5 Questions to Ask Your Next Direct Marketing Agency


Direct marketing is becoming more important than ever for companies because of how useful it can be to promote your products and services directly to your customer base. But if you’ve never worked with a direct marketing agency, how do you know which agency to go with?

Agency Spotter is here to help you ask the right questions when hiring your next direct marketing agency, and you can find the best agencies from around the world. So after you read this hopefully helpful article, hop over to the Agency Spotter platform and start your search for your very own direct marketing agency.

5 Questions Diret Marketing Agency

1. What direct marketing channels does your agency have experience in?

Direct marketing includes a lot of different channels, but this is a relatively recent development. A little over a decade ago,”traditional” direct marketing was the norm and it was primarily direct mailers. Now, email marketing is the new “traditional” direct marketing as the digital age has come about.

Because of this change, it’s very important when you speak with a direct marketing agency that you ask them about their past campaigns to give you and your business a sense of whether or not the potential partnership would work. Direct marketing is unique in that it gives businesses the opportunity to directly reach out to consumers either digital, or, in some cases, the more traditional route through mailers or flyers.

2. How do you measure response rates?

Because this is going to be a lengthy partnership, it’s critical to find out how the agency measures response rates, while also being familiar with your current response rates. Data is only getting more important over time in marketing, but there are different tools agencies use to evaluate whether a campaign was successful in the end.

For an email campaign, response rate is a vital part of the process because you want the campaign to promote feedback from your customers after they learn about the campaign and potential offer that it may or may not include.

3. What matters most to increase consumer response?

You almost certainly have a campaign idea for your brand, but you need to be sure the campaign targets the right audience with the right message. This question should help you understand how the agency might target your audience.

This is perhaps the most important part of the planning process for a direct marketing campaign, so if you’re hoping the campaign produces an increase in consumer response the message has to be on-point. You have to give the consumer a reason to act, show them in the campaign why this is valuable and relevant to their interests, and keep the process as easy and user friendly as possible.

4. What is a good length for an email marketing campaign?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a perfect length to crafting the perfect email marketing campaign. However, studies show that the shorter the better when it comes to increasing consumer response. It would be a good idea to ask the agency what length they’ve had success with in past campaigns. See how the agency tailors their answer to show you how well they know your business.

Another good way pinpoint the right length for your email marketing campaign is to put together a test prior to releasing the final campaign to your subscribers.

5. Would an offer be necessary in a campaign?

Most direct marketing campaigns contain an offer, but it needs to be make sense for both your consumers and your business. Both you and the agency have to understand your target audience, as you will be working together to craft an enticing offer in the campaign.

There are many great examples of companies utilizing direct email marketing the right way, but two of our favorites here at Agency Spotter include: 1) ESPN’s Fantasy App email offer, which encourage consumers to download their new app with a flashy and easy-to-follow plan to download it. 2) Charity Water’s Birthday Offer, which encourages consumers to give to the non-profit in a short-but-sweet email with one image, a short summary of the offer and a button that makes it easy to donate.

Time to find your next Direct Marketing Agency

Now that you know all the questions needed in hiring your next direct marketing agency, it’s all a matter of finding your next partner. Take a look at the all the direct marketing agencies on Agency Spotter and find your perfect agency with confidence based on client reviews, agency projects and more!

Find A Top Direct Marketing Agency

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