Many small business owners who hear the term “direct marketing” think of the medium of direct mail or as a “direct” method of selling something. Others think of it as a channel of distribution, such as a mail order catalog. Direct marketing, however, involves much more than this.

What is direct marketing?

Direct marketing is a specific discipline within marketing that focuses on contacting individuals directly (either business-to-business or consumers) and collecting and evaluating responses and transactions to develop and maintain mutually beneficial relationships.

There are a wide variety of processes and techniques comprising the direct marketing channel. The on-the-fly questionairres conducted on street corners, coupons inviting you to visit the local coffee shop to win a prize or receive a discount, the “for sale” sign in a parked car and the political brochure in the mail are all forms of direct marketing.

The most popular section of most newspapers, the classified section, is nothing but direct marketing. Similarly, almost everything that happens on the Internet involves direct marketing, too.