direct marketing
Direct marketing is the opposite of so-called "mass marketing" and characterizes all advertising through which people are addressed directly and personally. Today, direct marketing is very varied, it includes targetting new and existing customers using personalized forms of address taking the form of newsletters, letters, e-mails and mailings as well as for phone calls and telemarketing. Dialog marketing is often used synonymously for direct marketing. It refers, specifically, to direct marketing measures, which open a channel of direct feedback to the company such as, for example, telephone marketing.
The objective of direct marketing is to win new customers and increase existing customer loyalty. Recipients are informed of specific products or offers directly that might appeal to them, the objective is of course to convince them to buy. The success of a direct marketing campaign is determined by the response rates that is generates from sending out mailings or form letters.
CRM software as the basis of successful direct marketing
In contrast to mass advertising such as television or radio commercials, direct marketing gives you the option of addressing your target group with personalized forms of address. In companies, a professional CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system provides the optimal foundation for this.
All of the information relating to a company's customers is gathered and managed in the CRM software this can include information such as: place of residence, sales data - sales made and even marital status or income class. The bundled data helps to illustrate the purchasing behaviors and individual customer preferences. When this valuable information is used for the direct marketing campaign, you can address the customer directly by name - the advertising measures promise significantly more success,
Professional campaign management includes access to a well-managed database and the option of making changes within the CRM software. So for example, you can set which specific dialog marketing measures you want to send, for example, a letter to newly opened businesses, or customers who live nearby and so on. These are important prerequisites for planning and executing a direct marketing campaign.
After a direct marketing campaign, the marketing team can record the results or responses directly in the CRM system, where they can be analyzed and the results of which used to improve future dialog marketing and direct marketing activities.