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3 Ways AI Is Changing the Way You Market

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days. It can suggest the best out-of-the-way vacation spots. It can write your work emails and help you visualize new paint colors for your kitchen. While these abilities often take center stage, AI also holds tremendous potential in business and marketing.

Because AI can analyze vast amounts of information in milliseconds, it is reshaping how businesses and marketers operate. AI systems learn from large volumes of data and get smarter over time, delivering more accurate results as the quality and quantity of data improve.

Curious how this impacts marketing? Here are three ways AI is changing the game:

1. Customized Customer Experiences

AI-driven tools can sift through vast amounts of customer data to detect patterns and preferences. This enables marketers to create messages tailored to individual users. Whether it’s product suggestions based on browsing behavior or email content reflecting a person’s interests, personalization powered by AI boosts engagement and relevance.

2. Smarter Multichannel Campaigns

AI enhances multichannel marketing by determining which platforms resonate best with each customer. It automates decisions about timing and delivery, analyzing past interactions to predict whether someone is more likely to engage through email, social media, or direct mail. It can even suggest the optimal time to reach them. This leads to more effective outreach with less guesswork.

3. Forecasting and Customer Retention

With predictive analytics, AI examines customer data to foresee trends and future actions. It can identify which customers are likely to stop engaging and help marketers take proactive steps to retain them. Additionally, AI can monitor industry trends and competitor activity, helping brands make smarter choices regarding pricing and product development.

AI is becoming a standard feature in modern marketing tools, making advanced analytics accessible, even if you aren’t one of the “big guys.” The result? Businesses, both small and large, can achieve more meaningful customer connections, foster greater brand loyalty, and experience stronger sales performance.

5 Tips for Breaking Through the Marketing Noise

We regularly hear the phrase, “Break through the marketing clutter.” What does that mean? It means that customers are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages every day. Amidst this cacophony, you must find a way to get your marketing messages seen and heard.

How do you do that? By getting back to the basics of great marketing. Let’s look at five principles that should be the foundation of any marketing campaign:

1. Know what (actually) makes you different.

These days, everyone claims to offer “quality products and great service.” What makes yours unique? Do you serve a special niche? Do you have a different approach to a specific problem or technology? Define what truly separates you from the pack. Make that the focus of your marketing.

2. Position against the competition.   

How is your competition positioned? How are they differentiating? Knowing this, you can position yourself accordingly. For example, if your competition is focusing on price, consider emphasizing features instead. If they are using email and web marketing, consider using print as well. Utilize your knowledge of your competition to maximize your advantage in messaging and visibility.

3. Amp up your targeting.

Don’t just know your competition. Know your customers. Divide your marketing list into targeted demographic or psychographic segments to adjust your message accordingly. If desired, layer personalization on top.

4. Know your channels.  

Personalization includes channel preferences. Know which channels your customers are most likely to respond to. Some people prefer to click through a link in a personalized email. Others prefer to call a phone number on a direct mail piece. Yet others like to scan a QR code. Know your customers’ channel preferences and respect them.

5. Layer up.

Great marketing rarely relies on a single channel, regardless of how effective that channel may be. The best marketing layers multiple channels to touch customers in different ways at different times. For example, get people to fill out an online survey, then follow up with a personalized direct mail piece or brochure. Or send a postcard, then follow up with an email to increase the response rate.

Cutting through the marketing clutter may seem daunting, but with a thoughtful approach, it can be done. Need help? Contact us and let our marketing experts guide you to success.

What Is Drip Marketing? (And Why It Still Works Wonders)

Have you ever browsed a website and then soon afterward started seeing the brand’s name everywhere? A relevant ad pops up in your social media feed. A colorful postcard shows up in your mailbox. You begin receiving helpful product- or service-focused emails. If so, then congratulations! You’ve experienced drip marketing in action.

What Is Drip Marketing?

Drip marketing is a communication strategy that delivers a series of targeted messages—via email, direct mail, text, or social media—over time to move a person toward a decision. Think of it like watering a plant: small, consistent drops lead to growth.

