We are in the age where everything must be brought up to date, that is why in direct marketing, the executive creates and maintains a database of prospects and clients updated; It uses various resources, from personal contact to the mass media, to communicate directly with them and obtain a response, a transaction or a view of the business. Database and telemarketing are the keys to direct marketing success, especially in an integrated marketing communication program that allows the sales executive to select the market, segment and classify customers. In this way, it identifies the best, the value they have for the company, their needs and purchasing behavior.
In this article we will see the different means that different organizations have to attract more customers and be able to carry out a commercial transaction, obtain profits and achieve a higher volume of sales, in addition to conducting a marketing analysis, we will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each one, as well as a glimpse of where this form of marketing of products and services offered by the leading companies in the market is headed.
The accelerated growth of the economy has meant that there are many similar companies offering the same product, which increasingly forces companies to be more efficient in the use of their resources. Marketing has become indispensable in any commercial company to be able to survive in such a competitive environment and therefore marketing strategies require the creativity of the executives in charge every day.
Within the marketing strategies, Direct Marketing has been used, which consists of the use of one or more advertising tools or means that interact directly with consumers and that generally request a direct response from them. Among the most common tools of Direct Marketing can be mentioned direct mail, telemarketing (better known by telemarketing and so we will call it), television marketing and electronic sales.
Telemarketing is a Direct Marketing tool in which the telephone is systematically used to market goods and services and / or obtain information, in which the consumer is directly contacted. To be effective it must be planned, systematic and be part of a global strategy along with the other components of the marketing mix.
Since the introduction of the telephone in companies, it has been used to promote goods and services, classify customers and sell, but without adequate planning, rather in an empirical way. Telemarketing is no longer something new, there are some companies that have implemented it with very good results; But the implementation of telemarketing has gained more popularity and interest in the last five years due to its enormous efficiency and excellent results, in addition to the fact that in Mexico it is finally considered as a profession since it is not easy to pick up a phone, do a job of sale, handle objections and make a successful sale closing, among other factors that I will explain in detail on another occasion.
Marketing Concept
The analysis of a market and its needs, the determination of the appropriate product, its characteristics and price, the selection of a segment within it, and how to communicate a message and the logistics of product distribution, are part of the art known as commercialization., marketing or marketing.
The concept of marketing has been changing from a massive orientation, to what has been called one-to-one marketing (1 to 1 marketing). Marketing, like any process, is dynamic and changes, constantly changing. This process, despite what is created, has not happened at the same time in all countries, or regions of the world.
Production orientation
From the end of the 19th century to the second decade of the last century, large companies have a clear orientation to production. Since everything produced was consumed immediately, manufacturing determined the characteristics of the product. It was not necessary to market to sell.
Orientation to the Sale
From the crisis of the year 1920, where the purchasing capacity was reduced to a minimum, products were created and developed, which later tried to enter the market. Many of those products were unsuccessful, others were momentary successful. Sales are beginning to be given great importance as an income generator. Techniques designed to sell are developed. The concept that gave rise to marketing or merchandising was to target products to the group of buyers (target market) that was going to consume or use them, promotions are directed at the masses through the mass media that are beginning to appear as movies, radio and television.
One to One Marketing (1 to 1 Marketing)
Starting in 1990, the concept of customer-oriented marketing was refined, and products and services aimed at individuals in particular began to be created, using complex computer systems capable of identifying specific customers and their specific needs. The segments are reduced until reaching highly determined target groups, almost specific people, with names and surnames. This new step encourages marketing and allows the creation of new product lines, their price reduction and the globalization of the economy.
What is Marketing?
It is everything that is done to promote an activity, from the moment the idea is conceived, until the customers begin to purchase the product or service on a regular basis. That is to say that Marketing involves from naming a company or product, selecting the product or service, color, shape, size, packaging, business location, advertising, public relations, the type of sales to be made, sales training, sales presentation, problem solving and monitoring, among other functions, but these are the basic ones.
