Sales, Digital and Direct Marketing Strategies outlines strategies for personal selling, digital marketing, and direct marketing. It discusses determining the role of personal selling in promotional strategies and designing sales organizations. It also covers recruiting, training, and managing salespeople, as well as evaluating performance and making adjustments. The document introduces strategies for digital marketing, including identifying opportunities online and developing a vision for how digital assets can meet business and stakeholder needs. It also discusses objectives and value opportunities and risks of internet marketing.

1. Sales, Digital and Direct
Marketing Strategies
Presented By: Janet and Christine

2. INTRODUCTION
• Today’s competitive environment demands that companies take on a
radically different approach to their sales functions. Sales people are
moving away from administrative and transaction based roles which
are now handled by the internet to building relationships that are
more focused on collaborative and consultative roles.
• Management can now use personal selling, the internet and direct
marketing to interact with customers

3. Sales Force Strategy
• Sales force strategy is concerned with deciding how to use personal
selling to contact customers, generate sales and develop customer
relationships. Personal selling activities will vary based on a
companies positioning and promotional strategy.
Step 1
• Determine the role of salesforce in a promotion strategy
• Selling process must be determined
Step 2
• Sales channel must be determined (How will the internet and direct marketing contribute to sales)
• Design of the sales organization must be determined
Step 3
• Sales people must be recruited, trained and managed
• Results of the sales strategy are evaluated and corrected

4. 1. Determine the Role of Selling in
Promotional Strategy
• Management must decide the role and objectives of the Sales Force in the
marketing program.
• Several factors guide the role of selling;
- Target market
- Product characteristics
- Distribution and Pricing policies
- Pricing policies
Objectives for the salesforce is often tied to sale quotas which are incentive
based
The important issue is deciding how much direct contact is needed by the
buyer with the sales person.

5. Types of Sales Jobs
New Business
Selling
• Involves obtaining sales
from new buyers
• Example: Online sales
Trade Selling
• Provides assistance and support
to value chain members rather
than selling.
• Support includes merchandising,
building relationships, product
info
Consultative
Technical Selling
Sell to an existing
customer base and provide
technical and application
support.
This is used in complex
equipment or services
Missionary Selling
• A producer’s sales people works with channels to
convince customers to purchase
• e.g. Commercial airlines salespeople

6. 2. Define the selling process
• Many activities are involved from identifying a buyer’s needs to closing
the sale to managing the post sale relationships. The selling process
include;
Prospecting
for buyer
Opening the
relationships
Qualifying the
prospect
Presenting the
sale
Closing the
sale
Serving the
account

7. Cont.
The selling process is normally managed by the sales person however
many companies are moving that function to customer relationship
management teams or account managers.
The role of management is to provide guidelines for the selling process
and set targets for the teams in line with the strategy.
The selling process provides guidelines for recruiting, training,
allocation of effort, organizational design and the use of selling support
activities
Understanding the selling process is essential in coordinating all
aspects of the marketing program.

8. 3. Decide on Sales Channels
Part of the personal selling strategy is deciding the channels you will use
to get to customers. Management must decide;
1. Which channels to use in contacting end users
2. How telemarketing, Internet and Direct marketing will support the
field salesforce
3.Direct face-to-face contact with salespeople is very expensive and the
need for this resource should be evaluated in terms of benefits vs costs
• The choice of channel used is influenced by the buying power of the
customer and sales volume threshold

9. 4. Design the sales organization
• Designing the sales organization includes selecting an organizational
structure and deciding the number of sales people to deploy across
geographical areas and to customers/prospects.
• An organizational design should support the salesforce strategy
• Organizational design is influenced by the requirements of the
customer base, products and geographical location of buyers

10. Questions to ask
• What is the selling job? What activities are to be performed by sales
people?
• Is specialization of selling activities necessary?
• Are channels of distribution relationships important in the
organizational design?
• How many sales management levels are necessary to provide
supervision?
• If sales teams are to be used, what will be their composition?
• How and to what extent will sales channels be used to support the
salesforce

11. Types Of Organizational Design
Market Driven Design
(Heavily influenced by
the customer base)
Product/Market driven
design
Geography driven
design (Where
customer base is widely
distributed)
Product driven design
Simple product
offering
Complex
products
Customer needs are
different

12. Cont.
• Sales unit design has a strong impact on sales unit performance
• There are many factors influencing the performance of the sales
person. These include;
1. Market potential
2. Number and location of customers
3. Intensity of competition
4. Market/Brand position

13. 5. Recruit, train and manage salespeople
• The management of the sales force involves the following activities;
• Selecting salespersons
• Providing training
• Measuring performance
• Motivating them with the aid of monetary and non-monetary
incentives.
If performance measurement shows significant deviations from the
performance standards set, then corrective actions have to be initiated.

