One of the most effective means of gaining visibility, creating brand awareness and maintaining client relationships is through direct mail marketing campaigns.

Direct marketing is broadly defined, in media terms, as any direct communication to a consumer or business recipient that is designed to generate a response in the form of an order (direct order), a request for further information (lead generation), and/or a visit to a store or other place of business for purchase of a specific product(s) or service(s) (traffic generation).

A leading trade magazine Direct Marketing goes a bit further: "an interactive system of marketing that uses one or more advertising media to effect a measurable response and/or transaction at any location, with this activity stored on a database."

The goal is to provide the customer information relative to their needs and interests. A recent Bear Stearns profile on the direct and interactive marketing industry offers a helpful way of looking at it as a cyclical process with six distinct phases:

• The creative and design phase...where a marketing plan and media channels are selected;
• Data compilation...where both internal data, such as customer lists...and outside data from a database company or list broker are assembled in preparation for phase three, which is....
• Database management...where the information is purged, enhanced and standardized;
• Database analysis...which further focuses on an optimal target market;
• Next...execution and fulfillment...where customer inquiries and orders are acted upon...and that information is passed on to selected media channels; and...
• And finally...response analysis...where the results of the campaign are examined for effectiveness before this cycle begins again.

As we move into the 21st Century direct and interactive marketers will continue to focus on customer acquisition, service and value in traditional as well as new media.

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