Marketing Communications Tool: Direct Marketing

A Marketing Communications Tool Evaluation Report
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A Marketing Communications Tool Evaluation Report
Contents
1.    Introduction. 3
2.    Direct Marketing: Definition. 3
3.    Critical Evaluation. 4
A.   Direct Marketing Strengths. 5
B.   Direct Marketing Weaknesses/Limitations. 6
4.    Recommendations for Measuring the Success of Direct Marketing. 8
5.    Importance of Having Controls for Direct Marketing. 9
6.    Conclusion. 10
7.    References. 12
8.    Appendices. 13

1 Introduction
Marketing communication tools allow businesses or brands to create awareness about their products and services, attract customers, and increase sales. According to Egan (2020), marketing communication tools are used in combination and at varying intensities to create a strong, unified message that captures the target audience. It ensures that a consistent message reaches a wider audience, regardless of the method of communication used. Some marketing communication tools include public relations, advertising, internet/digital marketing, direct marketing, and personal selling. Sheffield City Council recently hired a marketing agency to create an integrated marketing plan to help the city increase tourism. The integrated marketing plan outlines social media marketing and direct marketing as the main marketing communications tools that can help Sheffield City Council attract local and foreign tourists and increase tourism in the city. This report's aim is to critically evaluate one of the marketing communications tools included in the integrated marketing plan outline submitted to Sheffield City Council. Specifically, this report will critically evaluate direct marketing by identifying its strengths and limitations, how to measure its success, and establishing the importance of control measures. It will also provide recommendations on how direct marketing can evolve in the future to increase tourism in Sheffield further.
2 Direct Marketing: Definition
Direct marketing is a kind of integrated marketing communication that allows organizations to communicate directly with consumers. According to Luck et al. (2021), direct marketing is considered an interactive process that enables organizations to generate an immediate response from the target audience. The marketing materials used in direct marketing elicit an immediate response by prompting the consumer to contact the marketer. Therefore, direct marketing is characterized by direct contact with potential consumers and encouragement of immediate response (Ang, 2021). As a result, organizations can build a relationship with consumers, especially based on how they respond to the message passed through direct communication (Egan, 2020). Messages reach the consumers directly when direct marketing is utilized.
In some form of direct marketing, the organization can send personalized messages directly to consumers. For instance, emails, text messages, telemarketing, and chatbots are personal mediums that allow marketers to send customized messages to individual consumers, facilitating relationship-building and interactive communication between businesses and consumers (Egan, 2020). However, direct marketing also has some elements of mass advertising. For instance, direct marketing also uses non-personal media such as flyers, brochures, and other forms of printed media, which are also a form of mass media (Ang, 2021). However, the possibility of sending personalized messages makes direct marketing a form of tailored mass marketing. Although the messages are sent to as many potential consumers as possible, the messages are customized to appeal to individual consumers, such as through telemarketing.
As a result of personalization, direct marketing can be used to target niche markets or audiences (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2020). In the case of Sheffield's integrated marketing plan, direct marketing has been identified as a suitable communication tool for targeting potential visitors in the city. Specifically, Sheffield can use brochures, flyers, and travel magazines to target potential tourists in the city, both locals and guests traveling through or to Sheffield.
3 Critical Evaluation
Direct marketing is a powerful marketing communication tool that can elevate the marketing message and ensure the objectives are met. However, it can have harmful results, especially if misused or poorly targeted to potential consumers. Below are the potential strengths and weaknesses of the direct marketing tool that might impact Sheffield’s marketing communication plan. A summary table of the same is shared in Appendix 1.
* Direct Marketing Strengths
Direct marketing encourages the target audience to respond to the message with immediate effect. Baines et al. (2022) indicate that direct marketing drives a response from the target audience by requesting a call to action, shaping consumer behaviors as they are requested to act in a certain way. In Sheffield’s case, the direct marketing messages encourage potential tourists to visit Sheffield's historical buildings and other tourist attraction sites. They might respond by inquiring, expressing an interest in seeing the sites, or actually visiting them. The message might provoke a change in behavior by converting potential tourists to actual tourists interested in experiencing Sheffield's beautiful scenery.
Additionally, direct marketing allows marketers to track results. According to Padgett and Loos (2019), it is easier to establish the effectiveness of direct marketing because the marketer can track the response rate from the messages sent. If the marketing message asks the target audience to take a particular action, it can be easier to track the success of the message by checking whether the target audience took action. Fahy and Jobber (2019) add that direct marketing has short-term objectives facilitating effective performance measures and evaluation. For instance, the short-term objective of Sheffield’s direct marketing is to elicit a response from the target audience. The performance can be measured based on the number of people who called the numbers shared on the travel magazines and brochures to inquire about Sheffield’s various tourist attraction sites and activities.
It is also a precise method of target marketing that ensures information reaches only consumers with similar interests. Specifically, direct marketing ensures the message is sent to and received only by target market members (Baines et al., 2022). This makes it easier for direct marketing to achieve marketing goals. Ang (2021) specifically emphasizes that using magazines in direct marketing allows marketers to reach a niche market since only people interested in a certain subject will read the magazines dedicated to that subject. For Sheffield, using travel magazines will increase the precision of the message and only target the niche market of travelers. Travelers are more likely to read travel magazines because they are interested in traveling and experiencing their travel destinations' culture and tourist attraction sites.
Further, it is an effective way of delivering a message to the target audience. The direct marketing method of using print media, such as travel magazines, allows Sheffield to provide detailed information about the city's tourist attraction sites. According to Baines et al. (2022), magazines and custom magazines, such as travel magazines, allow marketers to explain to the target audience in ways other media cannot. Marketers can provide detailed information about the product or service in words and images. Sheffield can market its tourist sites by printing images of its beautiful scenes, historical building, and other tourist attraction sites on brochures, flyers, and travel magazines and support these images with written words to encourage potential tourists to visit these places.
* Direct Marketing Weaknesses/Limitations
Despite its strengths, direct marketing has limitations that can hinder its success in achieving marketing objectives. According to Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick (2020), one of the key limitations of direct marketing is the low response rate. Sometimes, direct marketing can reach a consumer not interested in the product or services being marketed. The message will definitely reach more people, but the response rate will be low since some are not interested. A low response rate translates to a waste of resources (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2020) because only a few people will have been targeted. The Sheffield marketing plan involves placing brochures, flyers, and travel magazines at car hire services, petrol stations, and other places where the locals and guests in Sheffield are likely to shop. However, some people visiting these places might not be interested in tourism, resulting in low response rates and wasted resources.
In addition, the use of direct marketing can damage the organization’s brand. Ang (2021) states that misuse of direct marketing can harm the brand, especially if consumers feel annoyed by the marketing tactics. Direct marketing can be intrusive and annoying to some consumers. In addition, the environmental concerns around using paper-based materials in...