Direct Response vs. Mass Marketing
When it comes to deciding which is a better approach for your business, just realize that measuring is the key to success, and the only way to accurately measure something is through direct response marketing.
Direct response is the kind of marketing designed to elicit an instant response, which is supposed to encourage a potential customer to take some kind of action.
Think of it like a single salesperson knocking on a stranger’s door, or making a personal phone call to one person, that is direct response.
When it comes to mass marketing, think super bowl commercials and the kind of advertising you see for things you buy at big department stores.
Mass marketing is also referred to as or “branding” or “large-company marketing”
However measuring your advertising, like with direct response marking, efforts serves several benefits:
- You can track sales and success, by having all the numbers in front of you
- See if your advertising works, by split testing or A/B testing
- Figure out profit margin more easily, simply by subtracting income minus expenses
- Ability to notice when things go wrong or break immediately, so it can be quickly addressed and resolved and move on with life
Mass media, whether it’s on the internet, like on a FB ad or YouTube ad, or Television commercials, or in print, like in the mail, is all has to do with the craft and the emotional impact, and has very little, if anything, to do with “fixin’ mistakes.”
Do these kind of advertisements actually increase traffic and sales?
I often wonder why these mass marketed advertisements don’t serve much of a purpose nor have any specific, measurable call to action.
Direct repose is aimed at triggering immediate response, in contrast to mass marketing which often aims to build brand or image awareness, which is really becoming more and more annoying, lame, UN-relatable, and disconnecting.
The one thing that frustrates many business owners and entrepreneurs is that measuring takes time and effort, and it’s pretty common to see many of these people hate having to measure things.
All of us that are used to direct response, nose-to-nose, toes-to-toes selling know the importance of measurement in business.
You could be one sale (letter), blog, FB ad, telephone call, email, delivery, post card, car ride, order slip, package, ticket sale, or Tik-tok video away from paying all the bills and cashing out your paycheck.
Direct response comes in may forms and mediums, the most popular can be:
- Face-to-face selling — Which is kind of like knocking on someone’s front door while the dog is barking a you and the kids are running around the house screaming.
- Direct messages — There when you need it, to take the conversation to a more personal level on social media.
- Newspaper ads — Especially those little classified ads you see people selling things for under $50
- Emails — Sending the kind of messages that don’t get lost in the spam folder and actually sell or keep the reader wanting more.
- Radio — Yes, believe it or not, people still listen to the radio and actually enjoy it
- Direct mail — People call nowadays call this “snail mail.”..a postcard, a check in the mail, a letter from aunt Sue.
- Handing out a business card — Yup, people still do this an it still has quite the lasting impact!
Every product (going in and out)… every interaction (both online and offline), every policy (for better or worse) is either working or not.
Smart business owners, like you, know the impact of measuring something, quick enough, and optimizing or working on making their offers more sexy, so their idea spreads like wild fire.
Think of how things become buzz-worthy, or when SNL picks things up to use in their act, or someone “breaking the internet” started from some small, but very unique, idea.
As technology allows us to better monitor and track our movements in the digital world, through algorithms and data bases, the companies that figure out “what’s working”-fast, and more often will come out as winners. (Of course, it makes dropping things that don’t work much easier as well)
What can you measure? (Cost, time, traffic, profit)
How fast can you see the results? (Usually immediately or in a more timely fashion)
Try whatever you can afford to track and measure.
Different color or size text and paper for your advertisements…
One of the biggest differences between direct response advertising and all other advertising is having to do with the main distinction being the goals of driving a specific action.
It’s kinda like having a conversation and trying to persuade one person, than trying to please a 100 or thousands at once.
Trying to please just one person at a time, is more practical, and is much easier, and when you mastered it, all you got to do is “can and clone” yourself. (something I bring up in the consulting sessions)
The Myth about mass marketing…
The companies that throw lots of money around trying to get their name out have this idea, that the more times they run the ad or promo for said brand, the more likely people will have this brand at the top of their minds when they go to make a purchase decision.
OK, sure that might work in some cases, but aren’t intelligent humans waking up to this kind of impersonal and blatant sales pitch?
Again, The goal of this type of advertising is to remind customers and prospects about your brand as well as the products and service you offer.
People, like myself, that effectively use easy and practical direct response methods and principles don’t stress about reminding customers about the products and services we offer, nor do we stress and become needy of making a sale.
Why? Well, because we are talking to humans and realize that what we have is NOT for everyone.
But, what if you can talk to “everyone” and just get the attention of a sliver of the population
There are over 7.5 billion (yes, billion) people that roam the earth… do you really need to sell to all of them?
What if you could just market your business to a fraction of a percent?
That would still be a crap ton of people, no?
However, this type of mass marketing are effective but it requires millions of dollars in budget.
If a small business owner, like you, tried to go up against one of the big brands (like the kinds of businesses you see in the New York Stock exchange or Wall Street) with some flashy, expensive mass marketing types of advertising, well your ad would be almost unnoticed and be like a drop in an ocean.
When it comes to Direct Response Marketing, you are giving your business the best possible chance to succeed and have the most competitive edge, on a small budget.
You will smother the competition with little or no effort…
Simply because you focus your energy and efforts on a specific set of problems, for a targeted prospect, and aim to solve a unique solution with a more educated consumer and easier transaction process.
More personality not only equals more profits, but can lower the return rate as well.
Imagine you bought the wrong item from a department store, or it was defective or broken, and the sales clerk offered you a refund, in cash ,no questions asked, but also offered a in store coupon (to be used by midnight that night).
This kind of approach not only retains the customer but also has a built in incentive program and retention plan — the customer to make another purchase and feel important, or like it wasn’t their fault.
When you switch from running sad, boring, poor performing, space ads and tacky fliers, to a more direct response, you instantly turn your ads into lead generating tools rather than just some kind of name recognition tool.
The type of immediate response you can get from a direct response lead generating ad can be a phone call, or opt-in to your newsletter, or even a simple web page with an order form.
Do you, or anyone you like, need more information on what lead generation tools are and how to use them more effectively to increase your traffic overnight? Send me a polite message at: justinmcdonald.consulting@gmail.com
There’s six elements I like to include in a in direct response, lead generating ad which are:
- Customization — Addressing the audience specific wants and needs
- Personalization — How well you know the person and how they like to be talked to
- Clear Target– the specific group(s) of people (buyers) the message is aimed at?
- Customer Centric — focus on the consumers problem rather than benefits of the brand.
- Call to Action — The ad should call the viewer to act upon something and have specific ordering instructions. (for more on this read the next issue or send me a message at justinmcdonald.consulting@gmail.com)
- Urgency — the offer needs to inspire the consumer to act quickly, which can be emphasized by using scarcity and time limits, because, you know, humans are lazy and tend to procrastinate.
Depending on what you do for a living, whether it be running the business or the business is running you, these are all things to consider.
Who are you talking to, and is it necessary for you to talk to literally everyone?
Are you good at selling to people like you, or fairly decent at selling to a specific crowd?
If all this sounds like a lot to keep in back of your mind, it’s OK. It took many years of trial and error to get a good frame work for this.
I am here to help and feel free to send me a message if you need special assistance with getting you up to speed with this whole direct response thing.
Peace,
Justin McDonald
