By Mike Gilbert, Partner, GCDirect Marketing

I hear this a lot from marketers: “What I used to do isn’t working, so what should I do now?” My answer? Focus on the key principles of direct marketing—deliver relevant content to the right target audience at the right time, and test and measure. Focus on what’s working from the old mix, while you simultaneously test new strategies. And think about your marketing in terms of “inbound” and “outbound,” and how you can take advantage of both.

A Direct Marketer’s Dream
Search, pay per click, placed Web media, content marketing, and social media are essentially inbound marketing—because they attract people who are actively looking for what you have to sell. That’s a direct marketer’s dream. But with so many direct channels, where should your marketing focus? As always, on your audience. Consider what channels they access most frequently and then prioritize budget from there. And of course, test and measure!

Social Media
You can quantify direct ROI from social media through Web analytics and offer tracking. A simple way to attribute value is by recording the path traveled before a prospect fills out a form or makes a purchase. Adobe Omniture offers some great webinars on this topic. They report that, on average, retail sites that add “the like button” experience a 300 percent lift in traffic. By ascribing a dollar value to this traffic, you can determine social ROI. Check out the webinars at www.omniture.com.

If appropriate to your product or service category, experiment with online placed advertising. It’s a low-cost entry to test, and can deliver a high ROI. Note: Driving traffic to content-rich microsites increases the chance of capturing leads, because you’re sending people to relevant subject matter.

E-mail Marketing
E-mail marketing is still the most cost-effective way to communicate to your lead base and to existing customers. The first key is in list building, which can be achieved through both offline and online methods. E-mail lists are increasingly viewed as tangible assets by company CFOs. Initial calculations of the dollar value of a list can be as simple as dividing revenue via e-mail campaigns by the number of subscribers.

ExactTarget offers “The Hub,” a simple interface where you can coordinate all of your campaigns—e-mail, SMS, and social media channels. Check out www.exacttarget.com for amazing free webinar content. (Tip: I recommend attending the ExactTarget Connections conference each fall in Indianapolis. It’s a one-stop shop of technology, techniques and education.)

CRM Integration & Automation
E-mail integration with CRM systems means new subscribers are automatically put into a lead category in your database and can be tracked for communications received. It also means you can select a segmented group, such as “women who live in Kansas and like strawberry ice cream,” to receive a particular e-mail. And it allows deployment of time-saving automated programs that are triggered by specific consumer actions.

Traditional Direct Mail
Direct mail is still the best outbound method for generating targeted new customers. Working in a mindset that you’re going to generate leads to nurture them will help ensure a successful direct marketing program. And yes, use business reply cards. They still provide an average of 30 percent more leads.

Inbound Marketing
For most of our clients, the Web is their number one performing inbound channel. Therefore, the first place we look for unused potential is in a client’s Web site and pay per click advertising program. For comparatively few dollars, companies get huge returns by making these channels work for them.

Mobile Marketing
Smartphones offer a whole new set of marketing opportunities with applications and social platforms, such as ­www.foursquare.com, that encourage people to “check in” to locations, letting their friends know where they’re shopping, dining, traveling—and enabling marketers to offer them something special for checking in. SMS opt-in marketing is a strong way to list-build and provide targeted offers in real-time.

Smartphones also mean a new set of production and design conventions to follow for the Web site and e-mail. For some companies, nearly all of their e-mails are being read on mobile devices. So it’s critical that e-mail and Web design are compatible with those devices. A great resource to learn the latest in mobile is www.marketingprofs.com. And QR codes, which are free and easy to use, can be a phenomenal tool for getting people to your microsite fast.

There has never been a more exciting time than now for direct marketers who love to target, measure, and analyze. So get started, test, and optimize. Happy marketing!

GCDirect is a media neutral marketing firm located in Seattle that specializes in measurable marketing and offers consulting, creative development, database development and management, Internet marketing and traditional marketing services. To reach Mike Gilbert at GCDirect, e-mail mikeg@gcdirect.com or call 206-262-1999 X 206. www.GCDirect.com.