In the B-to-B marketing world, most companies sell products and services to relatively well-understood market niches or groups of prospects. So even though you may use broader communication tactics such as advertising and public relations to communicate branding and product messages to markets in total, it makes sense to use direct marketing tactics to deliver more tailored messages to smaller sets of potential customers.

To build brand affinity and deliver important messages, B-to-B marketers have long relied on direct mail and newsletters to deliver important company news and product information to known customers. These tools help supplement direct sales contact and keep you “top of mind” to your audience. Digital communications channels such as e-mail, e-newsletters and other tactics are making the task of customer cultivation, easier, faster, and more efficient.

Some marketers have some climbing to do to achieve the ultimate one-to-one relationship with their customers. They still follow a less-than-effective approach to direct communications. Instead of building and maintaining a customer/prospect list, it seems easier to purchase or rent lists from trade publications, brokers or trade show companies. Direct mail is utilized to deliver a very general advertising message to everyone on the rented list. When metrics are run, the response is less than stellar. Why?

•    No compelling offers and calls to action
•    No specific message tailored to recipient
•    Failure to use all vehicles to reach specific audience
•    No easy-to-use methods of response for the audience
•    Failure to capture responses for future mailings and cultivation
•    Failure to take the next step with lead information
•    Acceptance of  industry average 2% direct mail response

Direct communications should advance prospects along the buying process with compelling offers that drive action. If you're spending money on direct mail, where should you spend it?

•    Building good direct mail lists
•    Honing and testing offers
•    Implementing targeted programs tailored to specific markets or job functions or individuals
•    Capturing prospect information and using it to guide future communications and/or the sales effort.

In short, “old school” database marketing tactics are still the basics. What has changed is the “new wave” means of reaching your audience where they are, be it online or offline, and getting them one step closer to the sale.