipment while also paying the trainees’ salaries while they attend.

Advantages of public relations agency

Credibility:

Public relations agency will provide more credibility. People show trust more to the messages from a trusted third party than the content of an advertisement.

Reach:

PR will help to reach decent public relations plans to attract various news outlets, to expose content to a larger section of the target audience.

Cost-effectiveness:

Public relations agency providesa more cost-effective method than paid promotion to reach a larger part of the target audience.

Disadvantages of PR agency

No direct control:

A PR agency cannot control a distributed content like paid media through earned media. This is one of the most significant risks while investing in public relations

Difficulty in measuring success:

It is tough for a PR agency to measure the progress and effectiveness

No guaranteed outcome:

There is no guarantee of publishing press release as a brand does not pay for it. It is only published by a media outlet when it feels that it will attract the target audience.

Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution. Sometimes the term independent media is used as a synonym, referencing independence from large media corporations, but this term is also used to indicate media enjoying freedom of the press and independence from government control. Alternative media does not refer to a specific format and may be inclusive of print, audio, film/video, online/digital and street art, among others. Some examples include the counter-culture zines of the 1960s, ethnic and indigenous media such as the First People’s television network in Canada (later rebranded Aboriginal Peoples Television Network), and more recently online open publishing journalism sites such as Indymedia.

While mainstream mass media, on the whole, “represent government and corporate interests”, alternative media tend to be “non-commercial projects that advocate the interests of those excluded from the mainstream”, for example, the poor, political and ethnic minorities, labor groups, and LGBT identities. These media disseminate marginalized viewpoints, such as those heard in the progressive news program Democracy Now, and create communities of identity, as seen for example in the It Gets Better Project that was posted on YouTube in response to a rise in gay teen suicides at the time of its creation.

Definition

There are various definitions of “alternative media.” John Downing, for example, defines “radical alternative media” as media “that express an alternative vision to hegemonic policies, priorities, and perspectives”. In his assessment of a variety of definitions for the term, Chris Atton notes repeatedly the importance of alternative media production originating from small-scale, counter-hegemonic groups and individuals.

Christian Fuchs also argues that alternative media must have four distinct properties. The first being that the audience of these media must be involved in the creation of what is put out in alternative media. The second is that it has to be different from the mainstream. The third is that it should create a perspective different from that of the state and major corporations. The fourth property is that alternative media must “establish different types of relationships with the market and/or the state.”

As defined by Atton and Hamilton “Alternative journalism proceeds from dissatisfaction not only with the mainstream coverage of certain issues and topics but also with the epistemology of news. Its critique emphasizes alternatives to, inter alia, conventions of news sources and representation; the inverted pyramid of news texts; the hierarchical and capitalized economy of commercial journalism; the professional, elite basis of journalism as a practice; the professional norm of objectivity; and the subordinate role of the audience as a receiver”

Journalistic Practices says “Alternative media not only allow but also facilitate the participation (in its more radical meaning) of its members (or the community) in both the produced content and the content-producing organization.’ In this sense, participation in alternative media as described and reflected upon by the participants in this study can best be understood as a form of active citizenship”.

Alternative media challenge the dominant beliefs and values of a culture and have been described as “counter-hegemonic” by adherents of Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony. However, since the definition of alternative media as merely counter to the mainstream is limiting, some approaches to the study of alternative media also address the question of how and where these media are created, as well as the dynamic relationship between the media and the participants that create and use them.

Social movement media

Social movements are a type of collective action. They involve large, sometimes informal, groups or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues and promote, instigate, resist or undo the social change. Social movement media is how social movements use media, and oftentimes, due to the nature of social movements, that media tends to be an alternative.

Communication is vital to the success of social movements. Research shows that social movements experience significant difficulties communicating through mainstream media because the mainstream media often systematically distort, stigmatize, or ignore social movement viewpoints. They may deny social movements’ access or representation at critical moments in their development, employ message frames that undermine or weaken public perceptions of a movement’s legitimacy or implicitly encourage movement actors who seek coverage to cater to the questionable values of mainstream reportage on social activism, including a heightened interest in violence, emotionality, and slogans. This problematic coverage of social movements is often referred to as the protest paradigm: the idea that mass media marginalizes protest groups through their depictions of the protesters, and, by doing so, subsequently support the status quo. As a result, social movements often turn to alternative media forms and practices in order to more effectively achieve their goals.

