Direct Marketing Trends
Blog Category
Selling Insurance to Millennials Requires Education and a Personal Connection
This past year, I had to buy home insurance, and I wasn’t the only millennial in the market. There are approximately 73 million millennials in the U.S. Of that number, 80% own a car, 45% own a house, and an additional 78% plan to buy a house in the next nine years. That’s a lot […]
Authenticity and Transparency Are Key When Connecting with Millennials and Gen Z
Consider what millennials and Gen Zers spent their formative years witnessing: 9/11, stock market crashes, economic recessions, mass unemployment, global warming and climate change, and other none-too-pleasant events and worst-case scenarios. Oh, and a global pandemic, though classifying that as a “formative years” event—even for Gen Z—may be a bit generous. This has led to […]
2020 Year-End Postal Issues Update
As one of the most challenging years in recent memory draws to a close, we wanted our final postal issues update of the year to reflect on what has been a bumpy year for the U.S. Postal Service and take a look at what may be ahead in the coming year.
Holiday Shopping Trends Reshape Retail Direct Marketing Efforts During the Pandemic
Before we explore the latest holiday shopping trends, I want to wish our readers and subscribers a safe and healthy holiday season! The holidays are a special time for traditions—decorating, baking, gift giving, and—my favorite tradition—shopping. For my annual shopping trip, I gathered my shopping list, my direct mail and email ads and coupons, and […]
Match Your Holiday Marketing Efforts to the Moment
Every year around Halloween, the Leone family gets together for Spooky Dinner. It all stems from past Halloweens when the Leone children were living at home and ate my mom’s halloweenies (pigs in a blanket) before trick-or-treating. My parents decorate their house and everyone arrives in costumes and brings a Halloween themed dish to share. […]
How Verticals Have Adjusted Marketing Approaches to COVID-19
We’ve been analyzing how various verticals have adjusted their marketing approaches to COVID-19 and the impact on direct mail volumes. When the Winterberry Group released “The Outlook for Data Driven Advertising and Marketing 2020” in January, they projected direct mail to increase 0.6% and digital channels to increase an average of 14.5%. Then the COVID-19 […]
ANA Data & Analytics Conference: Expert Advice to Sustain, Grow, & Transform Direct Mail
The second annual ANA Data & Analytics Conference, hosted by American Express, was virtual this year, but its impact and insights were very real. ANA promised the audience would hear from key experts on innovation in data-driven tools and new technologies, personalization, brand and creative techniques founded in neuro-marketing, as well as the latest in compliance and privacy laws. More than 20 of my IWCO Direct colleagues registered for the event, and all who dialed in agreed it was a rousing success.
A Discussion of Direct Marketing Trends with the AMA Southern Connecticut
I recently participated in a virtual panel for American Marketing Association’s southern Connecticut chapter on direct marketing trends titled "An Industry Reset: The Resurgence of Integrated Marketing and Direct Mail.” There were some 60 marketers from the greater New York area in attendance who had great questions for me and the other two direct and digital marketers on the panel. Here are a few of those questions and a summary of some of my responses:
The Human Element of Data Driven Marketing on Display at ANA Masters of Data & Technology Conference
At the beginning of March, a few of my colleagues and I attended the ANA’s inaugural Masters of Data and Technology Conference. This conference was started because ANA found that mastering data and technology is one of the top strategic priorities of CMOs, and it’s no wonder.
ANA Masters of Data and Technology Conference Showcases Drivers of Growth
Since the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) announced its acquisition of DMA in 2018, the IWCO Direct team has been listening and watching to see if, as my colleague Tedd Aurelius described it, the ANA lifeline would keep DMA afloat. As we prepare to attend our first ANA Masters of Data and Technology conference