Its importance lies in the fact that all commercial, industrial or service activities, large or small, require “marketing” their products or services. There is no exception. It is not possible to be successful in a commercial activity without marketing because if there are no customers, the companies simply would not exist.
Main participants in the marketing process
People's needs and wants change daily; Hence, companies constantly announce a multitude of products to attract attention and interest. This makes the marketing process very dynamic. Marketing exchanges are based on three types of participants: Clients, markets (groups of clients) and companies.
customers
They are the people or organizations that consume products and services. They are divided into three general categories: current clients, potential clients and centers of influence.
The second participant is the Market, a group made up of current clients, potential clients and those who share an interest, need or desire. Companies target their advertising to four broad categories of markets:
- Consumer Markets. They cover people who buy products and services for their personal use. Institutional Markets. They are made up of organizations that buy services, natural resources and components that they resell, that they use to run their business or to manufacture other goods such as industrial markets. Government Markets. They buy products to carry out municipal, state, federal and other activities. Some companies achieve extraordinary success selling exclusively in these markets. Transnational (global) markets. They cover the three previous markets that are located abroad, they are considered a "necessary evil" by some countries such as Mexico, where competition is unfair by the media.
Companies are the third participant in the marketing process, it is any person or organization that has products, services or ideas to sell.
These elements, depending on the purchasing chain, can be one or more entities, and constitute a complex communication system. The analysis of these elements, gave as a consequence for didactic effects, the theory of four elements that make up the marketing:
- Product. It studies all the aspects that are related to it: shape, color, size, packaging presentation, the life cycle, and it is the combination of goods and services that the company offers to the target market, in short, many other points. It is related to the way to calculate the ideal price of a product, taking into account factors such as costs, expected profits, competition, the amount of money that customers must pay to obtain the product, square or market. Place where the product should be sold; It includes the activities of the company that make the product available to the target consumers. Communication with the market. It is understood that, according to the traditional definition, that this communication is done through advertisements, personal sales,sales promotion and advertising where the benefits of the product are communicated and the target consumers are convinced to buy it.
The marketing mix is the company's tactical toolkit to establish a firm position in the target markets. An effective program merges all elements of the marketing mix into a coordinated program, designed to achieve goals, delivering value to consumers.
Marketing Communication
It is an approved fact that any business, company or commercial activity requires replacing the clients who lose for different reasons, such as discontent, attraction to others, change of address, in short. Any company loses at least 20% of customers annually. This means that in less than 5 years a company runs out of customers, unless it does something to attract new customers, this is the fundamental reason for promotional activities.
Advertising appears to be more effective in increasing the volume loyal buyers acquire, but not very effective in recruiting new buyers. For loyal buyers, a high level of exposure per week could be unproductive because the effectiveness of the ads can only reach a certain level. Advertising is unlikely to have a cumulative effect that generates loyalty. Features, displays, and especially price, have a greater impact on advertising response.
The methods to communicate with the market or promote products or services are innumerable. The answer to the question: how do I let the market know the advantages of my product or service? It is simple and short: advertising, it helps the organization to achieve its marketing goals, as well as market research, sales and the distribution. And these three marketing specialties affect the type of advertising that is used. A good advertiser must have a thorough understanding of the total marketing process, to know what type of advertising to use in a specific situation.
Companies and organizations use many types of advertising based on their particular marketing strategy. The strategy determines what the objective of the advertising should be, in which sites it will be used, what means will be used and what purposes it will fulfill according to the following:
By target audience
Consumer-oriented advertising: It is intended for those who buy the product for personal use or for someone else's use.
Business-oriented advertising: It is intended for individuals who buy specific products or services for use in the company.
- Commercial: It is aimed at intermediaries (wholesaler, retailer) of products and services that buy them to resell them to their clients.Professional: It is aimed at those who have a title and a code of ethics or a set of professional standards. to those who work in the field or in the Agro-industry.
By geographical area
Local advertising (retail): that carried out by companies whose clients come from a single commercial, urban or local area.
Regional Advertising: Advertising that advertises products sold in an area or region, but not throughout the country
National advertising: advertising aimed at clients from various regions of the country.
