Direct Marketing as an Alternative Channel - Coursework Example

Direct Marketing as an Alternative Channel Introduction Direct marketing is a form of advertising that makes it possible for the producers of goods to bypass middlemen, who were an essential part of traditional marketing, and communicate directly with their customers. The means of communication vary from emails, texting, catalogue distribution, and advertising websites, among many others. The result of this form of advertising is that it has allowed companies to communicate directly with their customers while also ensuring that they receive the necessary feedback to improve their products. Direct marketing has become an essential alternative channel of product advertising because unlike other forms of advertising, it allows the customer to be an active participant in the process through their provision of feedback to manufacturers. Distribution Channels Direct marketing can be considered to be an essential part of the contemporary lifestyle mainly as a result of the easier forms of communication such as the internet that have become common. It is fast becoming a major source of information concerning different products that are on the market and this can easily be communicated to consumers. This form of marketing has developed in extremely unexpected ways and it has become big business for manufacturers and service providers because many individuals have come to be influenced by it (Hasan, Rahman & Khan, 2013). One would suggest that among the fastest growing markets today as a result of direct marketing are those that deal with new products such as communication technology, beauty products, and organic food among others. This has been because the new form of advertising that a significant number of companies have adopted to promote their products have served to ensure that consumers are made aware of how they work as well as encouraging them to make recommendations concerning the best way through which these products can be improved. This form of advertising has come to revolutionize the way individuals in the society view the consumption of diverse products; allowing for the development of a greater range of products to satisfy the different needs of consumers. This type of marketing, while being very effective in the provision of information concerning new products to consumers, has also allowed for the development of more accurate consumer feedback concerning products because of the elimination of middlemen. Direct marketing tends to create a positive perception concerning all the products that are advertised because they only display the best aspects of the products and often hide most of the other information, such as possible side effects, from consumers. Direct marketing is a method of advertising that recognizes that the management of products at any company has to be based on the understanding which the latter has for its customers (Peppers & Rogers, 1993). The result has been that many companies in the world today have come to adopt very customer friendly attitudes so that they can be better able to communicate. Because of the customer friendly attitude that these companies have come to adopt on a cross-cultural level, consumers have ended up feeling confident when purchasing products and these companies have encouraged them to voice their opinions concerning matters which can be improved on the products or services. The understanding that is developed of the consumer’s needs enables the business involved to determine the type of products that it can put in the market as well as the means through which it will be able to ensure that the product is marketed to achieve the sales required. In addition, the manufacturers’ understanding of consumer needs is designed to help the former determine the areas whose performance need to be enhanced as well as ensuring that the consumers are provided with the opportunities that are necessary for the promotion of their own personal needs when products are being developed. This process is conducted in thorough ways which gives the companies involved the opportunity to measure the actions that they have taken in a bid to satisfy consumer needs. The close relationship between consumers and the manufacturers provides the latter with the opportunity to make an analysis of the factors that determine how consumers make purchases over a certain period. It is a means through which an organization is able to be in a position where it is competent enough to provide guidance to the consumers of its products towards a path that will lead to their making more purchases in future. Among the biggest direct marketing strategies that have been adopted by companies in the technologically advanced contemporary world is advertising through social networks. The self-presentation phenomena that has come along with social networking has brought about a situation where users have control over information that they either want to disclose or disclosed by advertisers on their profiles (Steel & Angwin, 2010). The social network users can therefore, manage self-presentation in an easier way as compared to face-to-face interaction. The easy accessibility of social networks has also enabled many companies to conduct business through these networks because they allow companies to purchase advertising space. Since they constantly have many active users, these networks have become a favorite for many businesses to advertise their products; leading to a situation where it has helped to increase the sales of these companies. The easy accessibility of social networks has enabled their users to give constant updates of what they think of various products, while their friends make comments concerning such updates and this has ensured that companies get immediate feedback concerning their products. When social networking is considered from this point of view, it can be concluded that companies tend to work towards appealing to consumers through the use of direct advertising on social media so that they can not only influence individuals to purchase products, but also for these individuals to encourage their friends to do so as well. Direct marketing as an alternative Direct marketing is a strategy, which provides a wide variety of marketing services, especially for those companies and organizations which wish to communicate directly with their customer. A significant number of companies have in recent years shifted their focus to direct marketing because it provides many services which other marketing strategies tend not to provide or if they do, it is at a lower quality. Some of the services which are associated with direct marketing include the following: strategic consultation; direct marketing; the promotion of sales through such strategies as sampling; event marketing; marketing in a multicultural setting; and finally, interactive services (Nguyen & Mutum, 2012). The use of direct marketing has been found to be quite advantageous for most companies because it provides access to potential customers even in the most remote areas of the world. The development of the internet