An action device is a necessary element in direct marketing schemas, where the targeted customer is asked to perform a physical function. This function is usually something simple, such as calling a phone number, placing a stamp on an envelope or visiting a website. Businesses ask their audience to perform an action device because they believe performing an action will get the audience more involved and will help ease them into a sale. Direct marketing can be used to increase the sales and popularity of a product but also may infuriate some customers who consider the marketing material to be spam or junk.
Direct marketing is an advertising approach in which the business contacts the consumer directly with marketing material. The material may be an email, a flier, billboards or catalogs. Media are sometimes used, but it can only be considered direct marketing if it creates a call to action, asking the consumer to perform an action. Direct marketing and action device techniques go hand-in-hand, because direct marketing only works if the consumer performs the action.
The action device itself asks the consumer to perform a physical action, usually something simple. Action device examples include filling out a postcard, reading an email, checking a website, placing a stamp on a pre-made envelope or calling a phone number. The company may be selling a product, trying to get consumer information to build a large mailing list, or generating a response to find customers who would be interested in future products.
Using action device marketing has proved very effective for companies, especially because positive effects can be easily measured. Unlike other advertising efforts, where boosted sales can only be estimated, a company can directly count the number of responses. Those who performed the action are usually contacted frequently after this initial effort to offer extra products or services to the consumer.
Companies also can suffer setbacks from direct marketing and action devices, because the marketing material is usually considered spam or junk mail. This can irritate formerly loyal customers, who may request to be taken off the contact list. Action devices also may contain poor leads, or find customers that are not really interested in purchasing a product; they were just interested in performing the action device. If marketers send materials to areas they do not serve, which can easily occur in email marketing, then the respondents will include many people who are unable to purchase the product or service even if they wanted.