10 Marketing Strategies For Growth in 2009, and 10 That Will Hurt

But those 10 tips may be moot if you don't avoid these 10 direct marketing strategies:

1) Relying on internally sourced names to sustain your company when sales are down.

2) Failure to periodically test new creative, along with triggers and seasonality.

3) Assuming that response rates are declining when the culprits may be channel creep and/or keying errors at your call center or at point-of-sale. There are a range of solutions, from "back-matching" to "PURLS," that will help make better sense of your actual campaign results.

4) Employing a single "name brand" vendor for your e-mail or direct mail list needs when others may deliver comparable or superior value. No vendor has a monopoly on good ideas.

5) Ignoring the hygiene of your house file and rental lists. NCOA and ECOA are only the beginning. Overlook DMAchoice or Catalog Choice at your peril.

6) Arbitrary reallocation of marketing dollars to online media, just because it is popular.

7) Elimination of prospecting efforts. That's the quick route to a business failure.

8) Reliance on a single marketing channel versus testing a multi-channel approach.

9) Not paying close attention to changes in the marketplace and customer preferences.

10) Ignoring successful direct competitors and what is working for them.

Remember the often-quoted observation "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it?" For present success, avoid strategies with a history of failure.

Now is a great time to reassess how your organization is allocating its direct marketing dollars in the coming year. Some mailers are increasing their marketing budgets in 2009, others are scaling back or "staying the course." One thing is sure: This period of economical uncertainty affords savvy advertisers an opportunity to increase market share at the expense of weaker competitors who are either "following the herd" or "ducking for cover."

Some companies and non-profits will survive this recession; others will be out of business. Don't be a recession victim. Be a recession victor. Remember: "To the victor goes the spoils."

David Kanter (david@acculistusa.com) is president and CEO of AccuList USA.