For the recipient, drip campaigns can be triggered by:

• Signing up for a newsletter.
• Abandoning an online shopping cart.
• Downloading a guide.
• Attending an event.
• Hitting a renewal window.

What does this look like in action? Let’s look at two well-known brands that are getting drip marketing right.

Drip Marketing in Action

HelloFresh is a master of behavior-based drip campaigns. Sign up, and you’ll receive:

• A series of emails introducing the service (along with any applicable discounts).
• A physical coupon postcard if you don’t subscribe.
• App reminders nudge you to choose meals or restart a plan.

Hello Fresh combines digital and physical touchpoints to re-engage lapsed customers and upsell existing ones.

Another brand with great drip marketing is Peloton. Its marketing funnel is as well-orchestrated as its cycling classes. If you browse the company’s site or take a trial class, here’s what you’ll see:

• A tailored email drip campaign introducing product features, benefits, and testimonials.
• Follow-up postcards or catalogs mailed with personalized offers.
• Social media ads and push notifications reinforcing the messaging.

Peloton understands that fitness decisions require time, and they provide just enough motivation along the way.

Why Drip Campaigns Work

Drip campaigns succeed due to several key principles that underpin any effective marketing campaign: delivering value before asking for a sale, fostering brand familiarity and trust over time, and integrating print and digital channels for maximum impact.

Are you curious how you could add drip campaigns to your marketing mix, including direct mail? Let’s talk!

Embracing the Summer Advantage: Why Smart Marketers Stay Active While Others Slow Down

Many businesses mistakenly think their marketing efforts should take a backseat as summer arrives. It’s when people go on vacations, schools break for summer, and overall activity seems to slow down. Rather than pulling back, however, savvy marketers see the summer as an opportunity to ramp up. Why? Let’s take a look.

1. The Summer Slowdown Misconception

One of the main reasons businesses slow down their marketing during the summer is the assumption that shopper activity decreases. While it’s true that people may be more focused on vacations and leisure activities, they are still making purchases — lots of them. Summertime often provides shoppers with more leisure time, leading to increased openness to new products and services.

2. Less Competition, More Visibility

When businesses choose to slow down their marketing efforts, they create a void that can be filled by competitors (like you). Take advantage of those opportunities! With reduced competition, you can stand out in a less crowded marketplace, making your messages more impactful and memorable.

3. Nurturing Customer Relationships

Slowing down marketing efforts during the summer can inadvertently create a communication gap between businesses and their customers. By staying active, you can nurture those relationships and reinforce customer loyalty. Share relevant content, send personalized offers, and keep customers engaged through various marketing channels, including direct mail, email, and social media. Continually remind them of your brand’s value and keep them connected even during the lazy summer months.

4. Embracing New Channels and Strategies

Finally, the summer slowdown can be an opportunity to explore new marketing channels and strategies. With reduced competition, you can test innovative ideas, experiment with different platforms, and invest in creative campaigns that may not be feasible during busier times.

Consistency is a critical component of successful marketing, so by staying active and engaged with your customers throughout the summer, you not only deepen those relationships in the short term but you lay the foundation for success in the long term. Summer can be a great time to invest in marketing, and the relationships that you nurture and the new leads you capture during the summer months can yield ongoing benefits long after the season ends.

Own The Story Customers Tell About You

You might think your marketing messages, products, and outstanding customer service define your brand. But the truth is, the perceptions of your customers define your brand. It’s what they believe about you, not just what you say about yourself.

So, who’s shaping your brand story? Is it you? Or is the marketplace doing it for you?

The Ultimate Storyteller: Patagonia

Whatever your brand story, you want to be in control of it. How do you do that? By focusing on brand storytelling, not just product marketing. Product marketing is about selling. Brand storytelling is about connecting. It’s about telling a story that resonates on a deeper, more emotional level.

Take Patagonia, for example. They don’t just sell outdoor clothing. They’ve built a movement around protecting the planet. From donating a portion of every sale to environmental causes to encouraging customers to repair gear instead of buying new, Patagonia has a strong brand story that their customers are proud to be part of.

