Direct marketing and direct selling

By:
Shwetanshu Gupta
Direct marketing:

Direct marketing is the use of consumer direct channels to reach and deliver
goods and services to consumers without using marketing middlemen.
It helps the companies to opening dialogue directly between themselves & the end
consumers of their products.
It is targeted at individual users rather than through intermediaries.
Company markets through various advertising media that interact directly with
consumers, generally encouraging the consumer to make a direct response.
Contd

In other words, direct marketing consists of direct communications with carefully

targeted consumers to obtain an immediate response.
However, the ultimate purpose of direct marketing is to establish and manage
direct long term relationships with customers by capturing personal information
in a database.
Marketer send birthday cards, information materials and small premiums to
certain customers.
 Advantages
To Businesses:

Direct marketing can help sales to grow when used along with sales promotions
and advertising campaigns.
It is also useful for small businesses through guest books, visitors lists, and lists
of enquiries. These operations rely on repeat business.
Direct marketing builds relationships; it is an important tool in customer
relationship management (CRM).
It helps to measure response to campaigns to decide which media is most
profitable.
It helps to find cost effective approach of media.
To consumers:

Home shopping can be fun, convenient & hassle free.

Buyers get good services from the company like toll free numbers for purchasing
or ordering goods.
It provides quick delivery of goods to the consumers.
It saves time and introduces consumer to a larger selection of merchandise.
Consumer can do comparative shopping by browsing through mail catalogs and
online shopping services.
Forms of direct marketing:
Direct mail
marketing

Kiosk Catalog
marketing marketing

Television Telemarketing
 Direct mail marketing:

It involves sending an offer, announcement , reminder or other item to a person

through mail
Marketers send out millions of mail pieces each year, using highly selective
mailing lists.
It is a popular medium as it permits target market selectivity, can be personalized,
is flexible.
Cost involved is very high than the mass media but the people reached are better
prospects.
Catalog marketing:

In this type of marketing seller prepares catalogues of merchandise or products and sells
directly to customers.

Catalogues are generally in printed form but can also be distributed in the form of CDs .

To reduce printing and distribution costs catalogues are being increasingly made online.

Products from various companies or vendors may be combined into a single catalogue to
provide a one point shop for customer looking out for a particular type of product
Telemarketing:

Telemarketing is the use of telephone and call centers to attract prospects , sell to existing
customers and provide service by taking orders and answering questions.
Companies use call centers for inbound telemarketing- receiving calls from customers and
outbound marketing- initiating calls to prospects and customers.
Effective telemarketing depends on choosing the right telemarketer , training them well &
providing performance incentives.
Advantages: Likely to replace more expensive field-sales call.
Reduces amount of personal selling effort.
Reduce field-force travelling calls.
 Telemarketing pioneer.
It offers more than a thousand products backed by a 24*7 call
center.
Diversified its operations by opening an online store.

Cosmetic company LOreal India has a toll free number on

which it offers expert advice about looking good.
 Direct response marketing
Television:

Direct marketing via television (commonly referred to as DRTV) has two basic forms:
long form (usually half-hour or hour-long segments that explain a product in detail
and are commonly referred to as infomercials) & short form, which refers to typical 30-
second or 60-second commercials that ask viewers for an immediate response (typically
to call a phone number on screen or go to a website).

Infomercials promote products that are complicated or technologically advanced, or

require a great deal of explanation.
Company promotes the concept of home shopping by a way of media and
television advertisements of various products by showing their features, use and
advantages.
A toll free number is flashed on the television screen when infomercials are
screened.
The consumer can call the number for the demonstration and delivery of the
product.
Kiosk marketing :

Kiosk- A small, temporary, stand-alone booth used in high-foot-traffic areas for

marketing purposes.

A kiosk will usually be manned by one or two individuals who help attract
attention to the booth to get new customers.

Kiosks are machines kept in shopping malls and other such places by
organizations to spread the information and generate orders from customers who
visit such Free standing, semi-permanent display or retail outlet, within a large
retail establishment or a shopping mall
 Ambi Pur , a perfume company dealing in room fresheners organized a kiosk marketing
campaign in the Nirmal lifestyle, Mumbai.

Attracted a lot of parents who came in with their children and stopped by the kiosk & got
information about the co.

The objective of the campaign was to create awareness about the product among the target
consumers, mainly the households.
Disadvantages :

Irritatio Unfairn
n ess

Decepti Invasio
on and n of
fraud privacy
Direct selling:

ac tu
a nuf Ret
aile
M rer r
It is the sale of a consumer
ls

Co
ma Raw
ria

product or service, person-to-

ns
te

Traditional selling person, away from a fixed retail

um
location.

er
w ay ri Direct sellers are not employees
Am factu of the company but are
a n u IBO
m ng & on independent contractors, also
b u ti referred to as consultants or
tri
Co r
d i s
distributors who market & sell the
ls

ns
ma Raw
ria

products or services of a company

um
te

Direct selling e in return for a commission on

those sales.
Conclusion :

In this era of competition no company can rely on single direct marketing form.
So companies use one of the form of direct marketing or a combination of these
marketing forms in order to stand out of the rest.
For example :AVON