Direct Marketing

Up to a few years past, direct marketing was the sphere of telemarketers and junk mail purveyors. Since 2001, direct marketing has been the fastest growing segment in the marketing world. In that year, companies spent over £10 bn on direct marketing to households in the UK. That's a lot of money being spent to reach consumers in order to sell products to them. And a hefty chunk of that money is going into the pockets of direct sales managers, copywriters, marketing managers, strategic planners, consumer researchers - not to mention a lot of direct marketing jobs that never existed before the boom of the internet.

So let's take a look at careers in direct marketing to see why it is one of the fastest growing job sectors in the UK.

Start with... the definition! What is direct marketing?

The current definition of direct marketing offered by the Institute of Direct Marketing (and who'd know better?) is:

...the fusion of creative thinking with customer knowledge and the latest technologies to generate customised communications and business solutions across a mix of media.

That mouthful means that direct marketing uses data gathered about customers to create targeted sales messages that will appeal specifically to the people to whom they are sent. It's important to understand that data is what defines the difference between sales and direct marketing, because it directly affects the kinds of direct marketing jobs that are available on offer.

Direct marketing jobs run the gamut from the very creative - copywriters, photographers, art directors, graphic artists - to the analytical. And while it's still considered to be difficult to land a job in direct marketing, it's getting easier all the time as companies realize that the key to sales is reaching the right customers with the right adverts. It's predicted that demand for experts in the database jobs that drive direct marketing and the creative direct marketing jobs will continue to outstrip the available talent for some years to come.

Remember we said at the start that there's over £10 bn being spent on direct marketing in the UK each year? Here's the chunk of it you could expect to see in various direct marketing jobs:

Creative:

A junior copywriter, art director or junior team member starts at £18-22k annually, but as little as 3-5 years of experience can lift that to £25-40k. Put in 5+ years, and you could command £45-70k, plus benefits. Top of the line creative directors with 10+ years of solid agency experience can bring down £120k, plus car and other benefits.

Positions in direct marketing for those with solid data analysis skills range from junior data analysts to data planners to account data managers. Each has a unique role, and there are wide ranges of salary. In general, a junior analyst can expect a starting salary of £20-22k. Two years experience and a concentration in specialised skills can raise that salary to as high as £40k rather quickly. An experienced data analyst with 8+ years working with CEOs and heads of companies can command £80k with full benefits and pension, along with a company car.

Direct marketing is expected to continue to grow as a career choice. Database driven advertising is at the cutting edge of all the newest and latest technologies. If you've got the skills and the energy to pursue a career in direct marketing, you're in a growth market. The opportunities for lateral and upward movement are only expected to increase over the next ten years.

Article Source: Paul Eastaby