Direct response marketing is a $170 billion industry. It relies on a few concepts that have existed for half a century.
The concepts have not changed over the years, but the internet has helped them mature and come to greater fruition. With direct response marketing and advertising, each response—and more importantly purchase—is attributed to a specific advertisement. Ecommerce direct response marketing uses the internet as a direct response medium.
1. Prospecting
In the old days, direct response advertising was used to reach individuals via mailing lists. Email was the natural successor to direct mailing. These days there are platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, where identity targeting can be used for direct marketing. Rather than focusing on followers, fans and likes—something a general or brand marketer would do—target individuals to gain prospects not "likes."
US advertisers are collectively spending more than $50 billion in 2014 and 59% of that will be direct response spend, according to eMarketer. This trend away from "brand" spend and toward direct response is even greater within the retail industry. The split within retail is 30% spend on brand and 70% on direct response advertising.
Using Facebook's Lookalike Audiences and Custom Web Audiences can increase your likelihood of turning new prospects into loyal customers.
2. Showcasing Your Products
In the old days, your headline was the most important thing about product marketing. Advertising genius of that day, David Ogilvy, said the following:
"On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. It follows that, if you don’t sell the product in your headline, you have wasted 80 percent of your money."
Times have changed, with social media platforms relying primarily on "headlines" and images to convey a message and capture people's attention. Ecommerce marketers are at an advantage with the purchase only a click away from the showcased product.
3. Offer Something People Want
Pretargeting people with what they want is the best way to produce results with direct response marketing. Many flash sale retailers realize this and make offers specifically around what their subscribers are interested in.
Mobile shopping is huge and continuing to grow rapidly. According to a recent survey, "75% of mobile shoppers have used a mobile coupon." Why not consider targeting mobile users with a mobile-only coupon this holiday season? Last year, during the holiday shopping season, one-third of Ecommerce purchases were made via a mobile device (smartphone or tablet).
4. Measuring Success
Clicks are important, but not the best way to measure success or optimize campaigns for online retail and Ecommerce. Conversions matter the most when it comes to ecommerce, so why not measure success and optimize campaigns this way? Companies using conversion measurement with CPM bidding on Facebook have seen a 40 percent lower cost per conversion when compared to Cost Per Click (CPC).
Want to learn how StitcherAds can help you elevate your direct response marketing strategy? Drop us a line! We'd love to chat.
