Ten Advantages of Direct Advertising

By Kalisha Blair

Direct advertising has at least ten distinct advantages over any other type of advertising. It can be applied to multiple channels of distribution and can be easily incorporated into social media platforms. Here are the advantages:

1. It's Direct. - This means you have the ability to pinpoint your ideal customer and target you sales messages and marketing materials directly to them. This follows the age-old saying that "a straight line is the shortest distance between two points" Point 'A' being you, the advertiser and Point 'B' being the prospect.

2. It's Timely. - Direct advertising may be timed in many ways, holidays, anniversaries and birthdays are just a few ways to time a direct advertising promotion. There are so many holidays all over the world, you could run some type of campaign monthly, if not weekly, and still have plenty of ideas left over.

3. It's Elastic. - You decide the medium for your promotion, so you can make it fit your needs. If you are using a multi channel approach to your market, you can take essentially the same message and adjust it to fit the individual distribution channel.

4. It's Selective. - This means prospects may be picked out of a crowd of millions-online or offline. For example, a specialty food company may want to advertise to people who follow a certain popular food blog. A company that makes power tools for the weekend warrior can advertise on anawhite.com

Offline, just about any company can buy a targeted list of people who subscribe to certain magazines, have a certain income level or are known to have purchased from certain catalogs. Nothing is secret anymore.

5. It's Economical. - Think about it, mass circulation can only be afforded by big companies, and even they can't tell whether or not it worked. In situations where your audience or list was carefully selected, waste is reduced to a minimum.

6. It's Personal. - Your advertisement in a publication is like a speech to a crowd. A letter or other direct advertising piece allows you to personally talk to a select few who you have identified have something in common. You can say something to the effect of "because you like Harry and David, I know you'll love our gourmet salmon."

7. It's Versatile. - Direct advertising can make a sale or just make people aware of your offerings. It can be educational and informative or act as a salesperson and make the close.

8. It's Individual. - You can (and should) put yourself and your company into a piece of direct advertising. Make the reader feel like they are doing business with people not some big giant company.

9. It's Adaptable. - It has the ability to reach prospects of every age, "from the cradle to the grave."

10. It's Flexible. - You have the power to reach the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker and talk to each person in their own language. You can tailor each piece of direct advertising speak directly to the intended recipient.

The biggest reason to use direct advertising is that it is traceable. With Google analytics, you can easily see which efforts are producing a result. Event if you do offline direct ads like post cards or letter, you can still trace results by assigning specific codes to each variation.

The next time you are planning where to put your ad dollars, consider some form of direct advertising. It may prove to be the most profitable decision you ever made.

Kalisha Blair is a professional copywriter with over 15 years of experience in the food industry. She writes copy for specialty food businesses. To download a complimentary report, please visit http://www.kalishablair.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kalisha_Blair


http://EzineArticles.com/?Ten-Advantages-of-Direct-Advertising&id=7233320