Top Ten Advantages of Direct Marketing for Businesses

Posted by Stephen Taylor on July 14th, 2021

Direct marketing has been a method of advertising wherein the aim is to use a specific tool in order to achieve a given advertisement-related objective from a predetermined group of consumers. Communication takes many different formats, such as postal mail, telemarketing, SMS marketing, etc. While direct marketing involves exactly communicating with customers and prospects in a one-on-one manner, indirect marketing entails all marketing techniques that are broadcast to audiences randomly.

The global pandemic has led to a tremendous transformation in direct marketing. The prospects of direct marketing look brighter now. Direct marketing is facing a rapid expansion of new ideas, technologies, and economic models that are creating profound change in the industry. It is now digital with the advent of new and disruptive technologies like moLotus. Direct digital marketing takes many of the core components that make it effective and significantly extends them. 

While it is tempting to list traditional channels like email marketing, SMS, etc. still as the pillars of direct marketing, it is a misnomer because direct digital marketing channels like moLotus offer so much more than traditional direct marketing. In fact, mobile direct marketing has witnessed major innovation & disruption with moLotus breakthrough tech and platform targeting this 0 Billion Direct Marketing opportunity (Source: Statista). In addition to 0 Billion, the platform also targets the emerging 1.5 Trillion Digitalization opportunities together with 5G plus Transformation (Source: Ericsson & Arthur D. Little). Marketers must begin thinking about "online direct marketing" the same way they think about traditional direct marketing.

Here are the top ten advantages of direct marketing for businesses in this New Normal era :

1. High segmentation and targeting

One of the great advantages of direct marketing is that you can target and reach your specific prospective buyer segments. It is convenient to invest and identify the consumers most likely to convert and thus your efforts really work. Traditional direct marketing channels lacked customization opportunities with limited or no targeting and segmentation opportunities. However, the direct marketing landscape experienced a turnaround with moLotus technology offering advanced targeting options based on language, demography, and context. This has benefitted the brands globally. They are now able to reach directly to the inbox of customers without resorting to any app or app downloads. 

2. Optimizing the marketing budget

Setting realistic goals is the best method for a brand marketer to achieve sales growth, especially when they are on a shoestring budget in the post-pandemic slowdown. Proper optimization of modern direct marketing campaigns enables them to achieve the same or even better results while using only a fraction of the costs usually associated with traditional methods of marketing like SMS and emails. moLotus has come to the rescue of marketers having serious budget concerns. The platform has benefitted brands by enabling them to run cost-effective campaigns with high response rates ranging from 8% to 15%. Traditional SMS campaigns offer a response rate of a meager 1%.

3. Increasing customer loyalty

Cultivating customer loyalty is an important part of direct marketing strategies. It enables brands to increase their sales volume with existing and former clients who are excellent for building and maintaining relationships with customers and prospects. It allows marketers to personalize both marketing messages and offers to create solid links with customers. It is good practice to combine direct marketing techniques with customer loyalty programs to increase the bond. 

Examples of customer loyalty strategies include giving discount offers, sending birthday cards, and inviting customers to upcoming sales events. Platforms like moLotus offer specially designed campaigns for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. It has transformed plastic loyalty cards with mobile loyalty cards offering convenience to customers finally improving customer loyalty. Thus, brands can continue to bring value to existing consumers. Moreover, brands can stay in touch with them for generating new sales opportunities.

4. Real-time Performance Analysis

Direct response campaigns always give brand marketers the opportunity to directly measure the marketing campaign’s performance and results. Thus, they can squeeze the most out of the tests. It enables them to tweak their strategy in real-time, and fine-tune the campaigns with changing consumer preferences and values. Marketing channels like moLotus equip marketers with robust real-time campaign tracking and data analytics. With access to real-time analytics, brands are able to enhance performance, optimize effectively, and, therefore, earn greater ROI.

