With its roots in direct mails, direct marketing has evolved to include more strategies such as telemarketing, direct response advertising, and online advertising. Although these strategies are often pricey, there are ways to directly market your business without breaking the bank. If you want to take advantage of the power of direct marketing to boost your sales in the UK, seek the help of reputable direct marketing companies. You can also consider the following affordable direct marketing strategies:
1. Push the boundaries with guerrilla marketing.
The word “guerrilla” often stirs up images of war and rebellion, so when you put that along the word “marketing,” you’ll often get a confused “huh?” However, guerrilla marketing isn’t some sort of a violent form of communication. It is where you do something unconventional that will catch people’s attention without interfering with their lives.
Here’s an example of an outdoor guerrilla marketing. Find a crowded urban environment, like a park maybe. Once you have a good spot, you can add your little marketing material like a sash or hat to a statue, for instance, or put up temporary artworks on sidewalks and streets.
You can also do something crazy indoors like in trains, buildings, shops, and university campuses. Some also do an event ambush guerrilla marketing where they do something to catch the audience’s attention toward their brand—usually without the organisers’ permission. Now you’re probably starting to see its somewhat “rebellious” nature
What marketers love about guerrilla marketing is that it’s cheap. The real investment here is the creative genius you have to tap into in planning, but its implementation doesn’t have to be expensive.
2. Give out coupons.
Coupons will always be a crowd favourite. If your company isn’t offering coupons yet, it’s high time to start doing so. According to Expedia Affiliate Network, discounts and coupons are the top tactics for driving loyalty. Sixty-one per cent of consumers say that they use them. The report also showed that awarding points and miles are used by 82% of respondents in the UK.
You can incorporate your coupon awarding system into a loyalty scheme. For example, customers can accumulate points using their loyalty cards, which they can use to redeem various coupon codes. You can also directly mail coupons when customers are least expecting them, like during their birthdays or a special occasion. This element of surprise can make your customers feel like you care about them and influence them to go back to your store.
3. Tie it up with social media.
It’s common practice to ask customers to “like” or “follow” them on social media, but few marketers actually give incentives for customers to do so. Make it fun for them by offering a chance to win a prize, save money, or learn something by following you on social media. In your packaging, for example, you can include your social media account details and the mechanics of your incentives. If you’re selling photography and videography equipment, you can offer them a chance to win a ticket to a photography workshop that normally costs thousands of pounds. You can even offer a chance to win a steep discount code.
If you’re at a loss on how to incorporate direct marketing with social media, good direct marketing companies in the UK can help out. When it comes to marketing, creativity is king. You have to be willing to experiment and come up with crazy ideas for your brand to shine.
