First used in the 1960s, until recently direct marketing described the most
common direct marketing approaches: direct mail and mail order. Currently experiencing a surge
in popularity, direct marketing now encompasses all the communications tools that
enable a marketer to deal directly with targeted customers: direct mail, telemarketing,
direct response television advertising, door-to-door/personal selling and the Internet.
Direct marketingis a decision by a company’s marketers to both:
●select a marketing channel that avoids dependence on marketing channel
intermediaries
●focus marketing communications activity on promotional mix ingredients that deal
directly with targeted customers