When people buy Patagonia, they’re not just buying a jacket. They’re standing for something bigger. That’s brand power, and it doesn’t happen by accident.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Define your story.

Why did you start your business? What drives you? What impact do you want to make? Find the story that speaks both to customers’ heads and their hearts.

Maybe you’re a local bakery started by two friends who wanted to bring a taste of their hometown to a new city. Perhaps you started a tech company built around the mission to help small businesses access the same tools as big corporations. Whatever your story, it’s the heartbeat of your brand. Make it clear, personal, and powerful.

2. Tell it boldly.

Through print, email, and social media (wherever your audience lives), share what you sell and why it matters. Bring people into your journey. When you tell the right story, you build loyalty. You create lasting impact.

Don’t leave your brand image to chance. Own your story. Customers who connect with the “why” behind your brand will stick with you, and your business will grow.

Want Customers to Remember? Use Print!

If you want to understand the value of print versus digital in marketing, look at the world of education. Studies consistently find that while digital communications have great value in providing top-level information quickly when it comes to processing deeper concepts, print is the hands-down winner. These results were recently confirmed in a groundbreaking study from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College.

For this study, researchers presented middle-school students with educational materials in print and on screen. The children’s brain responses were captured using electroencephalography (EEG), and the results were published in the May 2024 edition of the journal PLOS.

Let’s take a look:

Digital text presentation is associated with shallower processing. When the children read on screen, researchers found that all the children showed a shallower level of processing. They had difficulty making meaningful associations between their reading and related words and concepts.

Print results in deeper processing. When educational materials were presented on paper, the children’s brain responses showed a “print advantage” for deeper information processing. On average, researchers found that the “meaning” networks built during print reading were richer and deeper than those established during digital reading.

“Neuroscience provides methods to explore the intricate brain processes that contribute to reading,” notes Karen Froud, lead author of the study and Principal Investigator for the Neurocognition of Language Lab at Teachers College. “This allows us to understand the underlying mechanisms rather than just observing reading behavior itself… By recording brain activations, it is possible to identify subtle distinctions in the depth of processing between texts presented on computer screens and those presented on paper.”

In a world dominated by electronic communication, paper continues to show muscle. Studies like this one consistently show that paper aids the absorption and retention of information. These are the same characteristics that help your prospects absorb and retain your marketing message, too.

Paper remains a mainstay of marketing for a reason!

Want Increased ROI? Try This!

Buyers have come to expect personalization in all of their marketing communications. They get personalized recommendations from their favorite online stores and are used to seeing their names in the subject lines of marketing emails. They have come to expect personalization in all their marketing communications, including direct mail. Are you giving it to them?

According to Statista, 84% of marketers “always” or frequently” personalize experiences for their customers, and according to Segment, 70% of marketers are increasing their investment in personalization within the following year. According to Adobe, 68% of marketers who use personalization say their efforts exceeded projected targets.

These are some powerful numbers! But simply using data in your direct mail doesn’t produce these kinds of results. To be successful with personalization, you need to follow best practices for using that data in a way that will resonate with your target audience.

What does this look like?

• Segment your mailings into “like” target audiences so you can send them highly targeted content.
• Keep your data current so that your targeting is accurate and relevant.
• Append your data to fill in any missing fields. (Nothing feels less personal than a postcard that says, “Dear recipient.”)
• Create highly targeted messaging that is appropriate and relevant to each segment.
• Using personalization like name and imagery as the “cherry on top” to more fully engage recipients and make them feel valued.

While data-driven direct mail might seem unfamiliar and challenging, we’re here to help. We can help with keeping your data clean and up to date, segmenting your audience, and helping you add personalization to your designs for that extra layer of effectiveness.

Is increasing your investment in personalized communications on your “to-do” list for this year?

