Direct Mktg.

Case study

DIRECT MARKETING CASE-STUDY: The four steps that has to be performed are: 1) Product Offering 2) Lead Generation 3) Database Development 4) Methodology/ Channels Used. First and foremost, define the Target Audience w.r.t. Demographics, Psychographics, SEC 1) PRODUCT OFFERING: Introduction of the Product- Name of the Company/ Brand name The Core Benefit of the product Features of the product- to include the range/variants (if any). Price of the product & its variants. Incentives- by way of discounts, free gifts, special bonus offers, combo-pack offers, free volume offer etc. Other specifics such as design, packaging, quality, performance, detailed description of the product/service. Service is very important so could be after-sales, warranties, customer help-lines etc. Guarantees- this is very critical to DM- depending on the product, formulate the Guarantee. For example, if it is a computer institute, then you can state 100% Job placements assured; if it is a gym equipment, then it may be a free 7 day home trial or if not satisfied, a refund, of say 25% of your money etc. Depending on the product devise the guarantee. Mode of delivery, speed of delivery, terms & conditions of delivery and payment. Any other communications that may be tied to your product offering such as a monthly newsletter that may be sent to you to keep you updated or an invitation to some event, a magazine like Shoppers Stop that has its First Citizen Update etc. Loyalty/ Reward program or scheme that may automatically come on buying the product- a membership card, reward points etc. Highlight the Welcome cycle, the maintenance stage, and the renewal cycle. Also, state Cross-sell products and up-sell products (If possible). 2) LEAD GENERATION: This will be targeted to your T.A. It is a method to understand who your prospects are through their responses. Lead Generation may be thro one-step approach or two-step or multi-step approach. Remember to lead generate in as many ways as possible for the success of the lead generation program. Lead generation must specify the message that you state to prompt a specific response and the message must be consistent across various media

One-step/stage approach- you will initiate the response and sale simultaneously, at the same time. Example, a Binding card attached to a magazine or a newspaper cutout or a direct mail attached with a Business reply Postcard or envelope; this will highlight the product offering as well as induce the sale by asking you to send the cutout along with the cheque/DD/ credit card no. etc(e.g. Femina induces people to subscribe to the magazine, or a bank, Readers Digest sends you a mail). This approach will include all relevant details such as all information that you are required to fill for their database records as well as mode of payment & delivery. Multi-step/stage approach- will first get the consumer to write in or log on or call in on a toll-free no.or sms/text and only at the second or subsequent steps initiate the sale thro highlighting the product offering thro direct mail or personal selling or telemarketing or sms. Sometimes, it is done by asking you to participate in a contest or sweepstake and then at the later stage, will sell the product. Lead Generation is facilitated by appropriate targeting thro proper selection of lists(especially if using direct mail, catalogues mailed in etc). Lead generation may also use flyers, inserts, or regular advertising that give a Toll free 800 no. or a website address etc. 3) DATABASE DEVELOPMENT- This is done thro 4 steps- i) Manage the Data source ii) Manage the Data Entry iii) Manage the database iv) Database applications. i) Manage the data source- All sources from where data will be collected for the purpose of developing the database. This could be database bought from other providers such as cellular services, banks, magazine subscribers, club membership holders, from Govt sources- such as pan card holders, Car registration sources, ration card, telephone directory, from Direct Marketing Syndicates etc. ii) Manage the data entry- validation of names and other details thro deduplication, merge-purge and verification to ascertain the authenticity of the data. So, after this process names & other relevant data is entered for usage. iii) Manage the database- Will it be managed In-house or by a Bureau. Will assign separate fields, field names & types. Maybe a field is classified by phone nos. starting with 25 or maybe people who reside in Malabar Hill or maybe narrow it down by street names, or pincodes or certain lifestyle traits, or interests etc. This also calls for classifying a Master Database, Customer Database ( all details of the customer by demographics and psychographics, their response to your offer at which attempt, media or channel they prefer, Referrals etc), Operational database(track details of payment, mode of payment, mode of delivery, time of delivery etc.), Marketing database(Recency, Frequency, Monetary; by products sold etc). CRM will be managed thro database to measure the degree of loyalty and what loyalty schemes & incentives must be given so as to deepen the relationship &LTV of the customer. Also mention in brief how you will determine regarding discontinuity or termination and the time frame for termination. iv) Database Applications- this will be managed thro the various application software such as DBMS. DFS, Oracle etc so as to secure the confidentiality of the

