The Power of Indirect Marketing

Direct Marketing interrupts someone by asking them to take the next step towards buying a product or service. Techniques include sales visits and telemarketing along with text messaging, email and direct mail campaigns, online and social media ads, along with TV, radio, newspaper and billboard ads. If done well, direct marketing will quickly generate sales from a portion of those approached. It requires perfect timing and the right message in order to find someone who is willing to pay attention and share their ideas and needs with you. Some buyers welcome this distraction while others are impervious. If your direct marketing is in sync with your audience's expectations, it will be received without harming your brand reputation.

Indirect Marketing creates brand recognition, loyalty and sales in a non-interrupt fashion. Buyers learn about you from influencers and by discovering you through content that is authored for the various personas that you serve. Your content is presented through videos, website SEO, success stories, articles, publicity, blog posts, social media, product placements, referrals and introductions, and online reviews. Association participation, referrals and sponsorships are indirect marketing devices. Manufacturers apply indirect marketing through their distribution channels. The power of indirect marketing is that it attracts buyers who are apt to enter your funnel as sales-ready leads with rapid velocity towards closure and costing much less than direct marketing.

Indirect marketing requires creativity, patience and consistency. Therefore, successful companies employ a mix of both direct and indirect marketing that earns a high ROI when properly integrated.