The Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Marketing (Essay Sample)

Direct Marketing: Advantages and Disadvantages
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Direct Marketing: Advantages and Disadvantages
According to research done by Small Business Trends; an online publishing community majoring in business ventures; approximately 150 million emails were sent to potential clients in the year 2015 alone (Mansfield, 2017). In other words, the use of direct marketing by most corporations has continually become one of the most common traditions within the marketing spheres. One of the most accepted definitions of direct marketing is that the organizations offering goods or services communicate directly with the potential customers. Different mediums of communications are used; ranging from mobile phones, mail, websites, letters, fliers, to websites among others (Roberts & Berger, 1999). Like any other form of marketing; however, direct marketing comes with both advantages and disadvantages.
One of the most prominent advantages of using direct marketing is that the business owner can easily monitor the impact of the marketing endeavors. For instance, any mail or telephone replies from the potential consumer show that the latter took an interest in what was being marketed. The sellers of goods and services can subsequently improve their marketing strategies or mitigate the shortcomings (Ling & Li, 1998). Also, through direct marketing, potential customers will have a huge amount of content and information regarding the goods and services marketed. He or she will be able to use such information to make impulse decisions such as ordering the goods or services; therefore, improving the sales’ volumes. Such information can also be shared by the potential customers with others members of their societies such as friends and family members.
Direct marketing is undoubtedly one of the cheapest forms of marketing, at least when compared to other forms of marketing. In addition, the use of mediums such as emails and telephones enables a wide coverage of the intended messages within a short period of time. The most persuasive argument raised by the proponents of direct marketing is that it targets a specific demography rather than general and the general public; therefore, subsidizing the expenditures used in marketing. The fact that these form of marketing targets a specific group of people is also beneficial in understanding the dynamics of the market sphere (Trappey & Woodside, 2005). Information derived therefrom can be subsequently used to improve the sales of goods and services.
On the other hand, direct marketing has numerous disadvantages to the corporates or small-scale businesses using it. The fact that most businesses have embraced direct marketing has led to a large volume of advertisements received by the potential consumers. Most people view the marketing emails as nothing but a nuisance; therefore, delete them even without reading the content. There is also a widespread negative perception towards business entities that use direct marketing strategies. For instance, people view such strategies as an over-aggressive way of marketing goods and services (Milne & Rohm, 2000). In addition, direct marketing demands extensive use of technology such as internet and databases; hence, often not ideal for small-scale business which lacks good infrastructures.
In conclusion, it is clear that direct marketing is a multifaceted strategy...