Audience size has several possible measures:

• Circulation: The number of physical units carrying the advertising.
• Audience: The number of people exposed to the vehicle. (If the vehicle has pass-on readership then the audience is larger than circulation).
• Effectiveness audience: The number of people with target audience characteristics exposed to the vehicle.
• Effective ad-exposed audience: The number of people with target audience characteristics who actually saw the ad.

Set-up

Make tracking the results of a direct-mail campaign possible with the right set-up and tracking instructions. Start by including a unique code, peel-away graphic or other identifier on each mailing piece. Use the code to distinguish the mailing campaign from others that may be running concurrently. Include instructions requiring a customer to present the mailer at the store to receive a free gift, a discount or whatever the mailing campaign offers. If the customer shops online, include instructions to enter the code during the checkout process.

Measure Response Rates

Proper set-up and education makes measuring response rates far less difficult. Make sure staff members are aware of each and every mail campaign currently in circulation. Conduct meetings to ensure staff members know how and where to record tracking information. Collect tracking information when the mailing campaign expires and divide the number of customers responding to the campaign by the number of people receiving the direct mail piece to get an accurate response rate.

Calculate Costs

The cost per mail piece and per acquisition plays a significant role in evaluating the success of a direct-mail campaign. The cost per mail piece should include both direct costs such as design, printing, paper and postage and indirect costs such as response management and administrative labor costs. Divide total costs by the number of mail pieces in the campaign to get the cost per mail piece. Cost per acquisition reveals how much each customer the mailing brings in costs. Divide the total cost of the mailing by the response rate to get the cost per acquisition.

Analyze Results

An effective direct-mail campaign maximizes response rates and minimizes costs. In addition to reviewing the cost per mail piece and acquisition cost of the current mailing, compare cost assessment and individual features of the mailing piece to previous mailings. Conduct a thorough analysis to see whether, for example, investing in a professional design service, adding more color or using a different weight of paper may have affected the response. Finally, consider external factors such as the geographic size of the mailing, the time of year and business competition to complete a results evaluation.

Direct marketing consists of three components: the development of an effective customer database; direct response advertising which leads to the sale; and the direct building of customer relationships to increase sales and profits. Direct marketing is an approach to marketing which is driven by a database which implies that the company knows who its customers are, and communicates with them in appropriate ways through enhanced and refined means of communications; the driver is the database. It is a highly targeted approach to marketing which also implies that the company knows who are not among its customers. Customer information management is critical and two-way communication with customers may lead to high loyalty.

Components of Direct Marketing campaign

Target Audience Development: Who is your audience/target market? Identify specific characteristics/needs/wants of your ideal customer and develop ways to appeal to those characteristics.

List Management: Your prospect database is the single most important body of information you possess. Outdated or inaccurate prospect lists waste expenses in lost leads and time.

Graphic Design: Visual appearance is the key to making a positive first impression and gaining your prospect’s attention long enough to convey your written message.

Copywriting: The critical element to compel your target audience to act (buy, call, browse website or catalog).

Copy Editing: Trim the fat and polish your language to make sure your message hits home. Nothing destroys your credibility faster than shoddy or amateurish copy.

Distribution: The impact of your campaign and your cost-per-lead are directly affected by the way you distribute your message, whether by direct mail, email, phone calls, etc. You must know, based on your knowledge about target audience, what approach will be most effective while minimizing cost.

Tracking and Follow-Up: The most important step to seeing real return on your marketing investment. With good tracking and consistent follow-up, you will emerge from this process with qualified leads and sales.

Essential components of successful direct marketing.

1) Deliver a Compelling Sales Message

Several elements go into creating a compelling sales message. Successful sales letters and other marketing content must be relevant, useful, and persuasive. Marketing content that works grabs your prospect’s attention, shows uniqueness, and builds trust with your prospect. Employ these three elements in all your direct marketing content.

2) Follow-up Leads Promptly to Attract and Engage Your Prospect’s Attention

You might have a lead-generating sales letter, but if you don’t follow-up, valuable leads will slip through the cracks. Follow-up a live event with a phone call, an email, or a letter that invites the prospect to take the next step.

