Direct marketing refers to the practice of marketing or advertising goods and services by communicating with end customers directly. This may be done with the help of promotional letters, fliers, street advertising, distribution of catalogues and coupons. Coupons are generally distributed directly to the customers and form an essential part of effective direct marketing. The readers are encouraged to cut and present coupons in the store issuing them for availing the discount associated with them. Coupons can be used almost for all types of services or products such as meals, clothes, electronic stuff and so on.
Coupons have proved to be highly effective to generate a considerable amount of pull. As per a study by Advertising Age, referred to as the Bible of advertising, over 80% of shoppers have used coupons and feel that these are highly effective in increasing sales. In fact, marketers all over the globe like couponing for some interesting reasons. Coupons tend to increase and expand market area of every marketer pretty easily. It is quite common to see customers traveling long distances for redeeming such coupons which seem to be decent bargains. A marketer can entice customers of his or her customers to shop at his or her shop instead of that of a competitor. Besides that, old customers can also be encouraged to shop again at a particular store instead of shifting loyalty to a competitor.

Highlighting discounts, bonuses and premiums offered with coupons can prove to be great in terms of attracting customers. As per a popular saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. Illustrations and real photographs, if applicable, can be highly effective in creation of a desire and enhance understanding. Couponing has been around for a while and has proved to be an extremely successful direct marketing method. Their regular use can ensure addition of a number of customers apart from generating some good quality leads.

There are many ways to market one’s product or service. One of the most powerful forms of advertising is advertising outdoors. Outdoor advertising space can be hard to come by at times. However, once the space has been secured, any business will begin to see the benefits of this form of advertising.

Captive Market

With all of the cars on the road, the people who are driving those cars have no choice but to look out their windscreen at their surrounds. Part of those surroundings are the marketing campaigns utilising advertising outdoors. With the popularity of holiday ventures to rural areas as well as camper trailers, not to mention urban driving becoming more and more common, there are avenues for any marketing campaign that will get seen by thousands or hundreds of thousands of people a day. The advertisements outdoors make big statements and cannot be ignored, unlike other advertising mediums, such as a reader skipping advertising pages in a magazine.

Repetitive Exposure

On top of guaranteed views of an advertising campaign, there is a high level of repetitive exposure to the same advertisements. The typical commuter drives the same route five days a week so that means that any given outdoor advertisement will be viewed by that driver repeatedly during the week. Repetition in advertising is difficult to obtain in most mediums but while advertising outdoors, it is one of the most cited reasons for choosing this medium for advertising.

Gets to the Customer at the Right Time

With any marketing campaign, timing is everything. A bold advertisement is lost if there is a large amount of time, from the advertising impression, to the decision to make a purchase. Outdoor advertising minimises that time, sometimes dramatically. Advertising a product utilising an outdoor ad in front of the store where that product is sold is the most striking example of this. However, even having a product featured on the expressway will still leave an favourable advertising impression when a person stops at their local market before heading home after a long day at work.

Outdoor Advertising is Cost Effective

When looking at the cost per viewer, no other advertising medium is so cost effective. While an advertisement in a magazine may be a bit more targeted toward an audience, the cost per impression is dramatically higher than a high-quality and dynamic advertisement placed outside. Getting repeat exposure for the same product requires even more outlay of capital from a company’s marketing budget, yet with outdoor advertising campaigns, the same commuter will see the advertisement for weeks before beginning to truly ignore it.

The initial cost for an outdoor advertising campaign is fairly low as well, depending on the location and size of the advertisement. As with other marketing outlets, size and the variety of colours affects cost. However, compared to most other marketing mediums, the initial cost is most often lower and the monthly cost after the first month is more of a rental agreement and maintenance fee agreement, rather than a reoccurring fixed cost.