International advertising: advertising aimed at foreign markets.
Via
Print advertising: newspapers and magazines.
Electronic advertising: radio and television.
Outdoor advertising: outdoor advertising, in transit.
Direct mail advertising: that sent by traditional mail.
By purpose
Product advertising: promotes the sale of goods and services.
Non-product-oriented advertising (corporate or institutional): they do not promote a particular product, but the philosophical mission of the organization or company.
Commercial advertising: promotes products, services or ideas with the intention of obtaining a profit.
NON-commercial advertising: Advertising sponsored by charitable or non-profit institutions, civic groups, religious or political organizations; also those that are made in favor of them.
Action-oriented advertising: advertising that tries to stimulate an immediate decision by the reader.
Recognition advertising: advertising that tries to create the image of a product or familiarity with its name and packaging.
Depending on the methods selected to communicate with the market, it will typify whether it is done directly or indirectly.
Advantages of Direct Marketing
Target group: The precision to target the target group with which you want to have a communication, through a careful selection of lists (database) and the information contained therein. The marketing manager can direct his communication specifically with prospects that due to having certain characteristics may be candidates to be interested in their products or services. This reduces the waste of mass media that may not reach the target group.
Personalization: Every company whose products are not massive to us should know their customers and with the help of technology can have sophisticated databases. Personalization is important because it allows the company to personally communicate with the prospect.
The customer acts immediately: The message used offers a reward if the customer acts quickly.
Invisible programs: For the competition many direct marketing programs or strategies are invisible because it is much more difficult to find out what the company does because in some cases there are no mass media and communication is direct to the customer.
Disadvantages of Direct Marketing
Compared to mass media communication, direct marketing has the following disadvantages:
Mass communication is more strategic, is oriented to the management of attitudes, generates long-term motivation, while direct marketing is more tactical. This makes it harder for direct marketing to create, maintain and increase brand awareness and product image building.
For a company whose products are massive or have a large customer base, direct marketing programs can be quite expensive, as well as difficult to control.
Developing a successful direct marketing communication program is more difficult than a traditional mass communication program because starting a good database is required, which means investing in technology. Likewise, a greater effort is needed in the execution and especially in the control of programs.
Microcomputers and databases
A customer database is an organized collection of comprehensive data about individual customers or prospects; includes geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data. The database can serve to locate good leads, tailor products and services to the special needs of target consumers, and maintain long-term relationships with customers. Database marketing is the process of building, maintaining and using databases and other Direct Marketing of products, suppliers, distributors to contact and transact with customers.
Many companies confuse customer mailing lists with customer databases. A customer mailing list is nothing more than a set of names, addresses, and phone numbers. A customer database contains much more information.
In business-to-business marketing, a customer's profile of a seller could indicate the products or services the customer has purchased; previous volumes and prices; key contacts; competitive suppliers; current contracts situation; estimate of customer expenses for the coming years; Competitive strengths and weaknesses assessments related to that account's sales and service.
Database is a computing term, but it applies to the way information is cataloged, archived, and used. Any collection of information that is related and grouped as a whole is a database. A card holder with names and phone numbers or a metal filing cabinet with customer records are databases.
The technology boom has created exciting new ways to study and follow customers, create products and services tailored to meet their needs, distribute products in the most efficient and effective way, and communicate with them in large groups or individually. For example, today, thanks to video conferences, market researchers from a company's headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, can attend group sessions in Mexico without getting on a plane, with a few “clicks of the Mouse ”, a live dealer can use online data services to find out all sorts of things, from which car we drive to what we read or what ice cream flavor we prefer.
Every 20 years since 1960, the amount of computing power that can be purchased per dollar has increased 1,000-fold. That equates to a million-fold increase in the past 35 years. With the help of today's powerful computers and a new wave of communication and advertising tools, ranging from cell phones, fax machines and CD-ROMs to interactive television and video venues in airports and shopping malls, marketing people You can create detailed databases and use them to target select customers with carefully tailored offers.
