Marketing For Dummies, 5th Edition

Chapter 10

Going Direct with Data, Personalization, and Sales

IN THIS CHAPTER

Discovering why direct marketing is critical for any business

Understanding why data matters and how to use it directly

Creating effective direct‐mail and email campaigns

Including calls and call centers into direct programs

First and foremost, direct marketing isn’t simply direct mail, or what most customers call “junk” mail; direct marketing is the process and methodology of marketing directly to your customer via many channels, of which just one is the kind of mail that the USPS delivers.

The goal of direct marketing is to establish a one‐to‐one relationship directly with your customers to achieve lifetime value (discussed in Chapter 16).

Although the terms used for direct marketing strategies and tactics change often with the advent of new technologies and apps, the principles remain constant as, again, human nature doesn’t change with semantics. To this point, other terms for direct marketing efforts include relationship marketing, one‐to‐one marketing, personalization, and direct response. Whatever ...