'Why Direct Marketing is Still the Best' Panel Event Wrap-up

Thursday 23rd June 2011 01:09pm
By Networx Brisbane

We had a great panel of speakers last night discussing 'Why Direct is Still the Best'. Our panellists included:

Neil Jorgensen, Direct Marketing Manager, Signet @SignetAustralia
Nick Pritchard, Creative Director, Decoder
Matthew Johnson, EDM Specialist, Vision6 @Vision6

with Cat Matson, Business CATalyst, Alito @catmatson facillitating the discussion.

A couple of things that I picked up where:

If you have a Facebook Page, make sure you have an email subscription form on it.
Direct can be across all channels - not just email and direct mail
Personalise, personalise, personalise! Make the recipient feel something.

My fellow attendee, Rachel McLean, Account Executive for TwoCents, shared with me that she learnt the following:

Personalise your message: the more you show your target market you care, the more likely they are to receive your information, understand it and act upon it.
Direct marketing is all about creating a moment, having a direct conversation and opening a two-way dialogue.
It's not just me thinking "noreply" email addresses are rude! - If you value the relationship, commit to it and put a contact name on the email.
EDM is all about engagement. Put thought into enhancing consumer experience, stirr emotions and you will get a response.
Great direct campaigns are single-minded in focus, simple and relevant.
Every DM opportunity should answer a business objective - Agencies (like TwoCents) should sit down, identify a business issue and look at how DM can achieve that.

Here's a bit of an event wrap-up, via Twitter:

Tweeps were getting excited before the event:

rapidbrand Rapidbrand Can't wait for the Networx event tonight - "Why Direct is Still the Best" #NXBris

RachelMcLean Rachel McLean looking forward to tonight's #NXBRIS with speakers @Vision6 @SignetAustralia and @catmatson - Why Direct Is Still The Best

catmatson Cat Matson Sooo looking forward to #NXBris tonight ... who will I see there?

Our panel of speakers made their way to the stage:

XMPieman Jeff Polley Matthew Johnson (@vision6), Nick Pritchard from Decoder and Neil Jorgensen (@signetaustralia) are the panelists at #NXBris tonight.

NetworxEvents Networx Brisbane Photo: Direct Marketing panel @catmatson @vision6 Decoder @SignetAustralia #nxbris http://twitpic.com/5f3v9n

RachelMcLean Rachel McLean At #NXBRIS sinking our teeth into juicy conversation: Why Direct Is Still The Best! With @catmatson @vision6 @Signetaustralia

vision6 Vision6 @matthew_jj from @vision6 takes the stage at #NXBris yfrog.com/kfw8eyrj

Speakers made some good points:

XMPieman Jeff Polley

"The more you show your target audience you give a shit, the better the relationship over time." - Nick Pritchard NXBris

Direct marketing is only as good as the database your marketing to. Having a name is not enough. #NXBris

penelopefrench Penny French - AFLQ @vision6: No right time to send an email for direct marketing. Nick Pritchard: Paper is sexy @signetaustralia: speak to gatekeeper #NXBris