Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Marketing

Following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of direct marketing:

Advantages:

Direct marketing involves direct business. So it is cost beneficial for consumers, as there is no price hike due to wholesalers or retailers.
Marketing executives can state certainly of the exact response to their products.
The profit or loss can be more accurately judged.

Disadvantages:

Sometimes, direct mailing offends the customers and many do not endorse it as they say it inhibits their private lives.

In Paper Mailing, paper mails are sent to the selected groups of people, who likely to give positive response. Sometimes customer do not bother responding to the paper mails.

In E Mail Marketing, emails are sent to all the selected customer categories with repeated intervals of time. But most of these are put into trash and spams. So the effectiveness of this form cannot be predicted.

In telemarketing, people sit at call centers to sell products on behalf of their clients. But this form of direct business is quite unpopular and most people oppose the uninvited calls.

Coupons are attached to direct mails and sent to the consumers. These generally advertise and give cost benefit to the consumers. So they avail these coupons and respond fast.

"Direct marketing can thus become successful only if the entanglements with the consumer are good. It can be B2B or B2C. It measures exact consumer response."