Direct, Digital &

Data-Driven
Marketing
© Lisa Spiller
 Chapter 1
Processes and applications of
direct marketing
Chapter spotlight

• Peace Frogs

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What is direct marketing (DM)?

DM is a database-driven
interactive process of directly
communicating with targeted
customers or prospects using
any medium to obtain a
measurable response or
transaction via one or multiple
channels.

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Historic comparison between direct
and traditional brand marketing
Direct Marketing
Direct selling to individuals with customers
identifiable by name, address and purchase
behavior
Products have the added value of distribution
direct to the customer, an important benefit
The medium is the marketplace
Marketing controls the product all the way
through delivery
Advertising is used to generate an immediate
transaction … an inquiry or an order
Repetition of offers, promotional messages,
toll-free numbers and web addresses are used
within the advertisement
Customer feels a high perceived risk – product
bought unseen, recourse is distant
Traditional Brand Marketing
Mass selling with buyers identified as broad
groups sharing common demographic and
psychographic characteristics
Product benefits do not typically include
distribution to the customer’s door
The retail outlet is the marketplace
The marketer typically loses control as the
product enters the distribution channel
Advertising is used for cumulative effect over
time for building image, awareness, loyalty and
benefit recall. Purchase action is deferred.
Repetition of offers and promotional messages
are used over a period of time
Customer feels less risk – has direct contact
with the product and direct recourse
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Characteristics of direct marketing

• Customer/prospect databases that make 1:1 targeting possible

• A view of customers as assets with lifetime value
• Ongoing relationships and affinity with customers
• Data-based market segmentation
• Research and experimentation (testing)
• Benefit-oriented direct-response advertising
• Measurement of results and accountability for costs
• Interactivity with customers on a personalised and
individualised basis
• Multimedia direct response communication
• Multichannel fulfillment and distribution
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Direct marketing is growing!

• A paradigm shift in marketing is underway.

• New digital and social media marketing techniques help
create new ways of communicating with customers.
• Marketers using new DM applications to reach and interact
with consumers on a personal basis, creating customer
value

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Convergence of DM and brand

• The differences have blurred due to the digital revolution …

today…
• Most traditional marketers have a virtual storefront in the
form of a Web site.
• DM strategies such as displaying URL’s, toll-free number,
e-mail addresses, and have a ‘call-to-action’ appear in
almost every type of media.
• Most direct marketers now create and reinforce brand
strategies at the individual level.

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Demassification of the printed word

• Laser printing
• Personalisation possibilities
• Computerised typesetting
• Advances in press technology
• Enhancing the growth of direct
marketing

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Broadcast media

• Television
• Radio
• Cable & satellite
• Specialised programming geared
to market segments

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Electronic media

• Toll-free telephone calling

• Cellular and wireless telephones
• The Internet and the World Wide Web

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Digital media

• The Internet has dramatically changed the way

– Most consumers purchase products and services
– Most companies conduct business
• Digital Marketing Strategies include:
– Blogging
– Search engine marketing (SEM)
– Online social networking
– Mobile marketing
– Text marketing
• With new digital platforms emerging almost daily!

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Factors contributing to the growth of
direct marketing
• Printing technology
• Credit cards
• Personal computers
• Changing consumer lifestyles
• Negative aspects of retail shopping

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The processes of direct marketing

• Primary goal:
– The creation and cultivation of a customer
• Basic premise:
– Customer and prospect responses are measurable
– Customer data drives all DM strategies
– Emerging importance of multiple channels

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Customer affinity and customer value

• Database technology made it possible to track customer

transactions and actions
• Quality of targeted list
• Lifetime value of a customer

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Formula for DM success

• Reaching the right people with the right

offer using the right creative approach

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The direct marketing model
Prospect/Customer Database

Marketer

Direct Multi-Channel
Communication Measurable Fulfillment
Response
and/or
Hi-Tech Elect. Print Media Transaction Direct Web Physical
Media Media Mail/Cat Store

Target Customer/Prospect

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Components of the DM model

• Direct Communication 1:1

• Multiple Media
• Measurable Response
• Database
• Customer Relationships
• Multichannel Fulfillment/Distribution
All direct marketing is database-driven marketing!

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Omni-channel experience

• Managing the overall consumer experience through all

available shopping channels in order to maximise customer
satisfaction
• Emerging ways consumers engage with a company:
– physical store
– online website
– mobile app
– catalogue
– social media

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Omni-channel marketing

• The customer’s needs, desires and time must be

respected,
• Marketer’s goal – to create synergy between the various
channels

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The scope of direct marketing…and
its relevance everywhere
• Many applications of direct marketing
• Users include:
– Big and small businesses
– Individuals
– Non-profit organisations
– Political organisations
– Governmental organisations
– Sports organisations

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Why direct marketing works for
non-profit organisations
• Direct marketing is:
– Measurable
– Accountable
– Targeted
– Cost-effective
– Requires a direct response

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Non-profit direct marketing users

• Health concerned organisations

• Environmental organisations
• Educational institutions
• Religious institutions
• Political organisations
• The government

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Uses of non-profit direct marketing

• Gaining awareness & supporters

• Driving memberships
• Securing volunteers
• Raising funds

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Political campaign direct marketing
objectives
• Raising money
• Gaining support for their cause
• Securing new members
• Obtaining votes

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Political Micro-targeting

• Also referred to narrowcasting, this technique aggregates

groups of voters, based on data about them from databases
and on the Internet.
• Political parties gather personal, individual information about
voters to target them with tailor-made messages intended to
influence their votes.

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Governmental organisations

• Many government organisations rely on direct marketing to

promote their own products and services.
• Examples:
– U.S. Post Office (USPS)
– Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
– U.S. Military
– Convention and Visitors Bureaus

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Navy recruitment mailer

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Virginia beach convention & visitor’s
bureau ad

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Williamsburg tourism summer
freedom e-mail

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Sports organisations

• Objectives of sports organisations using direct marketing:

– Selling tickets/filling seats – both for single events and
for the season
– Getting corporate sponsors or hosting fundraising events
– Prospecting for new fans

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Sports organisation (B2B)

• Most sports marketers actively seek sponsorship support

from corporate sponsors.
– Example: The Washington Redskins Charitable
Foundation

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Case

• Fear 2 Freedom

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