Direct Response Advertising Right Here, Right Now
A housewife walking down the street spies a taxi-roof ad for a downtown salon with a model showing off a lustrous mane of hair
. In seconds, the taxi is gone and, although she likes what she sees, she thinks, "Maybe later." At the corner, the owner of the local beauty salons steps out and says, "We have a special today. Any cut you like and a free facial. Interested?" Housewife smiles, "Yes." This, in a nutshell, is how direct response advertising works.
Many small businesses have and continue to spend small fortunes on brand advertising, taking out ad after ad in newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, buses and taxis to pitch their products and services. Nothing wrong with this, really, except that brand advertising is expensive and, while it may bring in results, it normally takes time to know if it even works or not.
Many other small businesses go the low-cost path, printing ream after ream of flyers and handing these out to everyone they meet. The problem with this kind of advertising is that, only very few people will actually read the flyers and even fewer of those who do will even bother to respond.
With direct response advertising, you go straight to the customer with your offer and seek an immediate response. The response could be a call to an 800 number to put in an order or request a brochure. Or it could be an email asking for that sample of your product or service that you offered.
The beauty of direct response advertising is you get instant feedback on your message. You immediately know if it works, or doesn't, whether to continue your campaign, improve on it, or drop it altogether and work on a better idea. And you can simultaneously mount your direct response campaign on multiple platforms the traditional media of newspaper, radio and TV ads and online through your email list, web site, or social network page like Facebook or Twitter.
And even if it isn't immediately successful, the direct feedback mechanism gives you the opportunity to interact with potential customers, answer their questions, offer suggestions, possibly even get them to change their minds. At the very least, you could get an idea of what went wrong so you can tweak your approach or message.
Direct response advertising also allows you to get and store information from your customers or potential clients. Not just names, addresses, telephone numbers, but just as important, what they need, what they want, and other information you can use not only to improve your message and how you deliver it, but also your products and services. This information can also come in handy for tracking your sales, purchase frequency and how long customers stay with you.
Like any marketing strategy, direct response advertising won't work unless you know exactly who your target market is. Do your research for each direct response campaign so you will know what your message should be, who to deliver it to, how best to deliver that message, and the best way for them to respond to it. Otherwise, you'll end up making a pitch to people who don't need or want what you are offering.
Most important, remember that direct response advertising is about people. Focus your message on the potential client. You are supposed to make them want your product or service. So talk to them about themselves.
Direct Response Advertising Right Here, Right Now
By: Rolando Valdes
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