I suppose to enlighten the newbies and skeptics in the readership I should begin with a definition of direct response. After all, it’s what we love to do, what we advocate, and what we insist upon from our clients.
Direct response is the second of two distinct means of strategy as it refers to marketing. The first one is Branding – or mass marketing. Direct is the one that makes the register ring, the number at the bottom of the P & L black and not red.
Direct response marketing is crafted to generate an immediate response, to elicit an action, or at least a reaction. There are many ways in which to evoke such an emotional action. It might be the copy, the graphics, the weight of the paper, the length of the message, the offer, the call to action, the look and feel of the envelope. Or, it’s more like a combination of all of them.
People buy based on emotion, it’s a basic human trait. Sure, we might rationalize it as a need, but everything we purchase is based on want. We need food, clothing and shelter, but we buy organic, wear Ralph Lauren and Prada, and we live in homes that are as large as apartment buildings because we want to. It’s emotion that create the “want” out of the need for the basics of living.
Direct response uses that understanding of human behavior to its fullest when it is done correctly. There are a lot of marketers and would-be marketers that try a particular direct response tactic and call it a loser, a failure at generating both interest and revenue. They try one time and banish the thought of ever doing it again for eternity. That bucket doesn’t hold water.
There are critical elements that comprise effective direct response marketing and advertising campaigns. They are:
The marketer must make it easy for the recipient of the message to take the action hoped for. It might be clicking a button, placing a call, replying to an email, return mail from a delivered piece or whatever is called for.
This knowledge is not something that should wait until the conclusion of the campaign, but at every stage of the campaign so that if needed, tweaks and updates can be implemented to maintain or enhance momentum.
This is a mistake all too many marketers do is not follow up sufficiently. Today it takes a minimum of 7-8 “touches” just to get people to devote sufficient time to take advantage of your offer. So long-term nurturing communications to follow-up is critical to success. Just because the prospect was not ready to take action at the time of the campaign doesn’t mean they will never be interested. It may mean the timing wasn’t right at the time for them.
The absolute worst a marketer should ever produce is breakeven. Breaking even is winning, albeit a thin one. The typical response rate in direct mail is anywhere from 2-3% to as high as 16%. Some of our colleagues produce as high a return as 43-48%. That means for every dollar they spent on direct response they received anywhere from $2 or $3 to as much as $48. Even at doubling your money, you’re miles ahead because you not only made money, you have a much larger corral of paying customers.
Next time we discuss direct response marketing we’ll share with you some of the early pioneers of the game, like the former Amish farmer turned MadMan David Ogilvy, Claude Hopkins, John Caples and Gary Halbert. Oh, and let’s not forget our favorite, Dan Kennedy. Their wisdom and contributions to the direct response marketing revolution should prove to be interesting.
Until then,Cheers!
PS - To learn more about how eLaunchers can help you with your Direct Response Marketing, click the button and schedule a free conversation with me.