Trends for 2009: #3. Direct Marketing will be in vogue

In 2009, Direct Marketing will become critical to an organization’s marketing success.

What is Direct Marketing? DM sends its messages straight at a prospective customer typically with media that is sent "personally" to the intended target. The goal of a DM piece is unabashedly to drive a purchase. Examples of Direct Marketing include direct mail, e-mail, telemarketing, desktop applications, mobile marketing, and RSS feeds. While traditionally it is unsolicited (e.g. that junk mail in your old fashioned mail box, or that phone call at supper time), on the internet DM is moving away from the "porn spam" and is tending to quality in-house opt-in lists or programs.

Why will Direct Marketing be hot in 2009? Two simple reasons. (1) It is cheap. (2) It works. In a tight economy, you NEED to get the bang from your advertising buck. DM does that and it is also uniquely trackable. Act now!

In 2008 the best DM was done by ... Barak Obama. His campaign forged a direct communication link between the candidate and the voter through multiple Direct Means, including mobile text messages, email and Twitter.

Things to focus on in 2009:

• Creating targeted and relevant campaigns that can be executed on multiple DM channels
• Tuning existing DM campaigns
• Ensuring your lists are opt-in and accurate
• Personalizing DM campaigns based on profile, preferences, and interactions
• Treat your email list like gold. Use it carefully. Don't abuse it.
• Focus on your existing customers. Mine your customer databases and create appropriate personalized direct offers
  
• Look at each DM media and look for new opportunities.
  

By the way ... for a few years a common industry prediction has been that RSS will replace email. Email still rules. People still won't know what the hell RSS is. However, if you aren't doing RSS, it is a good time to start. First things first, is to figure out for your customers how they can easily understand the technology and use it. RSS does have slow but solid growth as a strong medium of distributing marketing information.

Will I be right? The year will tell!

• Follow this blog and watch for the next marketing trends I'm forecasting for 2009.
• Feel free to contact Market GoGo to discuss this further.