Traditional direct mail and telephone marketing techniques are widely employed by a range of direct marketing companies. Technology, especially computer technology, continues to develop at a rapid pace and ideas are changing constantly. It will be interesting to see what the world of direct marketing will look like in 10 or 20 years time. Figure 1 illustrates its development.
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Early 1900s 1950s and 1960s Present day .
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Figure 1 Development of direct marketing.
2 Objectives of Direct 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 phone 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.
2.1 Strategic Role of Direct marketing.
Direct marketing should not be used as a mere 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 form a kind of tactical adjunct.