When you think of “The Ten Commandments,” what image springs to mind? For me, it’s always Charlton Heston, the classic Hollywood Moses. I can picture him now in those flowing robes, with that booming voice and more hair than any metal band. The man definitely had an intimidating presence.
“Creative Court is back in session. All rise.”
I recently awoke after a long weekend to learn that many of the marketing tactics I have been recommending to clients no longer work. Had I awakened in some dystopian alternative universe? Was I in an episode of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone? Or was it all just a dream?
If you’re involved in direct marketing, your judgment day will come.
In Part 1 of the Direct Marketing Dictionary, we explored the hidden meanings behind some unique marketing terms, including “test cell” and “lift.”
You can tell a great deal about a person’s occupation by glancing at their resource shelf.
If the title of this blog post prompted you to click and read more, you’re most likely either new to marketing in general or eager to add a new arrow to your marketing quiver. In either case, learning about the basics of direct marketing can help you get started quickly and on the right foot.
To begin with, despite what you may have heard, direct marketing is more than just direct mail. While its roots are in traditional mail order, direct marketing has grown beyond that to encompass a host of new technologies, customer relationship-building techniques and performance measures. Today, companies of all kinds use direct marketing, which now accounts for 25% of the U.S. marketer’s budget, surpassing newspapers and broadcast TV.1 Some might even argue that digital media is really direct marketing, increasing this number even more.
Here’s a tough pill to swallow: Your brand does not exist unless it has presence.
Reading through a direct response campaign, a consumer likely won’t notice the differences between copy and content. It’s all writing, and it’s all trying to pitch a product. But a copywriter knows that one cannot succeed without the other. The differences between the two might be slight, but they’re worth exploring, especially if you’re trying to establish marketing goals for a successful direct marketing campaign.
This is exciting—your direct mail package just arrived at your prospect’s house. All your marketing strategy, creative direction and hard work are about to be put to The 7-Second Successful Direct Mail Test.