Direct marketing is a type of advertising campaign that seeks to elicit an action (such as an order, a visit to a store or Web site, or a request for further information) from a selected group of consumers in response to a communication from the marketer. The communication itself may be in any of a variety of formats including postal mail, telemarketing, direct e-mail marketing, and point-of-sale (POS) interactions. Customer response should be measurable: for example, the marketer should be able to determine whether or not a customer offered a discount for online shopping takes advantage of the offer.
The definition of direct marketing can be explained as delivering promotional messages directly to your target customers on an individual basis as opposed to through a mass medium. It is also sometimes known as one-to-one marketing or one-on-one marketing.
Consider the advantages of direct marketing! With direct marketing you can:

• Zero in on almost any target audience.
• Cut lost circulation to a minimum.
• Control your budget and spend as little or as much as you wish.
• Measure results with much greater accuracy.
• Personalize your message.
• Compete with companies many times your size.

No matter what product you may be selling or what story you might be telling, the chances are very good that direct marketing will give you a better, less expensive, more effective way to reach your audience than any other medium.