Typical direct selling enterprises use direct mail, newspaper marketing, TV marketing, door-to-door sales and other methods to increase sales profits by reducing circulation links, reducing marketing costs and improving after-sales service, which has the following marketing characteristics:
1. Take the marketing concept as the guiding ideology and follow closely the development direction of social marketing and green marketing. The concept of marketing was formed in 1950s after World War II, and the seller's marketing market changed to the buyer's marketing market. The basic idea is that all business activities of enterprises are oriented to the needs of consumers. Direct selling, which was formed and developed in the 1970s, is the product of this background. It adheres to the demand-centered concept and emphasizes the delivery of goods and services expected by the target market in a more timely and effective way than competitors to meet the various needs of consumers. In the late 1970s, people began to pay attention to environmental protection and the long-term interests of consumers, and enterprises changed from focusing only on the market demand of customers to focusing on the long-term interests of consumers. The great development of social marketing and green marketing enriches and sublimates the marketing theory and points out the direction for the development of direct selling.
2. Pay attention to overall marketing and realize quick delivery. Direct marketing should be based on consumer demand identification, demand evaluation, market segmentation and target market selection to form overall marketing. Specifically, we should pay attention to target customer identification and customer demand prediction, and do a good job in feasibility study and market research; Design and select products and services according to customer requirements; It is necessary to identify the product characteristics and occupy the target market. Among them, product characteristics include natural attributes, volume and weight, standardization degree, unit value, technical performance and after-sales service. Generally speaking, products suitable for direct selling include: perishable products; Products with large volume or weight; Non-standardized products; Products with high unit value and strong technical performance; New products with low market awareness. Fast delivery is reflected in the close connection between production and sales, integrating customer information collection, product design, production, transportation and delivery, reducing the waiting time after customers place orders; After the customized products are produced, they are quickly delivered to customers through third-party logistics.
3. Pay attention to network marketing. The traditional direct selling method usually uses the product catalogue, printed letter or telephone to promote the products of the enterprise, and attaches the customer reply form, so that the enterprise can know the direct selling situation of the products in time. In fact, direct selling is a commercial form that transfers part of the profits of products from agents, distributors and advertisers to direct sellers, and there are no restrictions on the ways and technical means used. The emergence of the Internet has increased the channels and tools of direct selling. The characteristics of direct selling itself determine that it can be perfectly combined with network technology, and enterprises can use the convenience provided by computer technology and the Internet to extend their marketing strategies in the network world. Personalization and interactivity are the expected goals of direct selling. The appearance of the Internet not only strengthens the interaction, but also strengthens the one-to-one interaction between customers and direct sellers, which means that personalized interaction can be realized, so it is easier for online marketing to realize two-way communication and interaction between marketers and customers.
4. Take the marketing database system as the necessary support. Many marketing experts at home and abroad believe that the essence of direct selling is data marketing, and a large amount of information obtained in advance and the development of computer technology are the driving forces of direct selling. In order to successfully carry out comprehensive direct selling, the company should develop a marketing database system to support it. The marketing database system can be used to find target customers, establish a sustained and good customer relationship, form a basically stable customer network, meet the differences and personalized needs of customers, and further cultivate and consolidate long-term and stable marketing relationships with customers. A complete customer database can help companies predict customer needs, find potential buyers of specific products and evaluate customer loyalty. According to the characteristic data of potential customers provided by the customer database, direct sales materials only need to be accurately sent to interested customers at the appropriate time, which greatly improves the pertinence and effectiveness of marketing and reduces the marketing cost.
5. Implement one-to-one interactive marketing, personalized and people-oriented marketing. Direct selling emphasizes that consumers can respond to advertising information through effective communication between marketers and buyers. Various media are widely used to communicate with consumers, such as printed advertisements, direct letters, telephone, television, personal computers and so on. To provide consumers with tools that can respond, such as toll-free telephone, reply card, purchase order, etc. Let consumers respond directly. In the direct selling industry, consumers become the center of marketing, and enterprises maintain a long-term, good and stable partnership with customers by providing high customer commitment and other means, thus ensuring more and more favorable transactions, stimulating consumption to the maximum extent, making all parties to the transaction profitable and forming a win-win situation.
