What is direct response marketing
Direct response marketing is the process of using advertising or other marketing techniques to encourage the immediate action of a prospective customer. This is best done by clearing stating what the product or service can do for the customer and how the customer can move forward in obtaining the product or service.
How does direct response differ from tradition marketing?
Probably the most notable and useful difference that direct response marking has is it’s ability to be very “trackable”.
This is accomplished by creating a very specific channel for prospective customer to flow through.
The process would start with an advertisement of some kind which would have all of the following
- Specific deal or offer
- Specific action for the customer to perform (Call now, email us, etc.)
- and finally a way to ensure the traffic is from this specific ad, this could be a promo code or a designated phone number.
Is direct response marketing expensive?
Well the short answer.. if you are doing it right not only is direct marketing not expensive, but it is actually free. This is because the only reason to run a direct response marketing advertisement is to bring in paying customers. So if I spend $100 on advertising I need to be making at least $101 dollars in revenue. With direct response advertising if you are not coming out ahead of what you are spending then you need to restructure your ad or pricing.
“If you are doing it right not only is direct marketing not expense, but it is actually free”
That is the great thing about direct response marketing is that you get immediate feedback as to whether your advertisement is working, if you spend $10 dollars on ads and have a profit of $20, then the next action is simple, run more ads.
On contrary if you spend $10 on ads and break even or worse lose money then it is obviously time to take another look at you ad, your market, or you offer.
How much does direct response marketing cost?
It used to be that if you own a local small business advertising consisted of buying a newspaper ad for $300, or a radio section for $200-$500. The newspaper and radio station would go on about how many people would receive the newspaper and see your ad, or how many people would hear your commercial.
So you had you dump $300 into an ad and hope for the best.
Luckily, with the advent of social media and search engines, you can get started with advertising with much less commitment or cost.
Direct response marketing through platforms like Google ads and Facebook ads can be done with as little as $5/ day. If your ad works you can increase the budget accordingly, if it isn’t working you can shut it off and start again.
So how should I use direct response marketing?
Although there are many strategies on how to use direct response marketing for each individual business, two common and proven methods are, generating sales and generating leads.
Generating Sales
When using a direct response ad to generate sales, your ad is going to be product or service focused.
These types of ads are targeting people that are currently looking for and ready to buy your product or service.
After clicking on your ad the customer is sent directly to the sales process, that can be a phone number to call or your sales page on your website.
When your ad copy is focus on generating sales be careful not to have to many hoops for the customer to jump through, they are ready to buy now, and the more hoops they have to jump through the better chance they will get distracted or frustrated and leave your sales process.
Generating Leads
If you have a product of service that is high ticket or high commitment, you are normally going to need to spend a bit more time creating trust and understanding with the customer.
In these cases it is best to focus on generating leads for people that are interested in your product or service, and providing them with information.
In these cases after the customer clicks on the advertisement they should be sent into your “funnel”, your funnel is simply a series of stages that you use to provide value and create trust with your customer.
Example of "Sales Generating" copy
“For a limited time we will be offering 10% off deck staining, schedule your staining today”
As you can see this ad copy, is straight to the point of what they are offering. “schedule your staining today” let the customer know that if they click on the ad they will be directed to a page to begin the buying process.
Example of "Lead Generating" copy
“Thinking about staining your deck? Don’t know if you should do it youself or pay a professional? Check out this article on DIY deck staining”
This ad is focused on people that have not decide whether or not the want to pay to have their deck stained, but they are interested in having it done. Anyone who clicks on an advertisement for a DIY deck staining article, is obviously interested in staining there deck.
The fact is, if you aren’t a large corporation with millions of dollars to spend on your marketing campaign, direct response is going to be the best option. It is trackable, scalable, and much more forgiving for a new marketer. Thanks for reading!