Technology and direct marketing - an insider's viewpoint

Citation

Hauser, E. (2007), "Technology and direct marketing - an insider's viewpoint", Direct Marketing: An International Journal, Vol. 1 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dmij.2007.32501daa.001

Technology and direct marketing - an insider's viewpoint

Technology and direct marketing - an insider's viewpoint

In a world with ever-changing technology, businesses need to constantly struggle to keep up-to-date with newly released software and hardware that may allow their company to conduct their work more efficiently. Within this day-to-day struggle, businesses need to weigh the benefits versus the costs of upgrading their existing technology. IT Directors and CEO's need to work out the benefits of spending money on new applications or hardware by developing and implementing a Electronic Business (E-Business) Plan. By developing and implementing this plan correctly, a business will know exactly what their current technology is capable of and any areas that need to be upgraded can be discovered. As a part of the E-Business Plan, company directors need to realize the cost vs benefit of the new technologies. Once discussed, if the benefits of upgrading out ways the costs involved, the company in-turn could be more productive and gain valuable market-share in their niche. On the other hand, due to rising technology costs, companies may decide not to invest in new technological innovations because they simply do not have the available money or resources. In some cases, a company may decide to invest in new technologies and the investment may not turn out to be a good one.

Companies purchase and implement new technology and sometimes find that their purchase has had an overall bad return on investment for their company. Certain factors may cause this. A company may purchase new equipment and then the current market they are in may change direction and the technology may not be needed or not implemented correctly for the new niche. Another example may be that the Board of Directors for a company may decide to change directions and change personnel such as a CEO. The new CEO may not want to implement plans and ideas set forth by his/her predecessor. One last reason may be that a business has searched for technology that it needs and has not found any technologies that encompass certain uses that it needs. The business then purchases technology that closely matches what it needs. Since, the technology is not exactly what is needed, the company may lose productivity or customers because it cannot fully meet its demands. In light of these situations, every company in the direct marketing industry should at least have three pieces of technology, which involves software applications and hardware such as computers, servers, etc.

Direct Marketing is an industry in which any company involved in the business needs to stay current with technology because of the ever-changing methods of communication. As an insider of marketing, every company that is involved in the field should incorporate technologies that will allow their business to completed business tasks more efficiently. In the arena of direct marketing, communications to consumers are ever changing and companies in the business have to constantly search for new, more efficient ways to contact not only their customers, but their suppliers and partners as well.

The first piece of technology that direct marketing firms should have is a high-end iMac computer. In any marketing firm, this computer would come in handy due to its graphical nature. Firms can use an iMac computer to create mailing packages with graphics, create advertisements not only in print but also in media advertising as well using video creation software. These computers may cause potential buyers to look elsewhere due to their price tag, but if properly implemented the iMac can produce stellar looking marketing pieces for any type of application or client need. The iMac computer can be customized for virtually every need from doing ultra high-end processing such as graphical design work to acting as standard desktop computers for normal day-to-day business activities.

On the software side of technology, businesses should invest in content management systems such as Microsoft Sharepoint. Software applications such as this can be used right out of the box to streamline communications among departments in not only large corporations but medium to small sized businesses as well. Microsoft Sharepoint offers services as a document content management system which would allow for documents to not be stored on multiple or single computers but on a centralized server where its content and access can be managed and tracked. This reduces the need to find a single employee who has the file to edit it. Everyone in the organization who needs access to the file could access it from one location. Another aspect of this product is its ability to simply the web-content management for any business that uses it. Today, virtually every company small or large uses the internet or owns a website to promote and inform potential clients about their services. Information posted on a website can change in an instant; the ability to change the content of a website in an orderly quick fashion separates companies who keep their customers informed and those who do not.

Marketing companies are always looking to maximize their profits and market share by finding alternative means in which to communicate. A certain type of technology has emerged in the last year or so that may allow businesses to do just that. Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP, offers a cost-effective solution to businesses that do not way to pay high prices for land-line telephones lines and the charges that come along with them. VoIP allows for calls to be made through a company's existing computer network through the internet. This solution in many ways reduces costs to companies because their internet and phone charges can be bundled together with often is cheaper. Solutions such as this can be easy implemented and installed for virtually any type of business marketing or otherwise.

Searching for ways to keep costs down can be grueling. One idea previously implemented to streamline business and keep costs down may simply not work in today's ever-changing business world. Purchasing technology requires a company to know what it has, research to find what it needs, and the know-how to correctly implement what is has purchased. Costs to the company may be slightly higher in the beginning, but technology that is correctly used can save the company money in the future and drive more clients to the business.

Erik HauserThe Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing