While flashy branding campaigns get the most attention, direct response marketing campaigns, which are designed to convert consumers or acquire leads, are the bread and butter of most marketers’ campaign calendars.
If marketers want to hit their targets and drive growth, they must understand how to influence their target audience to take desired actions, as well as how to build their brand identity.
What is direct response marketing?
Direct response marketing is a marketing strategy in which the goal is to elicit an immediate response from consumers to generate new leads quickly.
Any action, such as visiting a website, making a purchase, or simply sharing a post on social media, can be considered a response.
Direct response marketing differs from long-term marketing activities such as brand identity or raising awareness in that it is designed to elicit a specific desired action.
As a result, tracking the return on investment (ROI) of direct response marketing campaigns is much easier.
Why use direct response marketing?
The goal of direct response marketing is to elicit an immediate reaction from your target audience.
It employs a clear call to action that compels prospects to take action.
It could be signing up for your email list, calling for more information, placing an order, or visiting a website.
Unlike branding, it is low-cost and produces immediate and, more importantly, measurable results.
Who benefits from direct response marketing?
This marketing strategy applies to all types of businesses, small, medium, and large. But here’s why it should be the only option for small-to-medium-sized business owners.
According to Hubspot’s 2019 State of Inbound Marketing Report, there are three major marketing challenges for SMEs.
- 63 percent of the time, you will generate leads and traffic.
- Demonstrate a 40 percent return on investment.
- Ensure a sufficient budget – 28%
These are the boxes that a successful direct response marketing campaign checks.
- Its primary goal is to generate leads.
- It instills a sense of urgency, resulting in a faster response rate.
- It is not expensive to implement.
- It can be tracked.
- It establishes a direct line of communication with high-priority leads.
- It produces measurable results.
A good marketing team can easily track the number of leads they receive, how many of those leads convert to paying customers, and which ads or marketing channels performed well.
As a result, direct response campaigns are ideal for small to medium-sized businesses.
5 effective channels for direct marketing campaigns
To run an effective direct response advertising campaign, you can use a variety of response marketing channels.
You should ideally use a combination of online and offline marketing techniques.
Here are five direct response campaign examples.
1. Direct marketing
Direct mail, also known as snail mail, is an excellent lead generation strategy.
Think about this.
How many emails do you receive from brands daily?
Your inbox is jam-packed with spammy marketing messages.
It’s simple to delete.
Direct mail is now exciting.
It’s something unique that can help to build a positive brand image and initiate a conversation with potential customers.
A referral program can be implemented using direct mail. Include a voucher with a clear CTA for prospects, for example.
When they refer a friend, they may receive a discount on their next purchase.
Using direct mail as part of your direct marketing strategy is a great way to reach your target audience through response marketing.
2. Email marketing
Creating an email direct response campaign is another excellent way to reach out to potential customers.
You could, for example, create a limited-time offer that allows subscribers to access a course or event for free.
In your email, you’d include a CTA button that takes your prospects to a landing page where they can sign up for a free trial.
This type of marketing is effective because it provides value before making a sale.
And, let’s face it, customers enjoy receiving freebies.
3. Digital marketing
Digital marketing tactics such as search engine marketing (SEM), banner advertising, and video marketing should be used in all of your direct response marketing campaigns.
You could create a direct response campaign that responds to the questions your target audience types into Google.
For example, if you know your customers frequently inquire about how to build a remote team, you could write a blog detailing how to find the right talent, what tools they’ll need, pricing strategies, and much more.
You’d include a clear CTA in the blog that directs a customer to book a free-hour consult.
As a result, make it a part of your direct response marketing strategy.
4. Social media marketing
Almost every business uses social media, and the majority of them have a Facebook page.
So why not target potential customers with Facebook ads?
For example, you could create a direct response Facebook ad offering your target audience a free nutritional plan to help them feel better, look better, and lose inches quickly.
All they have to do is like your page and share it with a friend.
It’s straightforward, includes a clear CTA, motivates prospects to act, expands your audience, and if you nurture new prospects, you’ll get more sales and brand evangelists.
So, don’t dismiss social media as a viable direct response marketing channel.
5. TV, Podcasts, and radios
We’ve all seen those television commercials where they offer a bunch of free extras if you “buy now”.
For many years, this type of response marketing has been used. However, with podcasting, your brand has a captive audience.
You can select a highly specific podcast show and tailor your direct response marketing campaigns to the specific needs of their customers.
As a result, make the broadcast a part of your marketing campaign.
As a result, these response marketing strategies help to increase brand awareness, generate qualified leads, increase sales, and expand your customer base.
4 essential tips for building direct response marketing campaigns
When building direct response marketing campaigns, it is critical to base your strategy on your specific goals and KPIs.
If you want to successfully direct your target audience to perform a specific action, whether you want them to click on a link, subscribe to a newsletter, or make a purchase, you’ll need to consider the following factors for all your DRM campaigns:
1. Design your campaign around your customer’s needs
The focus of DRM campaigns should be on your target audience rather than your brand identity.
