The direct marketing industry is facing a period of significant change. Whilst marketing tools such as direct mail and telemarketing have become well established amongst businesses of all sizes, new concerns over targeting, respecting consumer preferences, and environmental impact are changing the way direct marketing is used.

So what are the key trends facing the direct marketing industry and how could they effect the numerous businesses which use direct marketing in its many forms?

Within the direct marketing sector, direct mail is probably facing a period of the greatest instability.

There have been growing concerns over the environmental impact of wastage generated by mailings, particularly those labelled as ‘junk mail'. Now even the government has joined the debate, with environment minister Joan Ruddock recently warning the direct marketing industry that "we have got to address waste wherever it occurs and this industry has got to take its responsibilities as seriously as any other".

In the future, mailings will have to become far more carefully aimed at consumers who have been selected through in depth profiling and segmentation. Smaller mailing volumes will become the norm.

Businesses will also need to make sure they use all the currently available suppression files and data cleansing methods to make sure their internal mailing lists of customers are kept as up to date and accurate possible.

If direct mail is entering a state of flux, then the face of telemarketing has already changed forever, largely thanks to the introduction of the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

Huge numbers of businesses and consumers have taken the opportunity to register their phone numbers with the TPS or its business counterpart, the CTPS. The register peaked in 2007 at 14.8 million and has now stabilised, but over half of all UK phone numbers are now registered making opportunities for unsolicited cold calling more and more limited.

Added to the stampede to register with the TPS, there has been considerable criticism and consumer dissatisfaction over the use of offshore call centres, and ‘silent calls' caused by automatic diallers.

Because of these trends, the telemarketing industry is now shifting its focus from outbound calling to customer focused inbound telemarketing. The future of telemarketing is likely to be as a technology and customer led direct marketing tool which looks for cross selling and upselling opportunities during inbound customer service calls, which may have been initiated by other marketing methods such as mailings or websites.

For smaller businesses not using call centres, there will still be a place for outbound telemarketing for some years to come, but only if targeted much more effectively, and only ever after checking numbers against the TPS first.

It seems therefore that a universal trend facing all forms of direct marketing is that of greater accuracy and better targeting in order to reduce wastage and respect the wishes of consumers.

The most common way of meeting this challenge is through the use of direct marketing industry suppression files - constantly updated central lists of consumers or business contacts who have opted not to be contacted using a specific method, or who have registered a change in their details.

The industry has already seen increased suppression usage up by 42% between 2006 and 2007. So what do you need to check for, and how often should you do it? The
It seems therefore that a universal trend facing all forms of direct marketing is that of greater accuracy and better targeting in order to reduce wastage and respect the wishes of consumers.
most common suppression files used by list owners are as follows, along with the recommended guidelines for how often to check your data.

  • Mailing lists of business or consumer addresses should be checked against the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) no more than 90 days before each mailing.

  • Telemarketing lists of business or consumer telephone numbers must be checked against the relevant Telephone Preference Service (TPS) for consumers or Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) for businesses, before you or your telemarketing agency lift the receiver to make a call. Both the TPS and CTPS registers are being constantly updated, so your list should be screened no more than 28 days before it is called, or on a monthly basis.

  • Marketing fax broadcasting has declined in popularity because of well publicised abuse, but it's still used by a large number of businesses. It's absolutely essential that you check your list of fax numbers against the Fax Preference Service (FPS) list no more than 28 days before your broadcast.

  • Although it is a specialist sector, if you are planning a consumer mailing to promote any product or service related to babies, then it has to have been cleaned against the Baby Mailing Preference Service (BMPS) file before use. The BMPS file gives bereaved parents the option to have baby/infant related mailings suppressed for 12 months.

Checking your lists against the various suppression files is becoming easier as well. Most list rental companies also offer data cleansing services, while some have gone one step further and launched dedicated products for list cleaning. For example Selectabase, a direct marketing list provider, also offers free Easycheck software which can downloaded to the users PC and then used to check mailing lists and databases against all the latest suppression files, using a pay as you go system of credits.

Following these guidelines will help the direct marketing industry rise to the new challenges it faces and help businesses using direct mail to ensure they operate in a considerate and ethical manner that makes good business sense as well.

Written by Steve Sellwood of Selectabase direct marketing lists and data cleansing services.
www.selectabase.co.uk