6. Strictly segment customers. The biggest advantage of direct selling enterprises lies in direct contact with customers and timely and accurately grasping customer needs. To achieve this advantage, enterprises need to establish interactive relations with customers through various channels, such as telephone, fax and Internet. It is necessary to use various segmentation criteria, such as age, gender and lifestyle, to identify potential customers who are most likely to buy the company's products. Through market segmentation, the company's products can better meet the highly personalized customer needs. When a direct seller carries out direct selling activities, he determines the marketing standard according to the marketing purpose, and then selects the customer groups suitable for this direct selling activity according to the marketing standard.
7. Emphasize the competition between direct selling media and direct selling channels. Direct selling activities can reach target markets in different geographical locations, and the universality of space makes the competition between traditional marketing methods and locations no longer prominent in the direct selling industry. With the expansion of direct selling space, enterprises can make more effective use of marketing resources, and each enterprise's marketing investment has a clear destination. The position competition of direct selling industry is gradually replaced by the competition of direct selling media and channels. The appearance of the network further strengthens this feature of direct selling, and online marketing tools such as online advertising and e-mail can carry out marketing activities to users at a lower cost. For small and medium-sized enterprises with limited funds, online marketing is a good channel for them to reach the target market and realize sales.
8. Develop mass customization marketing. Mass customization organizes production according to customers' orders, which avoids a large backlog of inventory and saves related guarantee, care and maintenance costs, thus greatly reducing the total cost of products. The direct selling mode of mass customization production makes the company have no product inventory and sell the latest products; At the same time, customers can get products that really meet their needs at a lower price through customization.
9. Reputation is paramount and price advantage is maintained. The establishment of reputation is closely related to the success of direct selling enterprises. Consumers of direct selling enterprises can't directly touch the goods before shopping, and are bound by the traditional concept of "hearing is empty, seeing is believing", which is the most unfavorable factor of direct selling and the reason why many consumers don't accept direct selling. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a return system, strictly control the purchase and quality of goods, and make due commitments to consumers. Low price is a major feature of direct selling, which should be paid attention to subjectively, and scientific management should be strengthened objectively to control costs. Efforts should be made to solve the difficult problems in price adjustment, evaluate the market according to the principles of economy, controllability and adaptability during the period of price instability, formulate a reasonable sales target plan, and keep a close eye on the market.
10. Deliver promotional information in a targeted manner and attach importance to advertising investment. Generally speaking, advertisements use mass media, lacking the basic knowledge and understanding of the audience. Advertising and service information disseminated in direct selling is targeted information dissemination through appropriate media according to the characteristics of consumers' names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail passwords. At the same time, because there are not many sales outlets, direct selling manufacturers must use all advertising media to increase publicity.
1 1. Integrate advertising and promotion into sales. From the traditional promotion combination, advertising plays the role of information communication in product communication, business promotion plays the role of further stimulating consumer demand, and personnel sales finally complete product sales; From the point of view of direct selling, all direct selling tools integrate the functions of transmitting product service information, implementing promotion and realizing product sales, so that advertising, promotion and sales, which are interrelated but separated, can be completely unified in direct selling.
12. Multinational enterprises are increasingly becoming the core organizers of the direct selling industry. In recent years, in order to remain invincible in today's fiercely competitive international environment, many multinational companies have adjusted their production organization and internal management structure, formed a international strategic alliances with their peers and even competitors, and implemented "borderless management", showing the trend of global integration and leading the development trend of the direct selling industry. Usually, with its direct selling model, Dell has achieved great success in business and become the fastest growing computer company in the world.
Direct selling has become an industry model that can not be ignored in the world, which is of great significance to the future market development. Grasping the above marketing characteristics, China's direct selling industry will surely usher in a brilliant tomorrow!
Unlike pyramid selling, direct selling is legal.