What Is The Direct Marketing Association?
Overview
The Direct Marketing Association is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates industry standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process.
Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,600 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 50 other nations, including the majority of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.
Each dollar spent on direct marketing yields, on average, a return on investment of $11.69, versus ROI of $5.24 from non-direct marketing expenditures. That's the Power of Direct.
From DMA's The Power of Direct Marketing: ROI, Sales, Expenditures and Employment in the US, 2007-2008 Edition.
The Direct Marketing Association is headquartered in New York City and has an office in Washington, DC. It represents its members’ interests in the 50 states as well as on Capitol Hill and at the US Postal Service, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and other federal agencies. DMA is increasingly active in international government relations, reflecting the rapid growth of transborder marketing.
DMA’s Education Services Department offers over 18 seminars on various direct marketing topics around the US major cities with more than 70 sessions a year. Virtual seminars bridge the gap between locations and allow professionals learn and get inspired from their desks during over 80 sessions a year including industry or channel-specific, Council-sponsored virtual seminars.
In addition to dozens of networking events around the US, DMA organizes over 22 major conferences and exhibitions, including the Annual Conference & Exhibition, the largest gathering of direct marketing professionals in the world.
DMA’s Global Knowledge Network Center, the world’s largest direct marketing reference collection, includes DirectLINK, the online searchable database dedicated entirely to direct marketing, with over 28,000 abstracts and full-text articles, case studies, periodicals, and ECHO Award portfolios.
DMA’s Research Department annually conducts and publishes dozens of member and industry studies and other resources, including the annual The DMA Statistical Fact Book, The Power of Direct Marketing: ROI, Sales, Expenditures and Employment in the US, Economic Impact: US Direct Marketing Today, and Response Rate Trends Report.
DMA also promotes the direct marketing community and member companies to consumers, fights negative perceptions, ensures fair treatment by the media, and proactively addresses the issues affecting marketers. It maintains a consumer Web site, www.DMAConsumers.org, which provides resources and protection information for consumers. The Association maintains an array of consumer education programs and services, including the Mail Preference Service, Telephone Preference Service, and E-Mail Preference Service, which are free services for consumers who wish not to receive unsolicited communications.
DMA maintains a US-wide Affiliate Network to unify the direct marketing community, build deep political grassroots to enhance all direct marketers' lobbying strength, enhance the national and local educational, informational, and networking opportunities, and build membership locally and nationally.
To enhance networking and learning opportunities for its members, DMA has over 20 Special Interest Councils: Analytics, Broadcast, Business-to-Business, Catalog and Multichannel Marketing, Circulation, Creative, Customer Relationship Management, Direct Marketing Agency, Directo: Council for Hispanic Marketing, E-Mail Marketing, Financial Services, Insert Media, International, List and Database, Marketing Technology, Pharmaceutical Marketing, Retail Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Teleservices, and Travel and Hospitality.
For more information about DMA or its subsidiaries, call 212.768.7277 or e-mail us at membership@the-dma.org.
What DMA does
There was a time when direct marketing was synonymous with direct mail - not anymore! In today's world, direct marketing has evolved into a data-driven, multichannel process for building and cultivating mutually beneficial relationships between you and your customers and prospects. The future of your organization depends a great deal on how you communicate, and direct marketing is your most important tool.
DMA Mission
DMA advocates industry standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the entire direct marketing process. We call this combination The Power of Direct.
DMA's Five Pillars of Member Service
DMA shapes the way organizations apply direct marketing methods to all marketing, sales, and customer service. The outstanding array of the membership benefits is organized in five areas:
- ADVOCACY
DMA is the voice of the direct marketing community on state, federal, and international levels. We act as advocates for direct marketing standards and self-regulation to ensure responsible marketing, and we also serve as a liaison to government officials to represent direct marketing interests in public policy, media, and other venues. - BRAND BUILDING
DMA promotes the direct marketing process and member organizations to consumers, fights negative perceptions, and addresses issues affecting marketers. We promote responsible business practices through outreach to marketers on most important topics, as well as establish and continuously update stringent ethical guidelines for marketers. We also assist our members with setting and adhering to those ethical standards and support them in their compliance efforts. - EDUCATION
DMA is committed to providing professionals with educational and training opportunities. Through seminars, virtual seminars, conferences, in-house training programs, certificates, and many events, we help our members stay abreast of news and developments, improve their overall marketing expertise, and enhance their ability to compete. - NETWORKING
As a DMA member, you will be a part of the largest network of direct marketers anywhere. Member organizations get unparalleled opportunities to share ideas with the finest minds in the community, connect with peers, and forge business relationships. - RESEARCH
DMA membership gives you access to a wealth of information to help you make knowledgeable marketing decisions. Research publications and DirectLINK online provide valuable market intelligence for every segment and topic of the direct marketing community. The cutting-edge research lets you accurately track trends and measure activity relevant to direct marketing.
For more information on how these Pillars work for you, download our Membership Benefits Brochure.
To learn more about specific DMA activities, view our Annual Report.
Explore DMA Services or download our Products and Services Brochure.
Who are DMA members?
DMA's members can be categorized into three broad segments: marketers, vendors and suppliers to the direct marketing community, and nonprofit organizations.
Both consumer and business-to-business marketers are the users of direct marketing techniques. These marketers employ a number of media, including telephone marketing, catalogs and other direct mail pieces, television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the Internet. The suppliers are those companies that provide marketing companies with supplies and services.
The DMA membership roster includes companies like Yahoo!, Google, Amazon, IBM, AOL Time Warner, Mellon Bank, Microsoft, Kraft, The Home Depot, Target, L.L.Bean, Sears, The New York Times, Prudential Insurance, Experian, American Express, DaimlerChrysler, Xerox, Unilever, and P&G, as well as R.R. Donnelley, infoUSA, Acxiom, Experian, Wunderman, D&B, OgilvyOne, and Grey Worldwide.
Join this group of gold standard marketers and suppliers when you become a DMA member.
What is direct marketing?
In today's world, direct marketing is defined as an interactive process of addressable communication that uses one or more advertising media to effect, at any location, a measurable sale, lead, retail purchase, or charitable donation, with this activity analyzed on a database for the development of ongoing mutually beneficial relationships between marketers and customer, prospects, or donors. From The Power of Direct Marketing: 2006-2007. Along with mass advertising, direct marketing allows organizations to inform potential customers, create brand awareness, or spur immediate purchase behavior. In addition, direct marketing enjoys certain advantages over mass advertising such as measurability, accountability, efficiency, and higher return on investment. The Power of Direct means Relevancy, Responsibility, and Results.
The process of direct marketing:
- begins with data for identifying and addressing categories of prospects, customers, or donors (by nonprofit organizations), making vibrant list and database infrastructure essential;
- analyzes this data to develop relevant and effective offers and communications between the marketer and customer or prospect;
- utilizes a variety of addressable media to produce, deliver, and receive such communications and/or exchanges of value (products, services, payments) between marketers and customers;
- tracks and measures such communications and transactions between customers and marketers;
- tests new communications against past communications to improve future interactions between marketers and customers in an ongoing "learning process" leading to long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.
When fully integrated throughout the organization, direct marketing processes increase the organization's overall efficiency, from initial product research and development decisions through final customer sales and service. Because today's direct marketing processes are so efficient and powerful, a business that does no direct marketing is increasingly rare. Every company should consider expanding its use of direct marketing techniques and benefit from the Power of Direct.
Find out how DMA membership will benefit your organization
The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.
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