BMGT 411: Assignment #4 Direct and Targeted Marketing

 

In the last class, we took a deep dive into marketing that leveraged mass communications to reach an audience, TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazines, Billboards, etc.  In Chapter 17, we are going to take a look at methods marketers use to target consumers in a very intimate way, using Direct Mail, email, and targeted interactive marketing.

While targeted marketing is not as glamorous as mass media advertising, it is becoming increasingly popular as brands look to increase their ROI, target their most profitable customers, and measure results.

Good Direct Marketing has a couple of key ingredients:

1. Data. There is a reason you are being targeted.  Whether it be because you meet a certain demographic profile (Age, Income) or you meet a companies desired target based on their goals (Lapsed customer, heavy user, etc) – there is a reason why you are being contacted.  The best Direct Marketers usually have very robust CRM systems to target the right customers at the right time.

2. It’s personal.  Unlike mass media advertising, Direct Marketing is often addressed and communicated in a 1:1 style, with the best Direct Marketers speaking in a way that feels like it is individual for each customer.

3. It has a CTA.  CTA stands for call to action.  Unlike in mass media where the CTA is often unclear, in direct marketing, the advertiser usually makes it pretty clear what they want you to do next.  Use a coupon.  Visit a store.  Call a number.  Good Direct Marketing has great CTA’s.

4. It is measurable.  Direct Marketing has the advantage on the quality of measurement over mass media.  Send an email?  Easily get open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and even heat maps to where customers are looking.  And these results can often come in a few days vs a few months in mass media.

Marketers are also going to extreme lengths to make Direct Marketing more personal – we will discuss next week.  Here is a quick video to see how far you can go:

So you were given examples of Direct Marketing in class last week (if you missed class – grab an email or direct mail from home) and answer the questions below:

1. Who is the brand marketing to you?

2. Who do you think the target was?

3. What data do you think they used to get the name?  Was it external or internal data source?

4. What was the CTA?

5. How will the results, in your opinion, be measured?

This will be a great way for us to get warmed up into the Direct Marketing discussion next week.

Chris Lovett