Advantages of Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is proving to be a form of marketing that businesses simply cannot afford to lose, especially direct marketing channels such as direct mail, which is only getting stronger and stronger. High response rate, great engagement statistics, and an efficient ROI are only a handful of the advantages of direct marketing. We’re taking a look at some of the key benefits of direct marketing and why your business should consider adding it to your marketing channels. 

Truly effective direct marketing campaigns highlight a specific product or service, encouraging customers to act. This could be requesting more information, registering their interest, visiting a website, making a booking or purchase, etc. However, direct marketing does more than just encourage customer action...

5 key benefits of direct marketing

1. Helps build relationships with customers

Direct marketing gets your business directly into the hands of prospective customers and lets you target customers specifically. Because you can repeatedly target the same customers, you can build upon previous messaging, creating a dialogue with customers unique to direct marketing. This allows you to nurture customers down specific funnels through the use of techniques such as repeat offers, improving discounts, etc. Increasing the personal connection your brand has with potential customers is massively important for improving customer loyalty.

2. Gauges the appeal of products or services

Direct marketing allows you to test and track different approaches with ease. Say one week you send out direct mail encouraging users to visit your website, and then the next week you send out direct mail with a trackable phone number. You can compare the response rate and make informed decisions about which method works best for your business. In short, direct marketing is one of the most effective methods for gauging the appeal of your product or service. Essentially, direct marketing begets more direct marketing, with each campaign giving you the data you need for the next one.

3. Increases sales opportunities

Direct marketing is a great way of refining your target audience, as you are able to compare what works and what doesn’t. You can use the information from successful campaigns to target more customers with similar interests. This naturally increases your reach, allowing you access to a bigger, more interested market and creating more sales opportunities. The data you collect is key to reaching specific audiences and groups which you may not have tapped into previously.

4. Gives customers content they can share

This is especially good when you include coupons that your customers can cut out and share with neighbours, for example. Other great sharing methods include refer-a-friend discounts. Unlike digital marketing material which can disappear so quickly, mail campaigns are a great way to spread the word. With 51% of UK consumers trusting their friends or partners recommendations more than any other brand of advertising, it is worthwhile to have something that is easily shareable to other potential customers.¹

5. Is highly customisable

Direct marketing lets you customise all sorts of elements to make it more appealing to customers. You can personally address customers in direct mail or direct email campaigns, or you can use the data from previous campaigns to further emphasise the things they liked (more discount codes, sign-up incentives, subscription benefits, etc.). Customisation works great for location-specific targeting too; you can research a targeted area’s unique qualities and use them to frame your messaging. Check out our best practice guide for tips on how to best customise your campaign.

How can Posthub help with direct marketing?

Posthub are leading experts in mail and offer consultative support throughout the direct mail planning process. With extensive knowledge and experience, Posthub is best placed to provide cost-effective postal costs to help you with all your direct marketing needs and supports all industries.

If you think direct marketing could be right for your business, get in touch today.