Offer a free demonstration of your product or service. Set up an appointment with a subject matter expert who can go into greater detail on how your company’s solution works, and why it’s better than the competition’s. Then, before the scheduled demonstration, send a white paper that explains your product in detail.

3) Promote Your Brand

Benefits from branding give companies and edge over competitors that don’t brand. Branding helps position your product or service favorably. It also gives you pricing and distribution power. The takeaway is: never miss an opportunity to brand.

Direct marketing affords you many online and off-line media to build brand awareness. Online media:

(1) Banner advertising

(2) Blogs; (3) Email

(4) Website.

Off-line media:

(1) Print advertising – sales letters, postcards, brochures

(2) Press Releases

(3) Public Relations.

4) Nurture the New Customer Relationship

Lead nurturing is just as important as lead acquisition. Most companies want to develop long-term relationships with customers. That’s because they become repeat customers. And, over time, repeat customers generate more sales and profits to your bottom line.

Outbound marketing provides many ways to build and maintain a thriving lead nurturing program. You can employ email, direct mail, social media, mobile, podcasts, seminars, phone calls, and videos.

5) Integrate and Synchronize Online and Off-line Direct Marketing

To optimize your message and direct marketing budget, success lies in finding the right mix of online and off-line methods. One method isn’t necessarily better than another. Instead, the secret sauce to successful direct marketing depends on how you weave these various methods together.

You can integrate and synchronize these methods along the sales cycle beginning with message delivery. Start with a sales letter, follow-up with a phone call or email. Refer your prospect to your website for deeper marketing content, and don’t forget to brand throughout this process.

Achieving the right marketing mix produces a “multiplier effect” that helps you close sales faster and easier. Employing different media in a consistent and coherent manner working towards the same goal optimizes your marketing efforts.

Event Sponsorship

Event Sponsorship is a way of advertising your brand by “sponsoring” or supporting an event financially in exchange for brand exposure to highly engaged attendees.

1. It’s personal.

Nowadays, a growing number of companies are reallocating their advertising budget towards event sponsorship to connect with prospects and customers in a more personal way.

2. It’s cost-efficient.

For a relatively minor financial outlay, the right event partnerships have great potential for customer reach, influence and engagement which means more bang for your buck compared to traditional forms of advertising.

3. It’s seamless.

The right event partnership can seamlessly integrate your brand message into the event’s theme and content. Your message is delivered in a harmonious way, unlike ads that are sometimes annoying and intrusive.

Benefit

1. Brand Interaction

Aside from the visibility and awareness, events are an opportunity for brands to directly interact with prospects or current customers. It lets you connect with your audience in a meaningful way.

2. Attendee Data

The database of highly qualified prospects from the attendee list is worth its weight in gold. Events are a terrific platform for advancing your brand message and staying connected with your fresh targets.

3. Media Exposure

High-profile events featuring VIP attendees and speakers get ample media coverage. Sponsoring such events can give your brand free media exposure.

4. Direct Engagement

Small events are not to be dismissed. As a sponsor, your brand will likely get better quality engagements with a niche group of prospects.

5. Brand prestige

Industry influencers, top executives, VIPs attending or speaking at events have interests that may align with your business. Sponsoring the right events will open doors for lucrative opportunities and lend some level of brand prestige by association.

Cause Sponsorship

Cause sponsorship is an interesting and accessible tool for companies to get involved in corporate social responsibility without having to create a platform on their own and by partnering with experts on specific issues as well as providing support for a long-term platform versus a PR stunt.

Cause marketing builds an extra level of brand loyalty by giving customers an extra reason to support your business. When you communicate to customers about the ways that your business contributes to the common good, you create a shared sense of purpose while branding your company as a conscious, forward-thinking enterprise. Sponsorship is a form of cause marketing that involves donating to an event or organization and receiving public recognition for your contribution, linking your business name to the name of the cause.