Through e-commerce, customers can design, order, and pay for products and services - all without leaving home - from virtual reality displays testing new products to online virtual stores that sell them, the boom in technology Computing, telecommunications and information is affecting all aspects of marketing and should be exploited today.
Internet
Perhaps the most impressive of the new technologies is the one that revolves around the creation of the “super information highway” and its foundations: the Internet. It is a huge and burgeoning global tangle of computer networks that lacks central control and owner.
It was created in the late 1960s by the United States Department of Defense, with the initial purpose of linking government laboratories, contractors, and military facilities. Today the Internet links users of computers of all kinds around the world. Companies are using the Internet to link employees who work in remote offices, distribute sales information more quickly, strengthen relationships with customers and suppliers, and sell and distribute their products more efficiently.
Internet use grew dramatically in the early 1990s with the development of the www (World Wide Web) that is so easy to use. More than 75 million people surf an hour each month, compared to a million in the mid-1990s.
There may be between 6 and 8 million websites worldwide, these numbers are growing explosively. The World Wide Web gives businesses access to millions of customers for a fraction of the cost of print and television advertising. Companies of all kinds are trying to catch new customers on the Web by offering information about the products, services and location of their points of sale.
It seems that all businesses (from diaper companies operating from the bedroom to established giants) are setting up on the Internet. Everyone is rushing to explore and exploit the Web's possibilities for marketing, shopping, and information search. However, despite its full potential, the Internet has disadvantages.
It remains to be seen how many of the millions of web surfers become buyers. Although it is difficult to measure the value of a website, the truth is that few companies have made money from their work on the Internet. In addition, the Web presents security problems.
Companies that link internal computer networks to the outside world expose their systems to possible attacks by malicious people or even hackers. Customers are also suspicious of sending credit card numbers or other confidential information that could be intercepted and misused. Finally, using the Web can be expensive. If they want to get the most out of the Internet, companies have to invest large amounts in leased phone lines, powerful computers, and other technologies in addition to Internet specialists.
However, given the dizzying speed with which Internet technology and applications are developing, these disadvantages are unlikely to discourage the millions of businesses and consumers who are connecting to the Internet every day, as in the near future who If you are not connected to the Internet you will be at a clear competitive disadvantage in marketing.
The concept applied in most relational databases is called "xbase" today. No matter what program is used, a database generated in "xbase" format can be easily transferred to other formats. Similarly, any word processor, be it word for windows or word perfect for DOS, will understand and be able to merge the information from the database with the text of the letter, automatically producing completely personalized letters.
Using a microcomputer and a relational database program, a small company or an independent entrepreneur can generate and maintain a list of potential customers, with which they can carry out all the integrated direct marketing activities: telephone sales, generate labels for sending parts or products by mail, and developing a controlled personal sales campaign. In addition, you can carry all the necessary controls for the success of your marketing activities, as an integrated whole.
Direct marketing, reflecting the trend toward more targeted and individualized marketing, is the fastest growing form of marketing. Direct marketing benefits customers in many ways.
Consumers claim that shopping at home is fun, convenient and easy; It saves time and allows them to choose from a wider assortment of merchandise. Comparisons can be made by browsing catalogs and browsing online shopping services, and then products can be ordered for the buyer or others. Industrial customers can learn about products and services available without waiting and spending time with sellers.
Sellers also benefit. Direct marketing companies can buy lists containing the names and addresses of almost any group: millionaires, new parents, left-handed people, recent college graduates. Then companies can customize and tailor their message.
With today's technology, a direct marketing company can select small groups or even individual consumers, customize its offerings or special needs and wishes, and promote those offers through individualized communications.
The direct marketing company can establish an ongoing relationship with each customer. Direct marketing can also be planned so that you reach prospects at just the right time. Because direct marketing materials reach more interested consumers at the best times, they are more read and receive more responses. Direct marketing also makes it easy to test other media and messages. Direct marketing is private: that is, the company's offer and strategy are less visible to competitors.