To elicit the desired response, emphasize how the offer is beneficial to them, whether your latest product solves a common customer problem or you’re simply promoting a sale.
To create a successful DRM campaign, focus on developing a compelling case that will persuade your target audience to take the desired action.
2. Personalize your campaigns
While branding campaigns are frequently promoted to reach as many people as possible with the same message, DRM campaigns work best when highly personalized and targeted at specific segments of your audience.
By doing so, you can ensure that the offer in your campaign closely matches the needs of every user who interacts with it.
With 80 percent of consumers more likely to buy from a brand that offers personalized campaigns, this is an important step in increasing the ROI of your DRM campaign.
3. Use clear calls to action
The call to action (CTA) is the most important part of an advertisement for Direct Marketing Campaigns because it directs your users to take a specific action.
This can be complicated for mobile marketers due to where or when your message is displayed.
Because you only have the user’s attention for a limited amount of time with some mediums, such as rewarded-video, it’s even more important that your CTA is clear and bold, so those interested in your campaign message know exactly what to do next.
4. Create a sense of urgency
DRM campaigns that successfully create a sense of urgency around their offer can encourage their target audience to act immediately, increasing the conversion rate of the campaign.
To create urgency, your campaign creative should include elements such as offer deadlines, limited stock supplies, or simply stating why your proposition is important right now.
What are the benefits of direct response advertising?
Direct response marketing comes with its share of massive benefits.
These benefits can and will take your business to the next level.
Consider these benefits and how they will affect your business.
1. Immediate Return on Investment (return on investment)
Direct response marketing is all about instant gratification and instant profits from instant sales.
With programmatic advertising, media buyers can set the price for a single impression at a time and bid only on valuable impressions.
2. Performance can be tracked
When a user responds (clicks, signs up, etc.), the advertiser knows which ad and which media produced that impression.
Advertisers can determine whether ads are effective, which target group is most affected by the ad, what is the engagement rate, how many clicks are generated daily, and so on by purchasing through a DSP (demand-side platform); all data is simply displayed on the dashboard.
3. Measurable outcomes
Advertisers can easily evaluate campaign performance because they know exactly which ads are being responded to and how much revenue each one generates.
As a result, direct response marketing is one option for testing the scale of consumer responses with a small campaign before launching a large-scale campaign.
Advertisers in digital advertising measure campaign outcomes using granular, real-time DSP metrics and compare them.
4. Targeting specific audiences
While a branding campaign may target anyone to raise brand awareness, a direct response campaign focuses on people who are most likely interested in the product.
Advertisers deliver relevant ads in front of the right person in the right context and at the right time when they buy digital ad space through RTB (Real-time bidding).
5. Precise segmentation
Marketers can create effective segmentation strategies by purchasing a list of potential customers, such as new car buyers, credit card users, clothing shoppers, and so on.
Advertisers can use programmatic advertising to reach out to ad networks that specialize in specific types of content, such as entertainment, beauty, travel, and food.
These websites would then be divided into vertical channels and sold to advertisers who want to reach out to people who are interested in these topics.
Some ad networks, on the other hand, sell audience segments based on demographic, behavioral, or user interests.
Best practices for direct response marketing
To launch successful direct response campaigns, sophisticated consumer data and analytics are required, so that ads can be personalized and delivered on the right channels at the right times to maximize ROI.
Other best practices are as follows:
1. Make the response easy
Consumers are less likely to fill out lengthy forms to access a white paper or to wait on hold for more information.
As a result, make it simple and quick for your customers to respond to your ad, and your conversion rates will rise.
2. Add a specific call to action
Incorporating a specific, clear CTA is part of making the response easy for consumers.
The desired next action should be obvious; tell the consumer exactly what they need to do and how to do it.
For example, if the goal of the campaign is to get people to sign up for your newsletter, only include a CTA button for that action; any other CTAs (such as promoting your social channels) will distract from the goal.
3. Use compelling copy
Consumers are bombarded with advertisements—the average person sees between 4,000 and 10,000 ads per day— and have learned to ignore the majority of them.
Direct response ads must use compelling copy and, if applicable, gripping subject lines to stand out and capture attention.
Ad copy should be as personalized as possible, targeted strategically by channel and medium, and simple enough that consumers understand what you’re offering right away.
4. Follow up
Because many of these campaigns provide value rather than focusing on the final purchase, ensure that your sales and marketing teams understand how to engage prospects further and move them down the funnel.
Will these leads be routed through a ‘nurture’ campaign, or will sales contact them directly?
When launching your direct response campaigns, it is critical to establish the next steps.
Conclusion
Starting a direct marketing campaign is now as simple as it can be.
Simply state a clear offer. Include valuable information about your products or services. Then, provide a means for a direct response through a call-to-action.
When the strategy is complete, you can launch a direct marketing campaign on a demand-side platform and fine-tune it.
