How to Be Successful in Online Direct Marketing

Compared to mailing marketing materials, online direct marketing is very inexpensive, especially as postage rates continue to raise. With a little effort, it can also generate enough responses to be equally successful. Generally, online direct marketing focuses on creating communication between you and your customers, giving you the opportunity to target specific customers with relevant promotions.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Review the different techniques for getting your online marketing materials in front of your potential clients. You can use direct email, as well as more passive techniques, such as online advertising and dedicated websites.

2. Consider hiring direct marketing specialists if you do not feel comfortable creating or implementing an online campaign. Ask them to provide you with samples of successful campaigns they've worked on in the past, as well as an idea of responses you might expect.

3. Develop or buy a list of contacts that you can market to, especially if you plan to use email marketing techniques. A contact list is also helpful for tracking responses and determining how successful a given campaign is.

4. Create your marketing materials. You can either design and write your own materials or outsource the development of your pieces. It is especially important to send unique and clear messages online because of how easy it is for potential clients to ignore and avoid marketing online.

5. Carry out your online direct marketing campaign, tracking responses throughout. In online marketing, there are often two measures of success: the number of visitors your website receives as a result of the campaign and how many of those visitors actually purchase your product or service.

Tips & Warnings

• Many websites now rely on networks to develop content. You can use these networks to create interest in your marketing materials as well.

• A long-term online direct marketing campaign can be especially effective if your goal is to create repeat customers. Techniques such as email newsletters or blogs are effective tools for this purpose.

• Online marketing techniques can be used in conjunction with direct mail marketing, telemarketing or other methods of direct marketing because of the central nature of a website. All other media can lead a potential client directly to a website.

• For effective online direct marketing, you will need a website that allows for online purchasing of the item you are marketing. Using online techniques to drive customers to either telephones or mail are notorious for extremely low response rates--lower than any other type of direct marketing.