Persuasive communication
All means of promotion are a way of communicating a message and are intended to get a certain reaction from the recipient. This communication has been defined as persuasive communication, to differentiate it from informational communication.
The forms of persuasive communication are very varied, these are some forms that this communication takes:
- Personal sale. Counter sale. Telephone sales (telemarketing).Infomercials.
Personal selling is the most powerful form of persuasive communication and represents the last link in the customer conviction cycle. The main element in this communication is the capacity for immediate feedback to the receiver. This is that it is interactive and two-way, which also influences the coding of a new message:
Telemarketing or telemarketing
Telemarketing has been used as a direct selling method for several decades, but the term is relatively new. It covers selling and prospecting over the phone, answering questions over the phone, and providing callers with services related to the sale. The information collected allows updating the customer database. Telemarketing is the primary source of income for some companies and organizations, including banking, charities, and nonprofits, political candidates, and home study courses. It is also mentioned as the most suitable means of direct marketing.In many countries this year, companies invested almost 50% of the budget allocated to direct marketing and telemarketing media to contact consumers and companies, thus generating high income from their total sales.
The reasons for this are the economy and public acceptance of teleculture.
1. Telemarketing costs much less than personal selling.
2. People now accept the idea of making their purchases over the phone. It is a comfortable, smooth and inexpensive way. In fact, in the United States, this phone call industry has boomed. In any given week, an additional 30,000 to 50,000 phones are added.
As a means of integrated direct marketing, telemarketing is the second best alternative to the personal sales view. In the field of institutional clients, for example, good Telemarketing operators (in some countries also called RVT'S Telephone Sales Representatives, Advisors or Account Executives) can establish strong and lasting relationships with clients whom they do not know personally, but with whom talk every week. Telemarketing is most effective when combined with other means of direct marketing. For example, experience shows that, when combined with direct mail, you usually get at least a 10% increase in responses and sometimes much more.
Companies use outbound telephone marketing to sell directly to consumers and businesses (Outbound), when the customer calls the company it is an inbound call that in 99% must be a sale (Inbound). Incoming numbers (800), free of charge for long distance, are used to receive orders generated by advertisements on television and radio, direct mail or catalogs. The average household receives 19 sales calls each year and makes 16 calls to order.
Other companies use the number (900) to sell information, entertainment or the opportunity to express an opinion to consumers under a pay-per-call basis.
In Latin America the telemarketing business will grow as more people have telephone service. As it grows over the next few years, sales of products associated with telephony may increase. An interesting alternative for these markets will be the new telephones that do not require traditional wiring and that operate through radio service.
Many consumers appreciate many of the offers they receive over the phone. Well-designed and well-run telemarketing offers many benefits, including convenience of purchase and more product and service information:
However, the recent explosion in unsolicited phone marketing has upset many consumers who object to the almost daily junk phone calls, lifting them off the dining room table or cluttering their answering machines. Lawmakers across the United States are responding with laws ranging from banning unsolicited telemarketing calls during certain hours, to allowing households to sign up for a national "do not call" list.
Most telemarketing companies support some form of action against random and misdirected telemarketing. "We want to address the people who want us to address them" would be a good "slogan" for these cases.
To sell on favorable terms, you can make sales over the phone as perfectly as in the customer's office.
To achieve greater effect in the sale by telephone, it is recommended to distribute printed material beforehand, so that when the customer receives the call, they have information regarding the offer.
The phone call is ideal for quick sales when there are special offers. The telephone is a fast way to make contacts with clients.
When prices are subject to fluctuations, or when the stock of products is reduced, the phone call is advantageous.
To promote sales:
- It even enters inaccessible markets, so goals and objectives can be easily achieved. It allows to expand local markets. Recovery of lost accounts. Helps to maintain the name of the product.
Advantages of Telemarketing:
- Decrease in selling expenses. Replace unsuccessful personal visits by the seller with phone calls (this does not mean replacing the seller). Increase profits. As a result of being able to expand the coverage of sales territories at a low cost over the phone, with respect to sending a seller to the market.Improve customer service:
1. Frequent and well-planned use of the telephone improves customer service.
2. Ensure that visits by vendors have guaranteed potential.
3. The telemarketing department provides the seller with a list of potential customers already classified and with that customer's profile, for them to visit.