Use FOMO to Motivate Recipients to Action

Whether you are creating a direct mail piece, an email, or a social media post, FOMO, or “Fear of Missing Out,” is a powerful tool. Harnessing FOMO can drive engagement and conversions by creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity, compelling customers to act quickly so they don’t miss out on something good.

There are different types of FOMO:

Social FOMO: The fear of being excluded from social interactions or popular events: “Everyone else is going. Are you?”

Informational FOMO: The fear of missing out on knowledge or insights, typically related to educational content, webinars, or industry developments.

Experiential FOMO: This is the fear of missing out on unique experiences, such as travel opportunities or concerts: “Exclusive One-Time Event!”

Transactional FOMO: This is the fear of missing out on a limited-time offer or discount: “This offer won’t last! Buy now!”

FOMO Marketing in Action

What might this look like in action? Here are some examples of using FOMO in the headline of a postcard or the subject line of an email:

• Exclusive Offers: “Unlock Exclusive Deals—Only Available to Our Subscribers!”
• Limited Availability: “Hurry! Only 10 Seats Left!”
• Time-Limited Promotions: “Flash Sale: 24 Hours Only!”

FOMO works in calls to action, too.

• Urgent Actions: “Shop Now! These Prices Won’t Last!”
• Exclusivity: “Limited Stock Available! Act Now!”
• Engaging Events: “VIP Event of the Year—50% Off Today Only!”

You can see examples of FOMO marketing when you visit an e-commerce site and see a timer counting down the days, hours, and minutes of a promotional offer. Or real-time sales notifications popping up as you peruse a landing page: “Susie from Portage, MI, just signed up! Subscribe today and save big!”

FOMO can be a powerful marketing tool that instills a sense of urgency and exclusivity. Incorporating the various types of FOMO into your marketing strategies can enhance customer engagement and boost sales. The key is to balance creating urgency and providing genuine value. Need help creating the right balance? Contact us. We’d love to help.

5 Tips for Designing Personalized Direct Mail

While we all know that personalizing your direct mail pieces can improve marketing results, the process can seem intimidating. What do you need to watch for? How can you make sure nothing goes wrong? Here are five tips for getting started on the right foot.

1. Use the Right Data, Not Just More Data.

More data doesn’t always mean better results. Focus on quality, not quantity. Collect information that reflects your target audience’s preferences, behaviors, and demographics to create messages that resonate. This can include past purchase history, interaction frequency, and customer feedback.

2. Design Around the Longest and Shortest Fields.

When crafting mail pieces, consider the variations in field lengths within your database. What’s the longest field you have? What’s the shortest? If you include the name of a recipient’s college alma mater, for example, make sure the layout can accommodate “The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill” and “Boston College.”

3. Always Have a Default Ready.

Inevitably, some data fields may be empty or incomplete. The last thing you want is a personalized piece to say, “Dear [BLANK]”! Set a default such as “Dear Valued Customer” to ensure that your direct mail still feels personal, even if the data in one of the fields is missing.

4. Keep Your Database Clean and Updated.

You can’t have truly personalized, relevant direct mail pieces if your data is outdated. Regularly audit your database to remove duplicates, correct inaccuracies, and update any data that might have become outdated. Implement best practices for data entry and set a schedule for regular updates.

5. Don’t Forget the Images.

Images can be personalized, too. Consider using images that reflect the recipient’s preferences, demographics, or past interactions with your brand. For instance, don’t send pictures of young families to retirees. Match the images to the demographic to make it feel more relevant.

Designing for personalized direct mail requires a strategic approach grounded in quality data and the ability to think ahead and anticipate. By following these five tips, you’ll be well on your way to personalizing great direct mail. If you need help, just ask!

Direct Mail for Short Attention Spans

Direct mail is changing. This channel remains highly effective, but most people don’t have the attention spans they used to. Mail that is fast and easy to scan is winning the day. According to Who’s Mailing What! (WMW!), a database of nearly 300,000 direct mail pieces, the average word count used in marketing copy for envelopes, postcards, and self-mailers has dropped by 24%, 30%, and 29%, respectively, over the past 20 years.

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