In the new age of social media and digital marketing some businesses may think there’s no need for direct marketing techniques. Isn’t it enough to promote a website using Google Adwords or advertise to generalised audiences on social media? The answer is a resounding no. Not to use direct marketing is missing out on a golden opportunity to target particular people (either existing or potential customers) with a personalised message about your products or services.

Direct marketing uses a variety of methods (such as direct mail, telephone and email marketing), at the heart of which is a good database. Social media marketing, digital display advertising and search engine marketing doesn’t rely on a customer database, it uses different methods (such as demographics, location and interests) to select which audience your advert will appear to.

Lazy Direct Marketing

Not only does direct marketing allow your business to contact a database of people directly and track their response rate, it can also make your business stand out in our new digital age. The widespread use of the internet and smartphones has made many businesses lazy about using direct mail, leafleting and telephone marketing, but these ‘old school’ methods of marketing are just as important as ever and can be even more effective as more and more businesses switch to digital.

The widespread popularity of social media has also made some businesses think that email marketing is unnecessary. Again, there is no replacement for sending a targeted email directly to a customer’s inbox and tracking their open rate, responsiveness and actions. A one-to one connection with a customer or potential customer cannot be replaced by pop-up digital ads, search engine ads and social media newsfeed ads.

Direct marketing lists can also improve the targeting capabilities of social media campaigns. For example, Facebook allows you to upload customer databases and then target those customers with adverts. This new way of using direct marketing data makes it just as important as ever to keep on top of your direct marketing lists.

A quality database is critical to any good direct marketing strategy. So make sure your business data is up to date, accurate and clean. Contact Corpdata for advice on acquiring or cleaning marketing data.