- Optimize the advertising result:
It optimizes the advertising of the company when an ad is published, companies are called and they are polled if they have seen the ad and it is used to invite them to buy the product.
It is possible to measure if the advertising is reaching the target group of the product by taking the data of the calls received by the advertising. Telemarketing can also optimize advertising by taking customer data and classifying (segmenting) it.
- Reactivate lost or inactive accounts. You must have professional staff in Telemarketing since clients hit hard with objections. Solve problems of other departments of the company with clients:
It can be in charge of responding and clarifying problems or misunderstandings and making a report of the same in order to resolve these situations and make it something positive and productive for both parties. In many companies it is known as the Customer Service Center or the Monitoring / Channeling Area.
- Allows immediate contact with the client.
Generalizing, we will say that the main advantages of telemarketing are:
- Selectivity: Lets you reach the potential customer Flexibility: Lets meet the customer Personalized: Direct contact with the prospect Interactive: It is a conversation where you can find out the customer's opinion.
Disadvantages of telemarketing:
Telemarketing is not a remedy for all marketing problems. If a product or service fails because it does not meet the needs of the consumer, it will be as unsuccessful to market it as any other tool used, although telemarketing professionals are people who "sell because we sell", we can sell ice cream in the North Pole and coats in Can Cún.
For telemarketing to be successful, it must be fully integrated into the company's marketing mix. For new products to be telemarketed, it is necessary that the customer knows it widely, so it is recommended to use advertising, direct mail, brochures, anyway. It is said that it is not effective for any prospect or company, because it will depend on its objectives and the products it markets.
Telemarketing for end consumers is more difficult as people view it as an invasion of their privacy and are reluctant to answer calls from the Call Center. As a means of sales and marketing, it is affected by the quality of its administration and by the degree of commitment that the company gives it.
Telemarketing programs frequently fail due to a lack of administrative support, poor planning, the absence of experienced professionals, and above all, good, reliable and up-to-date databases.
It does not allow long dialogues, it must be very objective in the "sales routine", it can also be inconvenient at times during peak hours of work or lunch, and the visual phase of communication is lost, it is said that it is better to sell in person, but remember that a good voice tone and ease of speech (in addition to other qualities) make the sale faster because it does not "discriminate" against the speaker.
Direct mail
After personal sales and telemarketing, direct mail is the most effective method of closing a sale or generating a request for information. It is very useful for those who do direct marketing and seek an immediate response.
Direct mail is an important means for many advertisers, it involves sending an offer, advertisement, reminder or something else to a person at a specific address.
With the help of highly selective mailing lists, direct marketing companies make millions of shipments each year: letters, ads, displays, deployments, and other "winged vendors."
Direct mail is ideal for direct communication, one by one, since it allows a high selectivity of the target market, it can be personalized, it is flexible and it allows to easily measure the results. Although the cost per thousand of people that are reached are much better prospects. Mail has been fruitful in promoting all kinds of products: books, magazine subscriptions, insurance, gifts, clothing, gourmet foods, and industrial products. Charities also use direct mail a lot to raise billions of dollars each year.
The direct mail industry is constantly looking for new methods and approaches. For example, VCRs have become one of the fastest growing direct communications media. Companies have taken advantage of the fact that many households have a VCR, and ship millions of videocassettes worldwide. For example, Nintendo of America created a 13-minute MTV-style video to present its video game Donkey Kong Country and sent 2 million copies to fans of video games.
This direct mail shipment helped Nintendo sell 6.1 million units of the game in just 45 days, making it the fastest selling game in the history of the industry, some direct marketing companies even ship floppy disks for computer. Examples abound. With compact disc and dvd it will be even easier.
