Understanding your customers' vertical markets can elevate you from being a commodity supplier to a trusted partner in the business-to-business marketplace. This is critical in today’s competitive marketplace, where personalized, relevant communications are crucial to success. In your next marketing communication, having a more profound understanding of your customer's vertical market can help you in three key ways:

Want to build your business faster? Personalize! According to McKinsey's “Next in Personalization” report, the fastest-growing companies drive 40% more revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts. Furthermore, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. Personalization isn’t just icing on the cake anymore. It’s a must.

When someone receives a direct mail piece or an email, what is the first thing they see? The headline or subject line! The success of your marketing effort hinges on the power of those words to hook your audience and draw them in. If your audience never gets past the headline, it doesn’t matter how great the offer is. They’ll never see it.

To achieve optimal outcomes from your marketing campaigns, consider your channels as if they were members of a sports team. While each one—such as direct mail, email, or wide format—can be influential, their combined efforts will bring the best results. To make the most out of your multichannel approach, here are three steps to creating a great “team”!

Like peanut butter and jelly and superheroes like Batman and Robin, print and digital marketing channels are both strong and effective on their own. Yet, they also work better together. Why? Any time you reinforce your message with multiple touches across different channels, you have a greater chance of getting noticed and moving people to action.

Direct mail is a powerful tool, but it’s not one-size-fits-all. There are different formats, and there are pros and cons to each. Let’s look at some differences between the two most popular formats: envelopes and postcards.

Want to get attention? Wide-format graphics are the perfect opportunity. If you send an email, it needs to get read almost immediately, or it will disappear underneath the hundreds of others that come in behind it. But window graphics, wall coverings, and signage are hard to miss. If you want guaranteed attention, go big!

Packaging is customers' first impression of your brand, so make sure it looks its best. Whether you're selling in chain stores or just in your small shop, shoppers will associate the quality on the outside (your packaging) with the quality on the inside (your product). Ensure your packaging is eye-catching, engaging, and reflects your brand's values.

The New Year is almost upon us! What good things are you expecting in 2023? What are your marketing priorities? Where are you looking to make the most profound investments? Aren’t sure? It’s time to create a marketing plan! Here are seven actionable steps you can take.

When you design your next direct mail or email campaign, how are you determining how to target your messaging? Are you using data on what your customers look like and how they behave? Or are you making assumptions about them? Too often, we do the latter without realizing it.