Direct Marketing Information

1.Compare and contrast direct marketing with traditional marketing. Be sure to include a labeled illustration of the direct marketing cycle and the traditional marketing cycle in your answer.

Direct marketing is selling to selected individuals which may be identified by preferred customers or other similar mail lists. Traditional marketing is selling to the masses identified by broad groups such as geographical location or income groups. Direct marketing has the benefit of products going directly to the customer this does not typically happen in traditional marketing. In direct marketing the medium is the marketplace and in traditional marketing the retail outlet typically is. In direct marketing marketing controls product through to delivery. In traditional marketing the marketer loses control as product enters distribution channel. In direct marketing advertising is used for an immediate purchase decision. Traditional marketing advertising occurs over an extended period of time and the purchase decision is deferred. Repetition is used in both types of marketing, but occurs in single promotion with direct marketing. In traditional marketing it occurs by multiple promotion pieces over a specific period of time. Customers have a higher risk purchase in direct marketing with product unseen and resource distant. In traditional marketing customer feel less risk and has direct contact with product as well as resource.

The Direct Marketing Cycle

Response

and/or

Transaction

Traditional Marketing Cycle

Indirect Channel

Direct Channel

2.The primary terms to explain direct marketing are measurability, accountability lists and databases. Briefly explain each of these terms and describe the marketing activities of a real-world direct marketer using the above terms.

Measurability is how a marketer determines how successful their campaign is. This may be done by simply calculating sales. With the combination of catalogs certain codes can be used to determine how successful a certain product or promotion is done. This will usually be done using some kind of computer program.