as well as its being among the most accessed tools of direct marketing in the world has increased the possibility of companies gaining access to more consumers than traditional means of marketing. Among the biggest advantages of direct marketing for many companies is that it is not only done at a local level, its marketing campaigns are also done at a regional, national, and international level and this is one of the reasons why this means of marketing is one of the most successful of its kind worldwide. Direct marketing can be considered to be so efficient that it is able to effectively compete against other marketing strategies to such an extent that it has an edge over them. When compared to other means of marketing, one is likely to find that direct marketing is probably more popular than the others hence more returns to those companies that invest in it. This is one of the means of marketing which most companies in the globe should aspire to invest in because it is a guarantee of their success not only in the present, but also in the future. Direct marketing can be considered to be the best alternative channel of distribution and companies need to get involved in this type of marketing in order to better reach more customers in the process of marketing their products. It should be noted that while some companies have adopted direct marketing strategies, there are some which have chosen to retain traditional modes of advertising (Jansen & Mullen, 2008). However, most of the latter have not been able to achieve the same level of success as those that make use of direct marketing. A significant number of companies are moving from the old mode of marketing and relying heavily on direct forms of marketing such as making use of social networks. Instead of the impersonal marketing modes of the past, these companies have come to realize that it is essential to deal with potential customers on a more personal basis so that more reliable data can be collected. Due to the availability of a lot of data that is brought about by social networks and consumer websites, online marketing is a safe investment for companies to make because it is a rich source of information on how to handle future marketing. Most of the companies which have no set online marketing strategies often find it difficult to handle most of the marketing data they receive using traditional means because they have to work for many months, if not years, in order to determine what it is that consumers want. Among the reasons why companies find it so difficult to handle this data is because they tend not to use the multiple approaches in collecting it that is involved in direct marketing and instead, they concentrate on a single approach (Moe, 2013). Moreover, the best practices for handling direct marketing data have yet to be put in place in some companies because involving their leaders in the implementation of direct marketing strategies is still an ongoing challenge. Managing direct marketing requires that there is a change in existing marketing strategies and a focus should be made on integrating unstructured and semi structured consumer information as a key requirement in these companies’ attempt to improve their engagement with their customers. While traditional marketing strategies remain one of the most important means of marketing, direct marketing helps in the drive towards the process of companies engaging with their customers. It has, therefore, become essential for companies to opt for direct marketing because this is the only way through which they can be able to efficiently compete on a global scale. Processes and issues in direct marketing It has been noted that before the advent of the internet, a significant number of companies had not seen the reason for conducting an aggressive direct marketing campaign. In fact, some had simply set up websites in the hope that their customers would leave comments on them without having to be prompted (Balaram & Adhikari, 2010). However, this turned out not to be the case because many of the customers chose to either seek out other products in case they were unsatisfied, or abandoned the product altogether. The result of such situations was that business moved from major companies to agents who acted as middlemen, and these are the ones which grew swiftly, making acquisitions and conducting marketing campaigns on behalf of manufacturers and service providers in order to attract a larger customer base. As a result of this situation, many companies came to realize that they had given too much power to middlemen and were not interacting directly with their customers. Instead, a significant number of them chose to adopt direct marketing as a means of making sure that they would end up having more control over their communication with consumers. One of the reasons why these companies chose to do their own direct marketing was the fear that the few middlemen that dominated the marketing process would end up running it like a monopoly, demanding unreasonable commissions from these companies for their services. However, despite this venture being very beneficial to these companies, it has come at an immense cost, because currently, the latter have to spend much more money than they used to for the purpose of maintaining a strong presence in the direct marketing business, which has long been dominated by middlemen companies. While this may have been the case, one would suggest that direct marketing as an alternative form of distribution has managed to make sure that the communication between manufacturer and consumer has ended up being beneficial for both parties. Characteristics of direct marketing A significant number of companied in the world today have come to the realization that direct marketing is the future of marketing, and this has led to many businesses coming to view it as the solution to all the marketing problems they are experiencing. More companies than ever today have sought to align their strategies into various forms of direct marketing, and this has led some to completely ignore traditional means of marketing, such as the use of printed adverts among others, which, if combined with direct marketing strategies are often successful (Jansen & Mullen, 2008). This trend is making companies to lose focus on alternative marketing strategies since their sole focus is on online marketing which, while a useful form of direct marketing is not the only one. In order to ensure their survival, some companies have come to adopt a strategy where they adopt direct marketing that encourages the development of online communication while at the same time investing in other channels such as distributors, catalogues, the establishment of sales teams, as well as involving value-added resellers in the channel. To get into direct marketing using such a strategy would therefore mean that these companies are taking into account quite a large consumer base that needs to be tapped into in order to maximize the profits that they make. Other forms of direct marketing, such as print, trade shows, and exhibitions, are as important as online marketing and it