14. What makes a good sales person?
• Being customer-driven and highly motivated for the job
• Accepting direction and co-operating as a team player
• Being motivated by peers, financial incentives etc.
The characteristics that a sales persons need to possess are often
dependent on the type of selling situation and the selling strategy
being employed.

15. Training Sales People
• Training can either be formal/informal
• Factors that affect the duration and type of training include; sales job,
product complexity, experience of new sales people and
management’s commitment to training.
• Companies seek to achieve the following through training;
- Increase productivity
-Improve customer relations
-Enable better management of time and territory

16. Evaluate performance and make adjustments
where necessary
• Sales management means continually working to improve the
productivity of the selling efforts in order to achieve high
performance.
• Performance of sales force considers results, costs, customer
satisfaction
Where to focus the analysis?
• Evaluation often extends beyond the sales person to include the
organization unit i.e. districts and branches, product performance
across geographical areas

17. Performance & Measures
• Sales Mangers must use both behavior and outcome measure to
effectively measure performance of a sales person.
• Areas to measure include; sales planning, presentation, expense
control, technical knowledge, information feedback and sales results.
• One of the challenges of evaluating performance is accounting for
factors beyond the sales person control(competition, market
potential, poor supervision)
• In evaluating the organizations selling strategy, management may
identify areas where corrective action is required. A good information
system helps in the diagnosis of performance and guides in corrective
action where necessary.

18. Intro to Digital Strategy
• Internet has fundamentally changed the marketing function,
causing the greatest shift in the field since the invention of the
television.

19. Cont.
• No longer can we rely on print, publicity and a media buyer to distribute our catchy
ad campaign.
• We need to invest in IT resources and an understanding of internet tools to
effectively (and profitably) connect with our market busier people, who have
shorter attention spans, and often suffer from information overload.

20. • A plan to accomplish something with the benefit of digital/internet
tools.
• It is the process of specifying an organization's vision, goals,
opportunities and related activities in order to maximize the business
benefits of digital initiatives to the organization.

21. Approaches to creating a digital strategy
• Identifying the opportunities and/or challenges in a business where online assets
can provide a solution. E.g. stakeholder interview, competitor and financial
analysis, etc.
• Identifying the unmet needs and goals of the external stakeholders that most
closely align with those key business opportunities and/or challenges. E.g.
External stakeholder interviews, using web analytics, etc.

22. • Developing a vision around how the online assets will fulfill those business and
external stakeholder needs, goals, opportunities and challenges. E.g. Business
plan or case, online media plan, technical assessment, measurement plan, etc.
• Prioritizing a set of online initiatives which can deliver on this vision. E.g.
Campaigns etc.
Approaches to creating a digital strategy

25. Internet Marketing Objectives
Objectives based on different businesses, i.e., B2B
and B2C

26. Internet value opportunities
• Targeted marketing is possible online.
• Messages can be designed to address specific needs and preferences of the audience.
• The web offers an opportunity for interaction and feedback.
• The internet offers access to a wide range of information.
• Sales potential offered online is substantial.
• It offers a great opportunity for communication innovation.
• Exposure opportunities online are significant, enabling companies to attain cost-
effective access to customers and prospects.
• Speed of response is impressive.

27. Internet value risks
• Changes in audience preferences.
• Difficulties in finding ways of measuring effective of using the internet for your
business.
• Response delays.
• Potential for deception/fraud.
• Users may be aware of online advertisers and end up change their behavior to
avoid it, e.g. change from one social media to another.
• Costs may end up being higher than expected.

28. • Promoting brands using all forms of online advertising channels to
reach customers.

29. Digital Tools

30. Some common digital marketing tools
• Email Marketing
• SEO and SEM
• Online Advertising
• Social Media Marketing

31. Email Marketing
• Email Marketing is promoting
products through use of email.
• 2 main ingredients to an
effective email marketing
campaign:
– Build to a large list of people
you can write to (Database).
– Emails should be packed
with free value and should
move people to buy what
you’re trying to sell.