Timing

A business that launches a cause marketing campaign has some degree of control over the timing of the promotion. For example, a food business could market a plan to switch to organic ingredients to coincide with Earth Day. This business can promote its involvement with this cause as frequently and as widely as it chooses. In contrast, a business that sponsors an event or an enterprise such as a team has less control over the promotional efforts that link its name with its cause, because these acknowledgements usually originate with the organization rather than with the donating business.

Effectiveness

According to the Cause Marketing Forum, 47 percent of consumers in 2012 purchased a product at least once a month because its brand was aligned with a worthwhile cause. While cause marketing efforts such as commercials that raise awareness about a company’s environmental practices are aimed at encouraging customers to buy products right away, sponsorships may be geared more toward building long-term awareness of a company’s brand. Both approaches ultimately help to increase sales, but the effect of sponsorship brand-building is harder to measure.

Scope

When your business launches a cause marketing campaign, you align yourself with an idea that is consistent with your overall mission. For example, a company that sells outdoor gear might get involved in a campaign to preserve wilderness areas. When you include sponsorship as an element in your cause marketing campaign, you align your business with a specific organization that shares your goals. Sponsorship has a more limited scope than general cause marketing, because it involves targeted contributions, usually earmarked for specific funds or happenings.

Audience

Unless your company is sponsoring a major global event such as the Olympics, sponsorship will usually reach a more limited audience than a general cause marketing campaign. For example, raising money to help children in need may appeal to anyone who cares about needy children, while corporate sponsorship of an elementary school baseball team will speak directly to parents at that particular elementary school. However, these elementary school parents will be particularly invested in the business that supports them specifically.

Cause marketing is marketing done by a for-profit business that seeks to both increase profits and to better society in accordance with corporate social responsibility, such as by including activist messages in advertising.

A similar phrase, cause-related marketing, usually refers to a subset of cause marketing that involves the cooperative efforts of a for-profit business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. A high-profile form of cause-related marketing occurs at checkout counters when customers are asked to support a cause with a charitable donation. Cause marketing differs from corporate giving (philanthropy), as the latter generally involves a specific donation that is tax-deductible, while because marketing is a promotional campaign not necessarily based on a donation.

Cause marketing can take on many forms, including:

• Transactional Campaigns: A corporate donation triggered by a consumer action (e.g. sharing a message social media, making a purchase, etc.) and Non-Transactional Campaigns: A corporate donation to a cause such as in cause sponsorship is not contingent on an explicit action of the consumer.
• Point of Sale Campaigns: A donation solicited by a company at the point of sale but made by the consumer (e.g. consumers are asked to round up their purchase or donate a dollar when they check out online or in-stores)
• Message-Focused Campaigns: Business resources are used to share a cause-focused message. For example, a campaign that encourages behavior change (e.g. don’t text and drive), drives awareness about an important cause (e.g. talking with elderly parents about driving) or encourages consumer action (e.g. signing a petition to save whales from captivity).
• Portion of Purchase: Businesses donate a portion of their sales to a nonprofit or cause.
• Pin Ups: Primarily for in-house use. Customers will donate and fill their name on paper icon, which will then be hung up in the store.
• Buy One Give One: Businesses will donate a product with comparable value to a designated product based on each sale of that product.
• Volunteerism: Rather than asking for a donation, businesses will ask if customers will volunteer their time to a certain organization.
• Digital Engagement: Businesses create a “digital experience” using social media and software engineers to spread awareness and raise funds for a cause or nonprofit.

Personal selling consists of individual and personal communication with the customers in contrast to the mass and impersonal communication through advertising. Because of this characteristic, personal selling has the advantage of being more flexible in operation.

A salesperson can tailor his sales presentation to fit the needs, motives, and behaviour of individual customers. He can observe the customer’s reaction to a particular sales approach and then make necessary adjustment on the spot. Thus, personal selling involves a minimum of wasteful efforts. The salesperson can select and concentrate on the prospective customers.

Personal selling helps in sales promotion. It is very important to manufacturers and traders because it helps them to sell their products. It also helps them in knowing the tastes, habits, attitudes and reactions of the people.

The manufacturer can concentrate on producing those goods which are required by the customers. This will further promote the sales. Moreover, a good salesman is able to establish personal support with customers. This way, the business gains permanent customers.

