direct-response-television

How can a DRTV campaign compel viewers to take action and win in the long run? In this age of varied media like the television, the internet, radio, mobile phones, cinema, newspapers, magazines, etc, a good DRTV campaign needs to break through the clutter and grab the viewer’s attention. Not only are consumers exposed to various media simultaneously, but they are also becoming adept at consuming simultaneously. For example, people watch TV and compose a mobile SMS at the same time. They listen to the radio and read the newspaper at the same time.

The right way to keep consumers focused on a product in this world of attention dividing channels is to create DRTV messages that are astute and relevant to the consumer. These messages will catch their attention and resonate with them in order to motivate them to purchase your products now or remember the information for the time when they’re ready to act. Integrating other media like the internet and direct mail, reinforcing the campaign with print media and/or radio, going retail – these are smart ways to make a DRTV campaign a successful one.

It is estimated that the infomercial industry is averaging $91 billion dollars a year in sales. Its no surprise that people would rather shop from their homes than leave to enter a crowded retail shop or mall. Although most of the big names in infomercials can be trusted, there are some that may be ruining it for others. Dateline NBC ran a program to see how difficult it would be to market a product through an infomercial. They used a faux pill made out of Nestle Quick and said that this would remove facial lines and wrinkles. Despite the fact that at first they found it difficult to find a company to help them market their product, they did find one. This company hired actresses who claimed the Nestle Quick worked well for reducing wrinkles and lines. However, after confronted, the women who gave the testimonials admitted to ‘exaggerated’ stories about the product.
This is not the case with all infomercials and it harms the credibility of those who care for what products they produce. Networks do not promote selling questionable products. It is just best to be aware of what products may or may not be realistic.

With the advent of new media vehicles like the internet, mobile phones, iPods, etc, many people cast a doubt over the reach of traditional media outlets like television, and in turn, advertising media like DRTV. It may be argued that so many new options of entertainment might dilute the impact that television had in the earlier days when it was almost a monopoly, even in spite of radio and print. With consumer attention getting divided in so many new directions, it logically follows that television, and along with it, DRTV might be losing more and more of its viewers.

The good news is that statistics show otherwise. Not only has television held on to its customer base, but the number of people watching television is actually increasing. A Nielsen Media research reports released in 2006 shows that the total viewing time of an average household has increased by 3 minutes as compared to 2005 and that the amount of time watched by an individual has also increased by 3 minutes per day. This obviously means that television advertising and in turn DRTV continues to reach out to more and more people, making it a sustainable profitable vehicle for advertisers.

While it is true that DRTV is a hugely successful medium today, a large part of the success is due to factors that are not strictly within the DRTV realm. The most prominent among these is the internet. Clearly, the Web has the biggest impact on multichannel marketing today. Originally the Web tended to be simply an ordering venue for customers who were stimulated to buy through other mediums, but it has blossomed into a primary destination for learning, research and purchasing. It is therefore very important to include the internet as an integral part of any DRTV campaign.

Retail channels also gets a big boost from DRTV. It is a common occurrence to put the “As Seen on TV” sign on products sitting on the retail shelves. Over the years, the time gap between migrating from direct into retail has decreased, as retailers want the benefit of the awareness and demand created by DRTV sooner. Often, DRTV has been shown to improve sales of products sold on store shelves, in inserts, direct mail and catalogs. To succeed in DRTV today, it is important to adopt a multichannel strategy.

It is a common practice to use testimonials in a DRTV campaign. In fact, many DRTV adverts rely mainly on demonstrations and subsequently testimonials of “real” people talking about the advantages of the product and how they benefited from it. Testimonials give an authentic spin to the product and help the target audience relate to the testifying persons and subsequently, to the product itself. Testimonials can be about various aspects of the product including, ease of use, efficacy, its improving effect on people’s lives and etc.

But recently, an NBC Dateline expose revealed how some misleading DRTV infomercials used paid actors to give “real life” testimonials. There was no large-scale product use, no documentation of term use, no statistical significance, no documentation of actual results, no creditable conclusions and so on. Although this unfair practice is not wide-spread, it is important for the DRTV industry to rally and assure the customer about the authenticity of testimonials, by and large. Recruitment of testimonials for compensation without full disclosure is not an accepted practice by the FTC or industry leaders. The DRTV industry should do everything they can to ensure that on-camera testimonials of experience and results are truthful and accurate.