Direct Marketing vs Mass Marketing

IT can be argued that much consumer dissatisfaction with marketing strategies arises from an inability to aim advertising at onlythe likely buyers of a given product.

The marketing process affects three different groups of consumers. First, there is the "Segment" i.e. people who need the commodity in question. Second, the "Target" i.e people in the market segment with "the best fit", characteristics for a specific product. Lots of people want to buy shirts, but only a few qualify as buyers of expensive designer shirts. Third is the "audience" all people who are actually exposed to marketing without regard to whether they need the product or not.

The three afore mentioned groups are rarely identical. The only exception being cases where customers for a particular industrial product may be few and easily identifiable. Such customers all share a particular need and in these cases "Direct Marketing" is like to be economically justifiable. Direct Selling/Marketing caters to only the limited target audience.

Most consumer goods markets are significantly different. Typically there are many rather than few potential customers. Each represents a relatively small percentage of potential sales.

Unfortunately, there are few media that allow the marketer to direct a marketing program exclusively to the "Target". Inevitably, people get exposed to a great deal of marketing for products in which they have no interest and so they get annoyed.