Until recently, all mail consisted of paper and was handled by the most popular post office, telegraph services, or courier companies. However, recently, three new forms of mail delivery have become popular:
Faxing: Facsimile machines allow paper messages to be delivered over the phone lines. Faxing has an important advantage over regular mail: the message can be sent and received almost instantly. Many companies already routinely send facsimiles to announce offers and other events to prospects and customers who have faxes. There are already directories with the fax numbers of companies and individuals: however, some prospects and customers do not like to receive unsolicited faxes., who occupy the time of their machines and waste paper.
E-mail: Allows users to send messages or files directly from one computer to another. Messages arrive almost instantly and are saved until the person to whom they are sent retrieves them. Many companies already send advertisements, offers, product information and other messages to e-mail addresses for either small or large groups. People who receive more and more e-mail messages, many of them unimportant, can use an "agent" program that separates important messages from those that can be ignored or discarded.
Voicemail: It is a system to receive and store oral messages in a telephone number. Telephone companies sell this service as a substitute for answering machines. The person who has a voicemail account can browse their messages by connecting to the voicemail system and entering a personal code. Some companies have installed programs that dial a large number of phone numbers and leave the ads in the recipients' voicemail mailboxes.
These new methods deliver direct mail at breakneck speeds, compared to turtle mail from the post office. However, like mail delivered through traditional channels, junk mail could breed resentment if it is sent to people who have no interest in it: For this reason, companies must carefully identify the appropriate targets so as not to waste their money or money. recipient time. In some regions of America where large groups of people are located, these new forms of direct mail are not yet available. These are remote and marginalized areas, in which traditional sales methods are used.
Catalog Marketing
This option involves selling through catalogs that are sent to a select list of customers through bank statements, telephone receipts or that is provided in stores. Specialized catalogs have been gaining much demand now that more families have better incomes. Some retailers of this type have grown up with specialized products such as clothing and equipment for outdoor use. In order to increase the number of readers and distinguish themselves from the infinity of existing catalogs, some companies have incorporated ingenious texts and photographs, the purpose of which is to sell a certain image to the public and promote a lifestyle among customers.
Direct response television marketing
The company displays television spots, often 60 or 120 seconds long, that persuasively describe a product and provide customers with an 800 number to order their purchase. Viewers often encounter 30-minute ad programs, or infomercials, for a single product. This direct response advertising works well for magazines, books, small gadgets, tapes, collectibles, and many other products.
Marketing at magazine or local stands
Some companies place information and ordering machines, called kiosks, in strategic places such as shops or airports. Customers can choose products through computers and print their image, price, features and location in the store.
Online marketing
This type of trade is carried out through online interactive computing systems, which link customers with companies electronically. A modem connects the client's computer or "web" machine with various services through telephone lines.
The goal of any marketing system is always to sell more. Who buys The answer to this question is simple, there are four categories of buyers that are the four types of customers for direct marketing at the same time when viewed holistically:
- The current clients of the company. These are dedicated to the greatest efforts, economic and strategic, it is the most profitable investment a company can make in the advertising area: It is cheaper to keep a client with Direct Marketing than to get a new one with any system. futures. Those who do not yet know the company. All companies are looking for new customers, it is necessary to do it, many do it blindly despite having all the information to know where to look for them. Lost customers were customers and did not return. Many companies disappear without knowing how, they were losing customers and never investigated the causes. When they tried to react there was nothing to do. Impossible customers, those who have no preference for any company.Many companies spend money on keeping customers that are impossible to keep.
Customer satisfaction programs
Every time an organization acts for the client, the client makes a conscious or unconscious evaluation of the quality of the service. The total of these perceptions and the collective perception of all clients, creates the image of the quality of service provided. The only way to maintain an optimal image before your clients and prospects (potential clients) is to manage the moments of truth properly. A moment of truth is every moment that a client makes contact with the person or system that provides the service, but, this issue "is another story" as we say in Mexico.
Bibliography
Pereira Julio. Integrated direct marketing. Ed. Marketing. Mexico.
Nieves, Felipe. The Telemarketig profession. Ed. HiTEK. Mexico.
López A. Alfredo. Introduction to market research. Ed. Diana. Mexico