5. Personalized Communication

As the process of researching and buying products becomes digitized for the socially distanced customer, direct marketing is now more about personalized communication. Direct marketing tools like moLotus are now capable of creating valuable and memorable hyper-personalized experiences relevant to each prospective buyer, all the way through their purchase journey. Direct Channels like outbound calls, emails, SMS having limited personalization opportunities have taken a backseat. The new-age channels like moLotus are offering personalization options for brands such as messaging with customer names, customized greetings, individualized rewards, etc.

6. Lead Generation

Generating high-quality leads and lead conversion is a big challenge for most global brands. Studies indicate that this is by far the biggest challenge for marketing professionals. Researches have also shown that digital direct marketing provides more high-quality leads, compared to indirect marketing channels. Platforms like moLotus have proven their mettle in lead generation. It is capable of capturing instant leads via message delivery directly into the inbox on all mobile handsets, irrespective of phone type or model – 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G smartphone, i-phones, and feature phones and remain there until deleted by the customer. Importantly, it is completely spam-free!

7. Brand Visibility 

Brand visibility is the extent to which consumers can recognize or remember a particular brand when other conditions are similar. Higher visibility indicates more widespread recognition and awareness while lower visibility indicates a lower level of consumer acceptance. Brand visibility can be enhanced in many ways. Without proper brand promotion, consumers would have no clue as to whom your brand belongs. 

The most obvious way to affect it is through the use of direct marketing campaigns. They allow marketers to understand customer sentiment better and target them specifically yielding better results. Modern marketing tools like moLotus specialize in creating a compelling brand identity in all stages of the brand journey. By tracking and measuring brand promotion campaigns, marketers can better understand what works and what not towards brand visibility and what measures need to be taken to improve it.

8. Interactive Communication

In the New World, the success of marketing lies in its interactivity. Digital direct marketing offers enormous scope for direct customer interaction. Studies suggest that direct marketing channels attract more customers than indirect channels. Therefore brands should resort to interactive direct channels like moLotus enabled with advanced customer response options like SMS, call back, and more. 

In order to get the benefits of one-to-one customer interactivity, traditional direct platforms like printed mailers, emails, SMS, etc. offering limited interaction should be replaced by new-age platforms. Interestingly, the moLotus platform is assisting in striking a two-way contextual interaction through video messages up to 2 minutes followed by the customer response options. 

9. Easy Convenience

Buyers of products and services offered via direct marketing can often make purchases from the comfort of their home or office. Since direct marketers make use of online or print catalogs, the buyer can simply browse until he finds the product he wants and complete the transaction via mobile phone or the Internet and avoid the hassle of physical buying. Now, digital direct buying is fast replacing physical buying. Customers need digital, at-home, and low-touch options. Also, customers who don't wish to deal with salespeople often prefer direct marketing because there is no need for face-to-face interaction. They can now shop at their own pace and take the time to conduct any necessary research without feeling pressured to make a decision. 

Digitally automated experiences have gained popularity and brands are innovating their delivery model with a digital direct marketing platform like moLotus to help consumers who are confined at home. moLotus, having massive reach and scalability, can quickly deliver automated messages to the ‘home confined’ customers. 

10. Conversion Building & Sales

Direct message marketing entails communicating information on a product, service, or company directly to the customers. All promotional information is relayed without intermediaries and any third parties resulting in higher sales conversion. An automated direct marketing campaign is sure to reach a potential customer quickly yielding instant response. For instance, the high level of automation in moLotus marketing campaigns ensures high conversion rates. The campaigns trigger the desired actions from a large customer database. The messages are directed automatically to the mobile inbox of a potential customer in real-time; generating higher conversion and Return on Investment (ROI).  

Customers feel a greater connection with the brand & provide a better response which, in turn, helps in the improvement of the conversion rate. moLotus can track campaign results, analyze the responses of users, measure campaign success, and generate crisp and comprehensive reports. It will give you more scalable real-time data, and better insight into what you should focus on.

Conclusion 

The enhanced accountability, tremendous targeting capabilities, the ability to create relevant content, and the reduced cost of designing and executing a campaign make direct marketing beneficial for online communications. Revisit your digital marketing strategy to ensure you are hitting your audience with the right direct marketing channel like moLotus. Good luck with your direct marketing campaigns!