Direct Marketers, This Chart Will Scare the BLEEP Out of You.

Look at this, we’re obsolete. I’m not trying to be dramatic and the chart I’m talking about isn’t some downslope in ROI and response rates. (As I understand it, they’re actually going up.)

The chart I’m referring to is the results of a study by Bizible, a maker of marketing software: 

Source: https://www.bizible.com/why-bizible/saas-marketing-attribution.  

Do you see direct marketing in this chart?

To Technology and SaaS, one of the fastest growing segments of the economy, we have become an ‘Other.’

Now, you could argue that there are elements of direct marketing in the chart. Email, for instance. But if you check your own inbox, you realize that unless there’s a sale or offer, emails mostly contain or promote content.

Paid social media and search mostly promote content. SEO is about attracting visitors with content. And how many of those TV, radio and print ads offer free content?

About the only things left for traditional direct marketers are retargeting and outbound calling.

Until we realize that there’s a huge opportunity for direct marketers in content. And vice versa.

Direct and content marketers share many of the same objectives. We work to fill sales pipelines and move prospects to close.

But direct marketers know how to test into an effective program, scale it across multiple personas and push it out drive a more immediate ROI.

And that’s the kind of knowhow a lot of companies can use. Including the 14% who rated content marketing number one.

Let me know if you’d like to discuss this further.

There’s an opportunity here for agencies and colleagues who want to pursue this as a business. And for clients who want to profit from it.