As one who has made a living in both the general advertising and direct marketing worlds, I think I have a pretty good grasp of what constitutes the two mediums.
So when I started to write this article describing the differences between advertising and direct marketing, the first thing I did was to plop down in front of the old Mac and tap out the following definitions:
• The purpose of advertising is to get as many people as possible to remember your product or service.
• The intent of direct marketing is to get a targeted number of people to buy your product or service.
Or, put another way, advertising speaks to people en masse, while direct marketing speaks to people as individuals.
So far, so good. But there's more to this advertising versus direct marketing question than meets the eye.
Now, before I go further, let me say that this may be rather rudimentary stuff for some readers. But if you're in the position of planning, paying for, or overseeing your company's marketing efforts and dollars, it's important to understand the strengths and limitations of both advertising and direct marketing.
What is direct marketing?
When most people think of direct marketing, they think of direct mail -- and, of course, they're right. But these days, direct marketing is so much more.
Along with mail, direct marketing encompasses print advertising, television, online/Internet/extranet, long-format TV (infomercials), telemarketing, virtually any medium that allows you to target a specific audience and then track your response.
A strategically driven direct marketing program must begin with a database of people (be they prospects, current customers, etc.) who have been identified as being your most likely customers.
If you don't possess your own database, you can buy lists from literally hundreds of specialized companies across the land.
This means having a list that is current and narrowly targeted so that your message is going to the right people. Once you know to whom you're talking, your creative executions should speak to these folks in a one-to-one way, exhibiting a real understanding of their wants and needs.
Good direct marketing includes a "call-to-action" response device such as a toll-free 800 number, coupon, Web or e-mail address, etc., as well as a time-sensitive offer for more information, free stuff, discounts, etc. All designed to generate a response and get the dialogue going between you and your audience.
What about advertising?
General advertising, on the other hand, has a different goal. It is designed to make people have positive feelings or inclinations about your product or company, so they'll make a decision in your favor at the point of purchase.
The message is intended for a mass audience with the hope that enough people will see the ad or commercial enough times to have an impression burned into their brains. For the most part, general advertising is not measurable and deciding whether the ads are effective or not is sometimes very subjective.
Advertising is an excellent vehicle to build awareness, create an image and to build your brand. A good example of this is with the Volvo.
Over the years, the advertising has proclaimed Volvo cars as being safe, sturdy, dependable hunks of metal that will survive anything short of a milewide asteroid landing on the hood of the car. They have kept a consistent message (an important feature of brand advertising) that works to reinforce their brand position.
Because of this, most people believe that Volvos are the safest cars on the road.
When they work well together
Can advertising and direct marketing just get along? Yes. In fact, they become stronger when used in tandem. Think about it: You're in the widget business, and you want to be perceived as making wonderwidgets. You want to be the Nike of the widget world. But you also want and need to build immediate sales, or your widget factory will turn into a wind tunnel.
So you run a strong brand awareness ad campaign that gets your message out there and establishes you as a player in the widget world. At the same time, you leverage your brand into direct marketing, i.e., keeping the same tone and manner, visual style, etc., but the focus is on selling your product to a targeted audience.
You create a dialogue with your customers that reinforces your brand and works to build a lifetime investment in them. Boom -- a strategic, two-pronged marketing approach.
This approach is working for companies like The New Yorker, FedEx, Westin Hotels and American Express, to name a few. So think about how a coordinated advertising and direct marketing effort can best serve your needs. Tailor it to your brand, and it can work like gangbusters for you, too.
Jeff Spagnola is vice president/creative director for Hunt Marketing Group, a Seattle-based direct marketing firm with a Phoenix office.