Improving Image:

Note that salesmanship can remove bad image or misunderstanding by highlighting company’s achievements and offers. The detailed explanation about company and its products removes all doubts and misunderstandings. It helps in restoring company image and reputation in market.

Customer Confidence:

By systematic sales talk and presentation, a capable salesman can remove all doubts, quarries, objections and misunderstandings, and can win customer’s confidence. It increases customers’ faith in company and its offers.

Flexibility:

Sales talks and presentation can be adjusted according to situation to suit individual nature, motives, and problems.

Individual Services:

Salesmanship offers individual services. It can meet personal expectations of buyers. It leads to customer satisfaction.

Complementary to other Promotional Tools:

Personal selling can support advertising, sales promotion, and publicity. It removes the drawbacks of advertising and sales promotion. Advertising increases awareness while personal selling reinforces the advertising message. Similarly, it can make sales promotion tools more effective by personal guidance or conviction.

Personal Attention:

Advertising and publicity are among mass communication tools. They do not cater individual needs. Personal selling focuses on personal problems of customers. It is comparatively more effective and result-oriented.

Importance to Customers:

Personal selling is equally important to the customer as it is for organization. However, the role of personal selling becomes more important for the illiterate and rural customers, who do not have many other means of getting product information.

The customers are benefited by personal selling in the following ways:

1. Helps in identification of needs: Personal selling helps the customers in identifying their needs and wants and knowing how these can be satisfied.
2. Latest Market Information: Through personal selling customers get latest market information regarding price changes; product availability and new product introduction etc. which helps them in taking their purchase decisions in a better way.
3. Expert Advice: Consumers get expert advice and guidance in purchasing various goods and services, which helps them in making better purchase.
4. Better Standard of Living: It induces the customers to purchase a new product which is capable of satisfying their needs and wants in better way and thus, helps in improving their standard of living.

Direct marketing is a type of advertising campaign that seeks to achieve a specific action in a selected group of consumers (such as an order, store or website visit, or a request for information) in response a communication action done by the marketer. This communication can take many different formats, such as postal mail, telemarketing, point of sale, etc. One of the most interesting methods is direct email marketing.

Much direct marketing activity is intended to result in a sale. However, in some situations a direct sale might be unlikely or inappropriate. In such cases some other form of measurable response might be used. For example, a direct mail campaign and a telephone-marketing programme may be used in the engineering industry to invite and encourage buyers to attend a machine tool exhibition. A leaflet drop for double-glazing might contain a free telephone number for the prospect to request a brochure or estimate.

The result may not be a sale, but some specific, measurable action that will hopefully contribute to an ultimate sale. Although a sale may not be the immediate objective of a direct marketing campaign, some form of direct response on behalf of the recipient of the message will be. This, in turn, will contribute to the eventual sale. Hence, direct marketing is not necessarily the same as direct sales. It might be used to keep customers informed of new product developments or to send them specific discount offers.

Direct marketing should not only be used as a simple tactical marketing communications tool, but should be integrated with the rest of the communications mix. All marketing communications elements interact to some extent. Direct marketing is likely to form a major part of communications strategy of many companies and not simply be used as a tactical adjunct. Other forms of communication are likely to be used in conjunction with direct marketing programmes even if these are only general corporate advertising programmes. Many firms use direct marketing predominantly, but not to the exclusion of other communication methods. Direct marketing is often used as part of integrated CRM programmes, and such CRM programmes, by their very nature, are long term and strategic in nature.

The goal is to provide customers with information relative to their needs and interests. A profile on the direct and interactive marketing industry offers a useful way of looking at it as a cyclical process with six distinct phases:

• The creative stage and design phase, where the marketing plan is constructed and appropriate media channels are selected;
• Data compilation where both internal data, such as customer lists and outside data from a database company or list broker is assembled in preparation for the next stage in the programme;
• Database management, where information is mined, fused, aggregated or disaggregated, enhanced and standardized for use in the programme;
• Database analysis, or fine tuning the database which further focuses on an optimal target market;
• Execution and fulfilment where customer inquiries and orders are acted upon and information on response rates is collected for final post programme analysis;
• Response analysis where the results of the campaign are examined for effectiveness before the cycle begins again.

