Marketing: Branding vs. Direct Response

In the world of marketing there are two completely different methods to promote your business or products.

The first is branding. Branding is a method that large companies use to "brand" their image, their name, their products into the mind of the public. Branding can costs millions and millions of dollars each year and the goal of branding is to get consumers to think of a specific company or product when the need comes about in your life for something.

For example, Rock Financial is a the largest mortgage company in the state of Michigan. You can NOT turn on the radio or TV without hearing and seeing their commercials. You can't drive down the street without seeing a billboard advertising their services.

They spend millions to keep their name and image in front of us.

If you are a small business, then you can't compete with them when it comes to branding. There is no way that you can put that kind of money out there and expect a return on it. Most smaller businesses do not have that kind of marketing budget.

However, if a small business uses successful "direct response" marketing, then they can build their business very quickly and build a very successful business and make a very good living.

Direct response is a very measurable way to advertise and market your business. The idea behind direct response marketing is to see an immediate, measurable response to your advertising.

You are trying to get prospects to take action and do something to get them into your marketing funnel so that you can build relationships with them and earn them as new customers.

An example of direct marketing is when you hear a commercial advertising a free report or free dvd or free sample product. The commerical is pushing something for free in order to motivate a listener to get up and call an 800 number or visit a website to order the free item.

Once a prospect orders the free item, then you now have an opportunity to sell your product to them. This can be done with follow-up marketing. This can be done at the time of ordering the free item. It can also be done both ways.

The important aspect to direct marketing is to get the prospect to take some sort of action NOW! This is so very different then branding because with branding you are not trying to get the prospect to do anything right now. You simply want to burn it into their mind that when they are ready for what it is that you offer, then they'll think of you because of your branding efforts.

About The Author
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Ryan Ringold is an entrepreneur that has been making a full time income using the internet since 2002. His websites generate hundreds of thousands of dollars and are virtually on autopilot. Ryan also consults, teaches, and coaches people interested in online business. He is a self-proclaimed "Lazy Ass Internet Marketer" because he strategically launches websites that can run on autopilot, which gives him freedom to travel, play, teach, and help others.

For more information visit LazyAssInternetMarketing.com
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