How Does Direct Vs Electronic Marketing Compare?Which do you go with, direct vs electronic marketing?
With the growth of the internet most companies are now using e-mail. E-mail is free/cheap, semi instant and can make responses easier.
However over the years, billions of marketing emails have been sent, and we can all pretty much tell an unsolicited email or a marketing email to one that is expected or of interest.
Equally, with direct marketing, we are all now used to it. Leaflets coming through the door, catalogues being sent in the post, telemarketing calls. Even people stood outside the supermarket asking ‘can I ask you which energy supplier you are with?’ we are all used to it and 99% of the time ignore it.
So with this in mind, where does the future for direct mail lie. Is this the end of direct mail? Is this the end of electronic mail? Direct vs electronic, maybe the internet will win?
Direct marketing is when you reach our directly to your customers (or prospective customers).
Direct marketing is an advertising technique and form of marketing that targets a group of customers or prospects with the aim of influencing/encouraging them to follow a course of action.
Direct marketing can be through a variety of channels. To be effective, direct marketing needs to have measurements put in place. This ensures that measures can be put in place for continuous improvement.
Digital marketing is the promotion of brands and marketing of services and products through a variety of digital media channels, some internet (e.g. search engines, Facebook, Twitter, and PPC) and others non-internet based (e.g. SMS and MMS).
As with direct marketing, measurements and analytics need to be put in place to get the most out of digital marketing.
There are many things that direct mail offer that cannot be achieved with e-mail.
Although most direct mail is automated and completely impersonal, it can be adapted in such a way that gives the impression that it is tailored and bespoke.
With direct mail, gifts can be enclosed (such as a pen, a diary, a coffee sample etc.). With e-mail a attachment can be sent (with a voucher etc.) but the physical is better than digital.
When receiving something tangible, there is an affect it causes. Humans are physical beings and touching is important; getting something through the letterbox has more effect that in the inbox. Direct vs electronic, maybe direct is better?
Since the internet launched in 1983, electronic marketing has slowly crept in. However these days, electronic marketing has become such a powerful form of marketing, that it has pretty much run it’s course.
Most of us are used to receiving marketing emails, unsolicited marketing emails, spam emails and everything in between.
Most email systems these days have a filter that puts anything that seems marketing related into a separate folder or sub folder. There is also the spam folder, but most of us can smell a marketing email a mile off.
Even LinkedIn offer an ‘In-mail’ system that allows you to buy the right to send an unsolicited email to a specific contact on the platform. But again, most of us can spot it a mile off.
As time goes on, more and more of us will get online and more and more business mailings will be done via e-mail rather than post.
Generally B2B direct mail is promotional rather than actual communication.
However there is still a huge market for direct mail.
B2C direct mail is still huge, from pizza shops, insurance companies, water, electricity, tree surgeons etc. will always use direct mail.
Your local council still communicates via post.
B2B direct mail has dropped off, due to the reduced costs of e-mail marketing it makes more sense for businesses to send information/newsletters, promotions via e-mail rather than by post.
It will never truly drop off, but indeed has reduced. Direct vs electronic is a match, both have their uses.
Choosing a marketing company to handle your direct or electronic marketing is difficult, as all agencies are different. All are independent and set their own fees, all are profit making and all have glowing testimonials on their websites.
Even brand new companies seem to have testimonials on their websites, making it a challenge.
This is where we aim to help, to help you find the ‘right’ marketing company for your company, whether you are looking at direct marketing or electronic marketing.
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