What’s the right channel for me? Why not all of them

10/01/2012

If DM is on the way back, should we be dropping email and going back to good old mailings? Yes, but not at the expense of email. According to the Direct Marketing Association, open rates for acquisition emails halved between 2008 and 2010. On the other hand, 91% of prospect DM was opened in 2010.

What’s more, the ROI on digital marketing, including email, search, banners and pay per click, was three times that of direct mail in 2006. By 2009, they were roughly equal, and the probability is that today the ratio favours DM.

It’s certainly true that in the rush to include digital and social media in their marketing plans, many people have ignored or overlooked traditional channels. Or they are simply not aware of big changes in the ROI of the media they use or should be using.

At the same time, more people are now turning away from social media, particularly the early adopters, according to a recent Gartner study. Which means that its’ effectiveness as a marketing medium will be reduced. Email is also flagging, with a recent US survey showing that over half of all emails are deleted within two seconds without ever being opened – and that’s without the additional hurdle of having to beat spam filters and actually get to the Inbox.

Changing channels

So what do these changes mean for marketing people who want to maximise their reach to prospects and conversions from customers? How do they build business, gain market share and boost profitability – ever more important at the moment in our tough economic climate.

The statistics seem to suggest that we should be giving up email marketing and online and putting marketing budgets into DM. However, this isn’t the answer.

These days, it’s not a case of DM or email, email or SMS, DM or social media. The hardest working campaigns use the unique advantages of all of these different channels in truly integrated marketing activities. DM drives traffic to the website. Email supports the DM and adds an extra push to the web. Mobile marketing and SMS can work with different audiences. Social media like Facebook, Twitter and for B2B communications, Linked-In, all add to the mix.

It’s all about engagement. It’s all about targeting, messaging and relevance, and about using all of the channels at your disposal to get noticed. And then when you’ve got a new customer or client, it’s about adopting the right strategy and channels to maintain and improve that relationship.

In Summary

So which marketing channels would be the most cost-effective for your business? Whichever channels you use, your communications have to be well targeted and grab and hold the reader’s attention. They have to be relevant, engaging and reflect your brand values. Above all, they need to dramatise your benefits and link these to the basic human needs and desires of your target audience. A strong, enticing offer also wouldn’t go amiss.

So which channels are right for you? It’s all a question of testing.

For more information on any of the above, call Perspektiv on 0115 950 0510