Direct response marketing refers to a specific type of marketing that encourages targeted consumers to immediately respond to an advertisement by completing a specific action. In other words, it prompts potential customers to take some type of action – buying a product or service – that is being offered. It not only serves as a way to boost sales, but it also serves as a way for businesses to know if their marketing efforts are effective.
Direct response marketing is a sales technique. It is intended to suggest an immediate response from customers by encouraging them to take a specific action. It offers immediate results that can be measured, as marketers have the ability to see how their campaign is performing as soon as it is launched. Direct response marketing utilizes a call to action through a direct interaction with potential customers.
Examples of Direct Response Marketing
Marketing that encourage a direct response are used in virtually all forms of advertising. This includes:
- Commercials that are aired on television
- Advertisements that are printed in newspapers and magazines
- Commercials that are played on the radio
- Advertisements that are placed on websites, social media, forums and other locations online
This type of marketing involves creating a highly attractive offer, which allows advertisers to push their targeted prospects through all of their marketing channels, thereby generating leads. Lead generation refers to the process of transforming prospective buyers into actual customers. The response that direct marketing campaigns offer greatly relies on the specific goals of a particular advertisement. For example, marketers may ask prospects to join a mailing list, to share their contact information, or to create an account on a website. In return for doing so, a company will grant a free offer; a complimentary product or a discount coupon on a future purchase, for example.
Traditional Advertising vs Direct Response marketing
Traditional advertising methods focus on promoting and raising awareness of a brand. In contract, direct response marketing encourages an immediate response for a specified action; making a purchase or signing up for a certain offer. As such, consumers immediately take notice of a brand’s name and logo, an associate that brand with specific products and/or services.
With traditional advertising methods, it can take a prolonged period of time for consumers to begin recognizing a brand and making purchases. However, with direct marketing, results can be acquired instantaneously.
The Basic Components of Direct Response Marketing
Advertisements that are used in direct response marketing are specifically intended to immediately sell products. As a result, those who are targeted by direct response marketing make a decision to complete the call to action that is included with advertisements immediately.
In order for a direct response advertisement to be successful, it has to elicit instant feedback. If it fails to do so, the ad itself will fail. A direct response advertisement must include the following key elements in order for it to garner the desired results:
- An offer. The offer that is made in a direct response ad is a culmination of different factors; a specific product, a trial period, guarantees, incentives, a time limit, free shipping and handling, etc. Typically, the goal of the offer isn’t to sell anything, but rather to attract the attention of prospective customer and direct him or her to the next action; requesting a free demonstration version of the product on offer, for example. The offer that a direct response ad makes is usually based on the emotions, wants, needs, fears or frustrations of a prospect, thereby causing him or her to take action.
- Information. Direct response ads have to contain enough information for prospective customers to consider the offer and make an immediate response. As a rule of thumb, the less known a product or service is, the more information the direct response ad will need to contain. The average amount of time that an advertiser has to capture the attention of a prospect is 4 seconds. Since that is a very short window of time, the message and the information that the direct response ad contains has to be personalized to the prospect, relevant, and persuasive. Advertisers that employ this tactic must offer reasons for prospects to accept the offer that is being made and illustrate the value of the specific offer. This includes offering information about why a product is better than other similar products on the market.
- A call to action and a way to respond. All direct response ads must feature a very clear and compelling call to action that prompts the prospects who receive it to take some sort of specific action, or a way to respond. Some examples of a call to action and a means of response include:
- Click on the link below to enter your information…
- Contact us right away at this phone number…
- Make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter…
- Sign up for our mailing list…
- Enter your contact info to receive a coupon code for a discount…
- Download a trial version of our product…
- Share this article with your friends now…
A wise idea is to provide prospects with several response options so they can choose the one that best suits their needs. For example, you might want to include a toll-free phone number, an email address and a link to a website. You should also consider adding an expiration date or a deadline that indicates when the offer will expire. This creates a sense of urgency that will encourage prospects to take the intended action, as they will fear that they will miss out on the opportunity if they don’t react. This tactic plays on their emotions and their sense of impulse.
The Benefits of Direct Response Advertising
Direct response advertising offers several benefits for businesses. Here’s a look at some of the most notable advantages this form of marketing can provide:
- Generates an immediate return on investment. Return on investment (ROI) is extremely important for all businesses. The premise of direct response marketing is to elicit an immediate reaction, which translates to instant sales and immediate revenue. With this type of advertising, companies can determine the cost for every single impression and invest in only those impressions that offer value.
- Performance can be tracked. When a prospect takes an action – clicks, signs up, shares, etc – an advertiser can find out which specific ad and which specific media created the impression. For example, when an advertiser buys ad space via a demand-side platform, they can pinpoint whether or not an ad is effective, which targeted group is affected by the ad the most, what the engagement rate is, the amount of clicks that the ad generated and so forth.
- A measurable outcome. Because advertisers can learn exactly which ads are receiving responded to and how much revenue each ad is generating, they can quickly and easily assess the performance of the direct response campaign. This makes direct response marketing a way to analyze the scale of consumer responses with a smaller campaign before proceeding to launch a full campaign.
- Specific audiences can be targeted. Direct response marketing is about targeting the people who are most likely to be interested in a product or service, which increases the success rate of these campaigns as compared to more traditional marketing, such as branding campaigns.