is for this reason that they have not been allowed to die out as a result of the development of better technologies. These forms of marketing can be considered to be the best means of making brands recognizable, because most people tend not to spend their money on products or services from companies of which they have never heard. It has been found that many companies have come to recognize that the best marketing strategies are those which target individual audiences. Despite the essential need to develop direct marketing strategies in order to get to know consumer needs, there are often situations where these companies end up having problems with their budgets because they have to constantly revise their marketing strategies (Lee & Ahn, 2012). These constant changes often come about as a result of the need to keep up with consumer needs which vary from time to time. The greatest effort that many companies have to go through in direct marketing is to create advertising material that can be able to keep up with the demand of consumers without exceeding the budgets that they have. However, the emergence of direct marketing based on newer technologies has made it possible for a significant number of companies and manufacturers to meet their budgetary demands in the development of means of communicating efficiently with their customers. Effective means of communication between companies and their customers ensures that products can be distributed in diverse marketing environments. Furthermore, it ensures that they are able to produce cross media marketing materials that are localized to effectively respond to the ever changing consumer climate. Strategies of direct marketing There are many aspects of consumer behavior which different companies tend to emphasize in their marketing plan. In most cases, many of these aspects are more concerned with the efficiency and affordability of the product as well as the existence of similar products on the market. It has become essential for these companies to keep these aspects in focus whenever they conduct direct marketing because it is the knowledge of what consumers want that make it possible for them to develop the products that consumers need (Goldfarb & Tucker, 2011). Without some form of direct marketing, it has become the norm in the contemporary business world for products not survive for too long in the highly competitive market that has developed as part of the globalized world. The strength of direct marketing campaigns has come to rely heavily on the need for manufacturers and service providers to understand the attitudes that consumers have towards their products. This understanding tends to be developed in a variety of ways such as ensuring that consumer feedback is acquires constantly so that it allows for the development of better products that are more efficient than those of rival firms. This is necessary in direct marketing because consumers tend to put efficiency before any other aspect before purchasing a product in such a way that these individuals might have a preference for purchasing a product which is not only fast, but also wastes less time when it is being used. Such situations sometimes occur even though the products involved are more expensive than similar products from other companies. Therefore, companies involved have to work on improving the efficiency of products in order to attract more consumers by promoting the efficiency of their products. Another aspect of direct marketing which has an effect on consumer behavior and should be considered is the frequent changing of how products are packaged. Studies have shown that customers tend to believe that the products with a look that is new and different from the previous one is better (Oguinn, 2008). Therefore, when conducting direct marketing, companies should ensure that the look of their products is changed frequently to ensure that consumers are kept interested in them. New tools and technologies should be incorporated into direct marketing of new product forms being marketed to make sure that the company involved remains in constant touch with customer needs. Consumers tend to prefer products which they can use anywhere at their own convenience, meaning that direct marketing should be used in such a way that products are made more attractive to consumers. There are also instances where direct marketing can be used to promote products through portable devices. Consumers are more likely to want to buy a product because of the ability to use in any situation where they need the said product and it is essential to use direct marketing as a means of introducing the latter into the market. Conclusion Direct marketing has become an essential alternative channel of product advertising because unlike other forms of advertising, it allows the customer to be an active participant in the process through their provision of feedback to manufacturers. The study above has shown that it is fast becoming a major source of information concerning different products that are on the market and this can easily be communicated to consumers. Furthermore, direct marketing tends to create a positive perception concerning all the products that are advertised because they only display the best aspects of the products. It is a means through which an organization is able to be in a position where it is competent enough to provide guidance to the consumers of its products towards a path that will lead to their making more purchases in future. Moreover, a significant number of companies have in recent years shifted their focus to direct marketing because it provides many services which other marketing strategies tend not to provide or if they do, it is at a lower quality. It has been noted that while some companies have adopted direct marketing strategies, there are some which have chosen to remain under the traditional modes of advertising. In addition, managing direct marketing requires that there is a change in existing marketing strategies and a focus should be made on integrating unstructured and semi structured consumer information. Finally, it has become essential for these companies to keep these aspects in focus whenever they conduct direct marketing because it is the knowledge of what consumers want that make it possible for them to develop the products that consumers need. References Balaram, A. & Adhikari, B. (2010). Managing Customer Relationships in Service Organizations. Administration and Management Review, 21(2): 65-78. Goldfarb, A. & Tucker, C.E. (2011). Privacy Regulation and Online Advertising. Management Science, 57(1): 57–71. Hasan, M. R., Rahman, M., & Khan, M. M. (2013). Rural Consumers’ Adoption of CRM in a Developing Country Context. International Journal of Business and Management Invention (IJBMI), 2(9): 121-131. Jansen, B.J. & Mullen, T. (2008). Sponsored search: an overview of the concept, history, and technology. International Journal of Electronic Business, 6(2): 114–131. Lee, J. & Ahn, J-H (2012). Attention to Banner Ads and Their Effectiveness: An Eye-Tracking Approach. 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