Want to capture your audience's interest and drive purchases? Use psychology! One helpful model is Dr. Robert Cialdini's framework for persuasive marketing. His six concepts—limited availability, mutual exchange, credibility, peer validation, connection, and commitment—can be enormously helpful for improving outcomes and prompting swift customer action.

Design trends change. Fonts change. Even the way people browse catalogs and ads shifts over the years. However, some marketing techniques remain timeless. They strike chords so profoundly rooted in human psychology that they deliver results decade after decade.

Every buyer is unique. Yet, certain principles of human behavior apply to nearly everyone. Understanding these principles can help you guide your direct mail and digital marketing strategies more effectively.

Consumers prefer buying from brands they trust, and often, the first point of contact with your brand is your company logo. This makes it even more important to have a logo that fosters confidence. Every time customers see your logo, whether it’s on a postcard or a piece of marketing collateral, it has the power to strengthen or weaken their trust. You want it to enhance their confidence, but what makes a logo trustworthy?

In today’s “always on” digital environment, the world is at our fingertips. Open, click, view, buy, comment, download. Anything you want. It’s all right there. Even so, book readership is on the rise, and a recent Association of National Advertisers study found that direct mail delivers a higher return on investment (ROI) than any digital channel. Why? Because “digital everything, everywhere” gets old sometimes.

Customer values and behavior are constantly changing. When this occurs, do your print marketing strategies track with them? The formats you choose, the messaging you write, and the layouts you create are all impacted by consumer trends.

Want a strong, recognizable brand identity? Creative and engaging marketing pieces are essential, but if those designs aren’t consistent across channels, your brand might be memorable, but not necessarily perceived as professional. That’s why it’s crucial to maintain consistent branding across all channels. Consistency keeps your business top of mind, fosters trust, and reinforces your credibility.

When designing a printed piece, how much attention do you pay to the grain of the paper? This is particularly important for pieces that require crisp, clean folds. Aligning your design with the paper grain can make a significant difference in the final result.

Sustainability has become a core value for many consumers and businesses. However, as brands rush to position themselves as environmentally responsible, a growing challenge has emerged: greenwashing.

You've invested time, money, and effort into winning great customers. You have ongoing marketing programs to help keep those relationships strong. But what happens when customers stop buying anyway? Instead of watching them go, reignite their interest instead. Direct mail is one of your most powerful tools for doing it.