Direct Response TV (DRTV) and Infomercial Marketing

Internet Marketing

The new frontier of computer online services is opening up an area of potential profits that is, at this point, hard to fathom. The beauty of online sales is that they are synergistic with infomercial marketing in many ways. According to online expert and media personality Kim Komando, the keys to successful online marketing are closely related to those of infomercials. You have a great product, present it in an appealing setting, promote it, have a dynamite call to action, and offer immediate feedback and gratification. Thus, many of the components in your effective infomercial can be transferred to the online arena, where your prospective customer base numbers in the millions. With this commercial world just beginning, the potential for all businesses--including those who market via infomercials--is incredibly exciting. Many infomercial marketers already have joined the multitudes of businesses that are using online Web sites and other online shopping avenues to sell products. Infomercial marketers are extremely fortunate in that their format is easily transferable to online avenues.

Direct Response Marketing can boost web traffic/response

• Television is the quickest way to get the message out to a mass audience - it is still the largest mass media
• According to a survey of direct response television buyers, 65% of DRTV buyers are also Internet buyers.
• With an infomercial, viewers spend an average of 9 to 20 minutes being educated about your product.
• Research has shown that infomercials stand on their own, they support, rather than take away from, other mediums such as direct mail.

Examples:

• A California-based Internet marketing company, SeeYouOnline.com, reported an average response of 325 new customers per day on the Web site after the launch of television spots (Response magazine, June issue)
• Starmark, a division of Mercedes-Benz, launched an infomercial this year and reported a dramatic lift in web visits. Plus, 38% of people who visited the web site went as far as to scan the database of used car inventory of the Starmark dealer in their geographic area.
• The US Navy, which is known as the branch of the armed forces with the strongest marketing programs, successfully integrated infomercials into their marketing mix in 1999. So have many major advertisers - Phillips, Apple, Fidelity, Nissan, Discover, even Wal-mart.