Direct Response Marketing Delivers Results for Small Businesses

Direct Response Marketing vs. Branding—There's a Big Difference:

As a small business owner, your advertising budget is probably already too thin. You'd rather not gamble, which is exactly what most advertising is: a risky attempt at hitting the jackpot of customers, but you've got to put in the coins whether you hit three 7s or not. What if you could pull the slot handle first, and then put the coins in afterward? That's the idea behind direct response marketing.

In 2002, pay-per-click arrived on the Internet advertising scene, offering websites the chance to pay only for results. Pay-per-sale, on the other hand, is based on an age-old technique that doesn't just deliver results, it delivers sales with a lot less risk. Both techniques offer more direct and measurable results that most forms of traditional advertising.

While there are many types of direct response marketing campaigns, the benefits of direct marketing for small business owners are well worth the time it may take to learn about them. A direct response campaign is a much more measurable form of marketing than putting up a billboard, commercial, or magazine ad, because the primary customer is being contacted directly and being encouraged to respond. Each response is a measure of the success of the advertisement.

Direct Response Advertising is Characterized by Four Primary Elements:

1. An offer.
2. Sufficient information for the consumer to make a decision whether to act.
3. An explicit "call to action" (such as signing up for a newsletter or purchasing a product).
4. Means of response (typically multiple options such as a toll free number, web page, or email).

Because the results of direct response marketing can be precisely tracked and monitored, there's a significant risk reduction in forming a direct response campaign. Often, the cost of producing a webpage or YouTube video is minimal compared to the expected result.

To create a direct response campaign, calculate the cost of producing your product or offer and the marketing campaign. Then, figure out how many responses make it "worth" your investment. 20? 2,000?

To Create a Campaign, You'll Need the Following::

1. A product or offer. (It can be an electronic one, such as an e-book, online course, or even a free newsletter).
2. An avenue that fits your target market, and that can be measured in terms of how many people are being reached.
3. A certain kind of desired response: a blog comment, filled out contact form, purchase, etc.
4. Someone who keeps track of how many responses are received versus the approximate number of potential customers who viewed your marketing campaign.

Some of the most successful small business owners I know have dumped every form traditional advertising for marketing avenues that get a direct response. They mail coupons and postcards only to their existing customer list, rather than purchased ones, and count how many coupons come in and how many sales they make. Some of them host events at their business and sell tickets that cover their entire marketing budget for the event, leaving all sales and connections made at the event to be pure profit. (We'll cover that sort of event marketing in the next section, by the way.)

The bottom line is that there is no magic mirror to see who is looking at your pre-paid billboard. Unless the advertising method promises results, leave it for the big corporations who have all the money in the world to waste on flashy signs.

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What's Next

Next In This Guide
Part 7:
Event Marketing for Your Small Business - A little creativity can go a long way. Host events at your company and watch customers walk through the door.

Previous In This guide
Part 5:
Focus on Your Target Market - The key for any small business owner is to focus on your target market only: What do they want, and what don't they want? Sometimes, less is more.

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Street Smart Guide to Small Business Marketing

 

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