Marketing Communication Methods

The purpose of direct marketing is to reach and appeal directly to individual consumers and to use information about them to offer products, services and offers that are most relevant to them and their needs. Direct marketing can be designed to support any stage of the AIDA model, from building awareness to generating interest, desire, and action. Direct marketing, particularly email, also plays a strong role in post-purchase interaction. Email is commonly used to confirm orders, send receipts or warrantees, solicit feedback through surveys, ask customers to post a social media recommendation, and propose new offers.

Direct marketing is an optimal method for marketing communication in the following situations:

• A company's primary distribution channel is to sell products or services directly to customers
• A company's primary distribution method is through the mail or other shipping services to send directly to the customer
• A company relies heavily on sales promotions or discounts, and it is important to spread the word about these offers to consumers
• An advertisement cannot sufficiently convey the many benefits of a company's product or service, and so a longer marketing piece is required to express the value proposition effectively
• A company finds that standard advertising is not reaching its target segments, and so better-targeted marketing communications are required to reach the right individuals; for example, using direct mail to reach wealthier people according to their affluent zip code
• A company sells expensive products that require more information and interaction to make the sale
• A company has a known "universe" of potential customers and access to contact information and other data about these customers
• A company is heavily dependent on customer retention, reorders and/or repurchasing, making it worthwhile to maintain "permissioned" marketing interaction with known customers