What Is Direct Response Marketing & How to Get Started

When a business needs a customer to respond immediately to an offer, direct response marketing offers a convenient, low-cost option. This marketing approach will not only help you develop your own direct response tactics to boost conversion rates but also boost the speed with which your marketing efforts pay off. In this guide, we'll go over what direct response marketing is and why it's advantageous to you.

What is direct response marketing?

While branding is a long-term strategy that entails spending money on a variety of methods to raise brand awareness, direct response marketing is a short-term approach that allows marketers to achieve the most number of conversions feasible with a single marketing campaign.

Primarily targeted towards generating conversions, its major purpose is to turn a lead into a customer and to increase sales.

Related guide: Your One-Stop Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization in 2023

Examples of direct response marketing

Here are some effective direct response marketing examples you can take inspiration from to create compelling campaigns.

• Emails

From direct response marketing to content marketing, emails help you get the word out about your business fast.

Source: Ads of the World

IKEA, for example, once included a foldable, popup version of their iconic LACK coffee table in its annual brochure. The campaign's purpose was to show how simple it was for customers to put together IKEA furniture.

Related guide: 5 Steps To Run A Successful Email Marketing Campaign

• QR and coupon codes

Timed rewards that are highly sought after by your target audience can enhance conversions in your direct response campaigns. Using QR and coupon codes inside emails can boost your conversion rates. By using our coupon code template, your users can share the information you need from them directly without being redirected elsewhere, thus saving them time and effort and increasing your chances of a direct and timely response.

• Chatbots

Source: Mobile Monkey

If the goal of your campaign is to convert your supporters into Messenger contacts, chat bots are the best option. They additionally generate viral exposure for your brand while also engaging your audience.

You may convert any remark into a Messenger contact by simply adding a Facebook post-auto-responder. Remember to match your incentives to your brand and the giveaway you're running. Giving away an Amazon gift card, for example, is just for the purpose of obtaining a gift card and has nothing to do with your brand.

• Referrals

Referrals are a highly effective direct response approach for increasing conversions. People are eager to share their experiences with your company, but they may want some encouragement.

Furthermore, consumers who have been suggested to you by a friend are 37 percent more likely to stay with you.

Source: Mobile Monkey

The Robinhood app has a terrific referral scheme. Robinhood is a no-fee investment app for financial markets. Both you and your friend earn a free stock when you introduce a friend to Robinhood. When you consider that you have a 1 in 250 chance of receiving stocks like Apple, the offer is quite appealing.

• Giveaways and contests

Giveaways and contests have become a popular direct response method. One of the most effective strategies to grow a business is to provide a product that potential or existing customers will enjoy. It's also a great approach to develop a one-on-one relationship with customers and motivate them to take action toward a corporate goal.

Source: Many Chat

Take a look at the Black Friday gift from Legion Beats. The company targeted music fans with a Chris Brown feature and a free Beats for life. During the first week of the campaign, this direct response marketing tactic generated $202K, with an additional $58K after the campaign ended.

Components of direct response campaigns

Being a short-term, sometimes follow-up, marketing strategy, direct response marketing comprises several components which leads to making a specific offer to the users. These are:

• Personalization: According to Epsilon research, 80 percent of customers prefer to conduct business with a company that provides personalization. To design a customized offer, you must understand your audience’s pain points and goals. Browse through our guide on personalized marketing to unravel strategies to provide personalized experiences to your customers.

• Segmentation: Audience segments built on user interests and preferences, behavioral data and demographic can help you target your direct response campaigns better. Take a look at our guide on audience segmentation to learn more about the basis on which you segment your target market.

• Compelling sales and CTA copy: Every direct response ad features a sense of urgency that encourages visitors to take action. Expiration dates and deadlines are frequently used by marketers in their sales and CTA copy in their audience, encouraging audiences to act fast. You can read our guide on how to create effective CTAs to get more clicks on your direct response campaigns.

Benefits of direct response marketing

This is why direct response marketing is advantageous for your business:

• Creates a direct line of communication with prospects

• Produces measurable and trackable results fast

• Strengthens relationship with customers

• Generates high return on investment

• Drives upsells

5 tips for building direct response campaigns

Here are 5 tips to get the most out of your direct response marketing campaigns.

• Make responding easy

Make it simple for your viewers or audience to order your product/service or take any other action they choose. Producers of infomercials use 1-800 numbers for a reason. They're easy to retain and all viewers have to do is dial and listen.

While directing customers to your website, a social media outlet, or any other location, make sure that potential buyers don't have any reason to abandon the process because it's too long or too complicated.

For example, you direct clients to a website page where they must fill out a form. You'll need their names, email addresses, and payment details. If you don't need to know the gender of a consumer, leave it blank on the form. Every additional form field adds to the transaction's complexity, increasing the possibilities that the customer may simply abandon your site.

• Use an effective CTA and copy

The following should be included in a good CTA:

✅ Start your CTA with a strong command verb like "subscribe now” or “shop now.”

✅ Use FOMO (fear of missing out) to your advantage.

✅ Prefer using words that elicit emotion or excitement, such as "start planning your ideal wedding day today.”

✅ Whenever feasible, include numbers, such as “1-day free shipping” or “25% off.”

• Grow your audience with referrals

A referral scheme can be implemented using direct mail. Include a voucher with a clear CTA for prospects. When they suggest a friend, they might get a discount on their next purchase. Add a time limit to the offer to create a sense of urgency.

With our referral email template, you can collect referrals from your clients to get more leads.

• Hold a contest or a giveaway

Consider holding a contest or giveaway to attract the attention of your target market. Giveaways are effective because they will regard the product as valuable and may decide to purchase it if they do not receive it for free. They will also think of your company as generous and giving.

For example, let’s say you're hosting a webinar for potential customers. You may say at the start that at the end of the event, you'll give away one month of free membership to a random participant. You may also promote the giveaway ahead of time to encourage people to register and attend the webinar.

Use this webinar email sequence to automate email marketing if you are a SaaS company.

• Use Facebook chatbots to drive sales

Source: Mobile Monkey

You can optimize the customer journey of your Facebook users by leveraging Messenger chatbots to boost sales by distributing personalized information depending on their preferences.

Chatbot softwares, such as MobileMonkey, allows you to segment your audience and provide appropriate content to them via lists, attributes, and tags.

Wrap up

To start a direct response marketing campaign, all you need is an actionable offer, personalized copy and a compelling call-to-action button. Once this strategy is established, you can launch a direct response campaign with Mailmodo and finetune it as per your audience feedback. We offer a range of retargeting options to ensure that your messages reach the right people at the right time. Read our guide on how to send retargeting campaigns with Mailmodo to boost your sales today.