Direct mail and telemarketing are the direct marketer's prime media. However, all conventional media, like magazines, radio, and television, can be used to deliver direct response advertising.

Direct Mail

Direct mail has some notable faults as an advertising medium, not the least of which is cost. It can cost 15 to 20 times more to reach a person with a direct mail piece than it would to reach that person with a television commercial or newspaper advertisement. Additionally, in a society where people are constantly on the move, mailing lists are commonly plagued with bad addresses. Each bad address represents advertising dollars wasted. And direct mail delivery dates, especially for bulk, third-class mailings, can be unpredictable.

Direct mail's advantages stem from the selectivity of the medium. When an advertiser begins with a database of prospects, direct mail can be the perfect vehicle for reaching those prospects with little waste. Also, direct mail is a flexible medium that allows message adaptations on literally a business-by-business basis. Few media offer such flexibility to tailor messages for individual audiences.

Direct mail as a medium also lends itself like no other to testing and experimentation. For example, with direct mail it is common to test two or more different appeal letters using a modest budget and small sample of targets. The goal is to establish which version effects the largest response. When a winner is decided, that form of the letter is backed by big budget dollars in launching the organization's primary campaign.

In addition, with direct mail, the choice of formats an organization cfan send to customers is virtually limitless. However, if a product can be described in a limited space with minimal graphics, there really is no need to get fancy with the direct mail piece. The double postcard format has an established track racord of outperforming more expensive and elaborate direct mail packages.

Telemarketing

Telemarketing is probably the direct marketer's most potent tool. As with direct mail, contacts can be selectively targeted, the impact of programs is easy to track, and experimentation with different scripts and delivery formats is simple and practical. And because telemarketing involves real, live, person-to-person dialogue, there is no mediaum that produces better response rates.

Telemarketing shares many of direct mail's limitations. Telemarketing is very expensive on a cost per contact basis, and just as names and addresses go bad as people move, so too do phone numbers. It is a typical in telemarketing programs to find that 15 percent of the numbers called are inaccurate. Further, telemarketing does not share direct mail's flexibility in terms of delivery options. When you reach people, you have limited amount of time to convey information and request some form of response.

If you have a telephone, you already know the biggest concern with telemarketing. It is a powerful yet highly intrusive medium that must be used with discretion. High-pressure telephone calls at inconvenient times can alienate customers. Telemarketing gives its best results over the long run if it is used to maintain constructive dialogues with existing customers and qualified prospects. Keeping the same operator focused on a client, keeping accurate records of phone conversations, using technology and well trained employees to add a personal touch to telemarketing efforts is a good way to get the most from this medium.

Newspaper Advertising

Geographic selectivity. Newspaper is the medium that is most accessible to the widest range of advertisers. Advertisers of many different products and services use the newspaper as their medium of choice. Newspapers, are ideally suited  to reach a narrow geographic area - precisely the type of audience retailers want to reach. But broad reach isn't the only attractive feature of newspapers as a medium. Newspapers offer other advantages to advertisers.

Timeliness. The newspaper is one of the most timely of the major media. Because of the short time needed for producing a typical newspaper ad and the regularity of daily publication, the newspaper allows advertisers to reach audiences in a timely way. This doesn't mean on just a daily basis. Newspaper ads can take advantage of special events or a unique occurence in a community.

Creative opportunities. While the newspaper page does not offer the breadth of creative options available in broadcast media, there are things advertisers can do in a newspaper that represent important creative opporunities. Since the newspaper page offers a large and relativively inexpensive format, there is the opportunity to provide a lot of information to the target audience at relatively low cost. This is important for products or services with extensive or complex fatures that may need lengthy and detailed copy.

Credibility. Newspapers still benefit from the perception that "if it's in the paper it must be the truth." This, combined with the community image of most newspapers, creates a favorable environment for an advertisement.

Audience interest. Newspaper readers are interested in the information they are reading. While overall readership may be down in the United States, those that are reading remain loyal and interested. Many readers buy the newspaper specifically to see what's on sale in the local area, making this an ideal environment for local merchants.

Cost. In terms of both production and space, newspapers offer a low-cost alternative. The cost per contact may be higher than with broadcast options, tbu the absolute cost for placing a black and white ad is still within reach of even a small advertising budget.

BOD: Choose one primary and one secondary method. Leave comments here with your choice, and a brief explanation.