32. SEO/SEM
• This is about gaining visibility
on search engines when users
search for terms that relate to
your business.
– Organic search (SEO):
– Paid search (SEM):

33. • In search marketing, companies focus on driving
more traffic to targeted areas of their website. They
use search to:
– Generate new leads
– Sell products
– Build their brand
– Divert traffic from their competitors
SEO/SEM

34. • This is an internet advertising model used to direct traffic to
websites, in which advertisers pay the publisher (typically a
website owner) when the ad is clicked. It is defined simply as
“the amount spent to get an advertisement clicked.”

36. Social Media Marketing
• Category of websites that allow
people to connect,
communicate and share
information in real-time on the
internet.

37. Why? – Build brand awareness
– Interact directly with customers and the
market
– Launch promotions
– Distribute news
– Generate leads
– Monitor competitors
– Build links
– Connect with thought-leaders
– Find out how the market perceives you
– Establish thought-leadership
– Gather market research
– Facilitate sales

38. Advantages of Digital Marketing
Keeps companies at par with
competitors.
Companies can be
available 24/7
Helps build relationships
Global reach

39. Advantages of Digital Marketing
Cost Effective
Cater to specific needs/interests.
Real-time Marketing
and Customer Service
Accountability

40. Advantages of Digital Marketing
Can help small businesses
compete with large corporations
Measuring statistics is easy

41. Illegal/Unethical Practices
Disadvantages of Digital Marketing
High cost of hardware
Get drowned by too much
online ad clutter

42. May not be appropriate
for your product.
Disadvantages of Digital Marketing
There’s too much
competition online

43. Digital Marketing Challenges in Kenya
• Lack of governance, laws and
regulations.
• Cultural issues.
• Lack of technical infrastructure.
• Online shopping worries.
– Fear factor
– Unreliable delivery mechanisms
– Fraud

44. Examples of Local Companies that are successfully using Digital Marketing

45. Examples of Global Companies that are successfully using Digital Marketing
B2B B2C

46. Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is a form of advertising that specifically
targets a person or company to generate new business, raise
the profile of an organization or product, or make a sale.
Direct marketing trades on the greatest of all sales advantages
- the opportunity to communicate directly with your customer
to build a personal relationship. It allows you to reach your
target audience with direct messages, without using
traditional, costly advertising methods such as TV, newspapers
and radio advertising.
Objective: To make direct contact with end-user customers
through alternative media.

48. Direct Marketing Methods
Direct mail
• Direct mail is posted mail that advertises your business and its products and services. There are several
different types of direct mail (e.g. catalogues, postcards, envelope mailers).
Telemarketing
• Telemarketing involves contacting potential customers over the phone to sell products or services. It is
capable of generating new customer prospects in large volumes and is also a useful tool for following up on
direct marketing campaigns.
Email marketing
• Email marketing is a simple, cost-effective and measurable way of reaching your customers. It can include
e-newsletters, promotional emails to generate new leads or offers for existing customers, or ads that can
appear in other business's emails.
Text (SMS) marketing (Ads on mobile devices)
• Text messaging allows businesses to reach individual customers and send messages to large groups of
people at a low cost. You could use short message service (SMS) messaging to send customers sales alerts,
links to website updates, appointment or delivery reminders, or personalized messaging.
Social media marketing
• Social media can be used effectively as a marketing tool for business as it gives you the opportunity to
interact directly with your customers and regularly share relevant product or service information.

49. Reasons for using Direct Marketing Methods
• Socioeconomic Trends – buyers can shop at home, save time (convenience); for
working spouses, it imposes less constraint on household duties.
• Low access costs – it is much lower compared to one-on-one sales contact, i.e.
investing in a physical shop, etc.
• Database Management – collecting customer information and using this to
market to them directly.
• Value – convenience, reduced shopping time, rapid response, competitive
prices.

50. Direct
Marketing
• Segmentation capability
• Flexibility
• Timing
• Selective Reach
• Personalization
• Measurement of effectiveness
Direct
Marketing
• Limited reach
• Customer rejection - Customers
resent intrusive communication
• Difficult to acquire data necessary
for preparing customer database
• Environment and Law

51. The End
If people like you, they will listen, but if they
trust you, they will do business with you.