Objectives

1. High segmentation and targeting

It enables the company to reach segments of the audience with personalized messages. Thus, companies that invest their time in researching and identifying the customers that are most likely to convert get a huge payoff. It is because the efficiency of where the marketing team directs its efforts is increased.

2. Optimizing the marketing budget

Setting realistic goals is the best method for a marketing manager to achieve sales growth, especially when they are on a tight budget. Proper optimization of a direct campaign enables them to achieve the same or even better results while using only a fraction of the costs usually associated with traditional methods of advertising.

3. Increasing customer loyalty

Cultivating customer loyalty is an important aspect of retention and sales growth. It enables companies to increase their sales volume with current and former clients. Digital direct marketing facilitates the sales growth by letting companies communicate with their current customers in a way that the company-client relationship is well maintained.

According to the Direct marketing Association (DAM),” Direct marketing is an interactive marketing system that uses one or more advertising media to affect a measurable response and/ or transaction at any location.”

It is the oldest form of communication where organizations directly communicate with end-users through emails, telephone, fax, text messages, catalog, brochure, and promotional letter.

Nowadays people buy more online, so marketers help consumers in the buying process by sending those catalogs and other marketing material which makes the process easier for consumers.

Historically, direct marketing is the first area of marketing communication that adopted an integrated marketing approach. In fact, it would be in appropriate to rename the direct marketing as integrated direct marketing.

One reason that integration placed so well in direct response marketing is because of its factors on the customers. By using databases, companies can become more sensitive to customers warns & needs & less likely to bother them with unwanted commercial message. An authority on the subject has defined Integrated Direct Marketing as a systematic method of getting close to your best current potential customers.

Direct marketing enables organizations to communicate directly with the end-users. Various tools for direct marketing are emails, text messages, catalogues, brochures, promotional letters and so on. Through direct marketing, messages reach end-users directly.

Direct Marketing is a form of advertising through mail, print or TV- Direct response ad.

Combining Direct Marketing with Internet/Interactive:

Direct marketing makes use of online promotions through websites, interactive CDs/DVDs/kiosks to seek a response or complete a sale. Online catalogues promote the product/service to elicit a response.

Combining Direct Marketing with Public Relations/ Publicity:

Public relations activities and Publicity oriented activities employ direct marketing & direct response techniques.

Combining Direct Marketing with Personal Selling:

Telemarketing & direct selling is an aspect of Personal selling. In multi-stage selling, direct mailers are used to invite prospects or after direct selling efforts, direct mailers are sent as a follow-up & reminder.

Combining Direct Marketing with Sales Promotion:

Direct mailers inform a prospect of sales promotion events/activities or invites a prospect by way of contests & prizes & gifts as incentives. In sales promotion implementation, direct marketing tools are employed to inform customers.

Benefits of digital direct marketing:

• High segmentation and targeting. One of the great advantages of this type of marketing is that you can reach your specific audience segments with personalized messages. If you want to succeed, you should invest time to research and identify the consumers most likely to convert and thus direct your efforts to actions that really work.
• Optimize your marketing budget. Addressing online direct marketing to a specific audience allows you to set realistic goals and improve your sales on a tight budget. If you properly optimize your direct campaign, you will achieve results with only a small percentage of the cost of traditional advertising.
• Increase your sales with current and former clients. Digital direct marketing lets you communicate with your current customers to keep the relationship alive while continuing to bring value. It also allows you to get back in touch with old customers and generate new sales opportunities.
• Upgrade your loyalty strategies. Direct contact with your customers allows you to customize your promotions, emails, and offers to create an instant bond. To maximize results, you can combine your direct marketing methods with your loyalty program.
• Create new business opportunities. Direct marketing allows you to adapt to market demands at all times and respond more effectively.
• Tests and analyzes the results. Direct response campaigns give you the opportunity to directly measure your results. Take the opportunity to squeeze the most of your tests and make decisions in real time.

Companies use sales promotions to increase demand for their products and services, improve product availability among distribution channel partners, and to coordinate selling, advertising, and public relations. A successful sales promotion tries to prompt a target segment to show interest in the product or service, try it, and ideally buy it and become loyal customers.

Messaging development

PR is used to effectively communicate key messages to a diverse public. By first identifying all audiences and their drivers messages can then be tailored to resonate with each party so that each takes the desired action.

Try using this PR approach when developing messaging for your next marketing program. Start by identifying all of your primary and secondary audiences to ensure your message will stick. Grab a whiteboard and make a list. Include all of the distinct groups that make up your audience so your messaging addresses each of their unique needs. Following are some key groups to consider:  

• Customers
• Prospects
• Employees
• Investors
• Partners
• Suppliers
• Press
• News outlets
• Social media networks
• Content marketing

A fundamental principle of PR is establishing and nurturing relationships. Having long-standing relationships with industry experts, reporters, editors, reviewers and bloggers is important to get your stories covered and keep your company relevant.

Consider leveraging these relationships when developing your content marketing strategy. How can these industry influencers help you distribute your content and raise awareness? Providing these key contacts with your story (i.e., content) offers an opportunity to gain additional impressions and a better chance for your content to go viral.

Brand awareness

A core function of PR is to quickly distribute information and generate awareness among large audiences. Seeing a company name published across a trusted news source implies validation and leaves the impression that the brand is credible and trustworthy.

Take this PR tactic of gaining exposure and validation through media hits, and apply it to your advertising strategy. What news outlets, trade events, industry publications and online sources do your prospects and customers visit or attend? To gain valuable impressions, you need to focus your advertising efforts on news sources and events your audience relies on regularly.

PR and marketing serve similar purposes. Consciously promoting PR from a line item in your corporate communications budget to a supporting role infused across your marketing mix will enable you to deliver on a clear, coordinated plan that combines the best of both worlds.

Direct mail: It is referred to a message sent to the prospective buyers through mail. It can be an announcement, offer, reminder, products (pre-approved credit cards, etc.), etc. It advertises the organisation, and its product and services. Marketers need to shortlist the buyers carefully and send the messages accordingly. Most of the organisations get the benefit of lower rates when the mails are sent in bulk. The organisations get the details of buyers when they visit store.

Catalogue marketing: The organisations send details of their products in the form of a catalogue to the potential buyers. These can be in the form of a print media or even a CD or an online link.

Telemarketing: It involves reaching the potential customers over the phone to sell the product and services. To run a successful telemarketing campaign, the organisation has to rely on well researched customer data. The customer’s profile should match the product which the customer may buy. This is a tool that is gaining lot of significance as it reduces the cost of personal selling, and is considered reliable on following up on direct marketing campaigns. For example, after sending a catalogue or an offer via direct mail, telemarketing representatives do follow up calls to remind as well as influence buyers to buy the product or service. The organisations need to ensure that the telemarketing representatives are well trained on products as well as soft skills.

Direct Response

Direct response is a type of marketing designed to elicit an instant response by encouraging prospects to take a specific action. Direct response advertisements must trigger immediate action from prospects, since the goal is to generate leads quickly. In contrast to traditional marketing, which aims to raise brand awareness and promote brand image long term, direct response shows ROI immediately. 

Marketers can leverage direct response on any numbers of channels, including TV, print, radio, email, digital and social. Each direct response campaign should have a specific goal sign up, share with contacts, register, etc. and, in exchange, provide prospects with an irresistible offer.

Internet marketing/ online marketing: Internet today is accessed for everything from reading news, buying merchandise, communication, information, relationships, etc. This gives a great opportunity for marketers to reach the masses directly and individually. Search Engine Optimisation is done on large scale to ensure prominent listings in the search results on internet. Display Ads like pop-ups and pop-downs give opportunity to buyers to respond directly to the message. Social media sites like twitter, facebook, etc. are a great medium to directly reach the buyers. Direct mail, newspapers, etc. hardly give an opportunity to marketers to interact with buyers. Internet or e-marketing gives ample opportunities to interact directly with buyers.

Mobile marketing: The marketers try to reach out the prospective buyer via messages on their mobile phones like SMS, MMS, push notifications, mobile APS, etc. When a mobile user opens a certain APP, he/she may receive various notifications, ads, etc. promoting certain products. The APPs (Application) automatically detect a person’s location information and displays relevant promotion message. Organisations strive to make this tool as efficient and effective as possible. If the user is inclined to explore or buy a certain product, he/ she should face minimum hassle for the same.