Content Editor and Customer Support at Textr

There are many types of direct marketing, but choosing the right one ultimately depends on your business and what you want to achieve.

Using the right direct marketing channels can increase sales, build better relationships with clients, and much more.

In this article, we’ll define direct marketing before looking at the different types available to businesses. Hopefully, by the end, you’ll know which is best for you.

What is Direct Marketing?

We define direct marketing as any marketing communication between a business and its customers. Importantly, it doesn’t involve a middleman (such as an advertiser) and is presented to an audience that has already expressed some interest in the product.

Using an advertiser or publishing sponsored ads on social media would count as indirect marketing. A business sending promotional texts or emails to customers on their mailing list is direct marketing.

We would use direct marketing channels to:

• Increase customer sales
• Reconnect with lapsed customers
• Generate new business
• Increase customer loyalty

Direct marketing is a powerful tool for businesses, but, like any other marketing, it’s vital to use it properly.

Types of Direct Marketing

There are numerous types of direct marketing. Some are more niche (or outdated) than others, so here are the 5 most common types of direct marketing that you’ll come across:

Telemarketing

Telemarketing is direct marketing done over the telephone. It could either be done by a person or an automated message, and the point is to sell customers your product or service.

Textr provides telemarketing services through its app, allowing you to make and receive phone calls with ease.

Text Message Marketing

Another one of the most common types of direct marketing is via text message. Unsurprisingly, this is where a business sends SMS messages to customers. It may include an automated or manual response service.

Textr also offers text message marketing through its app with incredibly low rates per text.

Social Media Marketing

One of the most powerful types of direct marketing is social media. Your business sets up profiles on social media platforms and engages with customers about the brand. You can also share products, make sales, and promote offers.

Textr also offers text message marketing through its app with incredibly low rates per text.

Email Marketing

Companies often set up email mailing lists to communicate with customers. It’s one of the more common types of direct marketing because businesses can send 

• Newsletters or announcements
• Promotions and discounts
• Ads

Pros and Cons of Direct Marketing

As with any other marketing effort, direct marketing has pros and cons. Here are the main benefits (and drawbacks) of using direct marketing channels.

Pros

Targeted

Direct marketing channels allow you to reach targeted and niche audiences with ease. You can interact with people who have already given their details, or you can refine searches based on demographic and buying behaviour.

Responsive

Your direct marketing response rate depends on the channel, but you’ll almost always see better rates than with indirect marketing. After all, you’ve already refined your audience, so you’re marketing to people who have some interest in what you’re selling. 

Measurable

If your direct marketing channels provide a call to action or discount code, it’s easy to measure their success. You can even check things like email open rate. As such, you can gather actionable data to inform future campaigns.

Informative

Depending on the types of direct marketing you use, you can inform customers about your brand in great detail. For example, you could run an email campaign explaining your products and include discount codes to sway people into buying.

Cons

Cost

Some directing marketing channels look inexpensive on the surface, but the costs can add up. When we looked at direct marketing with examples above, we mentioned text and email campaigns. You can send a text for as little as $0.01. But after you’ve sent 50,000 to your customer base, you’re suddenly paying a lot.

It really depends on the size of your customer base, your budget, and your goals. You can set up inexpensive campaigns, but they can get out of hand if left unchecked.

Intrusive

Some customers will just ignore direct marketing if they’re not interested, whereas some might find it intrusive. It’s more true for poorly-targeted campaigns, but it’s worth considering regardless.

Competitive Environment

Granted, with indirect marketing, you’re just another ad on a webpage. But, your customers might receive hundreds of ads through their direct marketing channels, meaning you must stand out from the competition.

Best Practices for Direct Marketing Response Rates

It’s worth spending some time thinking about your direct marketing channels before launching new campaigns. Here are some tips for getting the best results:

• Write compelling copy. Keep it short and sweet and tempt the customer to buy.
• Where possible, send direct marketing during business hours. It should help make things feel less intrusive.
• Make sure you understand your target market. If you don’t, it’s no different to indirect marketing.
• Don’t be afraid to follow up. There’s nothing wrong with a follow-up message, but don’t send out more than 3 per campaign.
• Personalize your messages. Even adding the customer’s name can make a big difference.
• Offers draw people in more than anything. Remember, use unique codes so you can track the campaign’s success.

Using Textr for Direct Marketing Channels

Textr offers various direct marketing channels through a single, central hub for convenience. You can use the platform to buy American and Canadian local numbers, which you can use to send SMS for marketing and customer service purposes.

Better yet, Textr allows you to collaborate with your team. Everyone can call and text from a centralized platform, making communication a breeze. It’s available on Android, iOS, and the web, meaning everyone can access it regardless of their device.

So, if you want flexible, low-cost plans to start taking advantage of direct marketing, try Textr today.