Media Selection
Several media are available to the direct marketer:
● Printed catalogs.
● Direct mail ads and brochures.
● Inserts with monthly credit card and other bills (“statement stuffers”).
● Freestanding displays with coupons, brochures, or catalogs (such as magazine
subscription cards at the supermarket checkout counter).
● Ads or programs in the mass media—newspapers, magazines, radio, TV.
● Banner ads or “hot links” on the World Wide Web.
● Video kiosks.
In choosing among media, costs, distribution, lead time, and other factors should
be considered.
Presenting the Message
Now, the firm prepares and presents its message in a way that engenders interest,
creates (or sustains) the proper image, points out compelling reasons to purchase,
and provides data about goods or services (such as prices and sizes). The message
must also contain ordering instructions, including the payment method, how to
designate the chosen items, shipping fees, and a firm’s address, phone number,
and Web address.
The message, and the medium in which it is presented, should be planned in
the same way that a traditional retailer plans a store. The latter uses a storefront,
lighting, carpeting, the store layout, and displays to foster an image. In direct marketing,
the headlines, message content, use of color, paper quality, personalization
of mail, space devoted to each item, and other elements affect a firm’s image.
Customer Contact
For each campaign, a direct marketer decides whether to contact all customers in
its data base or to seek specific market segments (with different messages and/or
media for each). It can classify prospective customers as regulars (those who buy
continuously); nonregulars (those who buy infrequently); new contacts (those who
have never been sought before by the firm); and nonrespondents (those who have
been contacted but never made a purchase)