What's new in Direct Marketing

I went to the DMA Conference last week in San Francisco to see what was new in Direct Response Marketing. Everything I saw has been around at least in the idea stage, for several years now, the difference today is that large companies are really starting to take advantage of and push the envelope on the technology.

Blogs
6% of Fortune 500 companies now have Blogs (and so does Swirl!) and 35% plan to start one this year! One of our clients, Intuit, makes sure they have a blog for each and every one of of their products. Notice that these blogs are official, but unofficial. They are written by the engineers or product managers. They don't have to go through levels of lawyers and PR. Companies are getting real.

Wikis
User generated content is the Web 2.0 rage. It’s free, it’s honest, and it turbo-charges search engine optimization. Our clients eBay, Shopping.com, and PayPal all have their own wikis now. They use them internally (like the eBay Marketing Wiki) to share information amongst themselves, but also externally - to engage their community. Of course, the natural search listing increase doesn't hurt ;)

Podcasts
I found it interesting that the target ages that index well are 18-44. Older than I would have initially thought, but then again, I guess that most teens aren't really podcasting NPR. Here's an innovative way Purina is using podcasts on their website.


RSS Feeds
RSS can be used for new product announcements, security alerts, product tips, customer communications (e.g. special offers, best sellers), press releases, etc. Here's an example from Titleist. Someday you may see one here.

Text Messages
Retailers want to (and are) using these for sales, instant coupons, news events, etc. Here's a sample of Target's web site - using text messaging to send tweens information about hot fashion items and sales.

Custom Media
Creation of targeted magazines to carry the message in detail. Can be cash flow positive by taking advertising from partners. Here is one the US Postal Service sends me monthly. Notice that the magazine's publisher is not even posted on the front cover. We are trying to get PG&E (the California Utility to do something similar).