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What is "direct marketing"

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
direct marketing
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A direct marketing channel moves goods directly from manufacturer to consumer.
▪ A computer database and direct marketing mail shots are among ideas under consideration.
▪ Britain's direct marketing industry employs more than 25,000 people and generates more than £9 billion in trade and revenue a year.
▪ In combination, the two data sources and techniques probably provide the latest sate-of-the-art in direct marketing.
▪ In the 1980s geodemographic systems were hailed as the powerful new direct marketing technique.
▪ In the case of direct marketing the immediate purchaser may be the actual consumer.
Wiktionary
direct marketing

n. (context business marketing English) Marketing that reaches customers by communications directly addressed to the customer.

WordNet
direct marketing

n. marketing via a promotion delivered directly to the individual prospective customer

Wikipedia
Direct marketing

Direct marketing is a form of advertising which allows businesses and nonprofit organizations to communicate directly to customers through a variety of media including cell phone text messaging, email, websites, online adverts, database marketing, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters and targeted television, newspaper and magazine advertisements as well as outdoor advertising. Among practitioners, it is also known as direct response.

Direct marketing focuses on the customer, data, and testing. Hence, besides the actual communication, a direct marketing campaign will incorporate actionable segments and use pre- and post-campaign analytics to measure results. Characteristics that distinguish direct marketing from other types of marketing are:

  • A database of names (prospects, customers, businesses, etc.), often with certain other relevant information such as contact number/address, demographic information, purchase habits/history, and company history, is used to develop a target market with common interests, traits or characteristics. Generating such a database is often considered part of the direct marketing campaign.
  • Marketing messages are addressed directly to this list of customers and/or prospects. Addressability comes in a variety of forms including email addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, postal addresses, and web browser cookies.
  • Direct marketing seeks to drive a specific "call to action." For example, an advertisement may ask the prospect to call a free phone number, mail in a response or order, or click on a link to a website.
  • Direct marketing emphasizes traceable, measurable responses. It also emphasizes maximizing response rates by testing while minimizing advertising expenses when engaging prospective customers, regardless of the medium used.

Direct marketing is practiced by businesses of all sizes. A direct advertising campaign aims to deliver a good return on investment by showing how many potential customers responded to a clear call to action. This is in contrast to general advertising, which eschews calls for action in favor of messages that build prospects’ emotional awareness or engagement with a brand.