database even as it shares information with the multiple users of the database within the organization. Database applications include: Customer applications, Dialogue applications & Management applications 4) METHODOLOGY/CHANNELS USED- First and foremost decide the channels such as Direct Mail; Direct Response- Newspaper, Magazine, TV, Radio; Internet; Catalogues; Brochures; Telemarketing; Personal selling; Text messaging (SMS) etc. May use a combination of these too. State the Positioning, Involvement devices. The AIDA method of advertising In Newspapers- what kind of creative and call to action, Similarly in magazines, TV may be infomercials. The tone and appeal, Internet- pop-ups, banners, interstitials, buttons, display ads. Can have involvement devices such as rub-ons etc. Mention the attention appeals like the opening line or statement may read Good news for spectacle wearers or Want to get Glamorous etc. Dramatize the features, Highlight the U.S.P., State the Trigger Message (on the outer envelope or page). The Quick Response/Action Line (Hurry Up!, Offer valid till April 30, 2009 etc). In the Body, highlight the Incentives. PERSONALIZE. Customize, if possible. Also ensure the order fulfillment aspect like completing a response form and mailing it or dropping a business-reply envelope/postcard etc.

Cross Selling Cross selling is the process of selling related, peripheral items to a customer. The strategy of pushing new products to current customers based on their past purchases. Cross-selling is designed to widen the customer's reliance on the company and decrease the likelihood of the customer switching to a competitor. While selling a product to the customer, you can check out their preferences and come up with suitable products to cross- sell to your customers. This helps in the retention of the customer. If you are an Insurance agent with a list of people who have bought Life Insurance, then how do you sell them accident insurance, medical insurance, retirement plans? You are a bank with a large number of savings account customers, how do you sell them credit cards, loans, mortgages, travelers cheques etc? You are a gas station and have addresses of people who come to take gas, how can you sell them auto repairs, car servicing, car washes? If you are a toiletries manufacturer who has a list of people who buy fragrances/perfumes, how can you sell a range of cosmetics? Cross-selling is an opportunity to sell a second product or another product that is related to your earlier one.

SPAM

Definition - Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail.

E-mail that is not requested. Also known as "unsolicited commercial e-mail" (UCE), "unsolicited bulk e-mail" (UBE), "gray mail" and just plain "junk mail," the term is both a noun (the e-mail message) and a verb (to send it). Spam is used to advertise products or to broadcast some political or social commentary. Like viruses, spam has become a scourge on the Internet as hundreds of millions of unwanted messages are transmitted daily to almost every e-mail recipient as well as to newsgroups. Unfortunately for users and fortunately for spammers, as an advertising medium, spam does produce results. Even if only an infinitesimal number of users reply, it is still cost effective since e-mail is a very inexpensive way to reach people. In order to alleviate some spam, ISPs have added an enormous number of servers doing nothing more than spam filtering. The CAN-SPAM act in the U.S., which provides severe penalties for spammers, if they can be located. WHY SPAM? Simple mathematics. Suppose that out of 2,000 spam messages, one person clicks the link, and the spammer makes $1. If a million spams were sent that day, the spammer made $500, and the job might have taken a half hour to set up. That means only a few hours per week could yield $100,000 a year. Is that incentive enough for high-school students, or would they rather go back to their paper routes? Of course, consistent revenues are not guaranteed, but some spammers make a whole lot more than $100,000 every year. In any case, there is ample motivation. As spam filtering becomes more sophisticated, spammers have to send even more spam to make the same money, but e-mail lists can be purchased for very little or hijacked, and there is a thriving ancillary business selling lists to spammers. There are even third-party spam service providers that will do all the work for you. Spammers justify their existence by citing the enormous amount of unsolicited ads we get via the postal system, which wastes trees and other resources. They claim advertisers pollute the environment every day with obnoxious ads on TV, radio, buses and billboards. Of course, they have a point; especially regarding the tons of paper thrown in the "real" trash can every day. However, none of these other approaches threaten to close down the system they live in. Lead Qualification

Lead qualification is designed to screen out bad leads or non-serious prospects. Too many advertising/promotion dollars - and too much time - are spent on people who will never buy. Unless your lead generation advertising weeds these people out, it's not working effectively. It's putting a strain on

those who process and follow up on leads. The media you select, the offers you make, your creative strategy, and even your tone all play key roles in drawing out high potential prospects and screening out suspects Site Traffic Generation No matter how cool your site or how fabulous your product, you're not going to generate enough sales to make your business viable unless you can generate traffic. You have to get the word out about your site and give people a reason to visit it. The good news is, there are lots of ways to effectively advertise your site online and drive much of qualified traffic to your site, all for free! And by qualified, I mean people who belong to your target market and who are most likely to buy the products or services you offer. These are the people you want coming to your site. Site generation also is created through advertising i.e. by advertising about your site to attract your target market.