SMART BLAST

This week, in deference to the holiday season, we bring you assorted tips and treats. We’ll be back in 2008 with more on the art and science of direct marketing.

For the first time in history, direct marketing surpassed advertising in revenue dollars spent in 2007 -- over 50% of advertising revenues went to direct marketing. Direct marketing shares a common objective with brand advertising: to gain brand awareness, get attention and motivate new sales. However, the two are very different disciplines.

In advertising, the challenge is to reach the greatest number of potential consumers at the most cost effective price point through a variety of channels. A recent study conducted in Houston, Texas tested consumers’ recollection of the source of an advertising message. When asked about one particular message, one that had only been presented through outdoor advertising, consumers said they had seen the message on television. The point is that consumer advertising is often not measurable, and when it IS measured, it is quite often inaccurate.

Direct marketing, with direct mail as king, is targeted, scaleable and measurable. And fortunately for the advertiser, a company can actually track and identify potential customers. When you acquire those new customers, you enhance your lists and then can add more like them. Repeating that success over and over is the beauty of direct marketing.

Across all industries in 2007, marketers realized $11.69 return on every dollar invested in direct marketing*. General advertising can only claim about $5.00 return on every dollar. The moral of this story: you should allocate a substantial portion of your advertising dollars to direct marketing. In 2008, get the most bang for your buck. Now that’s a happy new year.

*Direct Marketing Association, 2007. “Direct Marketing Expenditures Account for 50% of Total Advertising Expenditures, DMA’s 2007 ‘Power of Direct Marketing’ Report Unveils”