marketing trends Archives

September 9, 2026

Your Website Visitor Just Left. Should You Send Them a Letter?

For decades, direct mail campaigns have generally started the same way. Build an audience. Select the people you want to reach. Develop the creative. Produce the mail. Send it. Digital marketing changed that process by allowing marketers to respond almost instantly to consumer behavior. Visit a website. Click an email. Start an application but don't finish it. Each action creates a signal—and potentially triggers the next communication. Until recently, that next communication was usually digital. Today, it doesn't have to be. Advances in data, identity resolution, marketing automation and digital print technology are creating a new opportunity for marketers: trigger-based direct mail. Instead of sending thousands or millions of pieces according to a predetermined campaign calendar, organizations can use individual consumer behaviors and events to determine who receives mail, what they receive and when they receive it. In other words, direct mail is beginning to behave a lot more like digital marketing. What Is Trigger-Based Direct Mail? Trigger-based direct...

January 20, 2026

in Uncategorized

by Patricia Uhrich

Marketing That Endures: Why Trust, Stories, Courage, and Ethics Still Matter

In an industry constantly chasing the “next new thing”—AI, automation, growth hacks, viral tactics—it’s easy to forget a simple truth: The fundamentals of good marketing don’t change. That’s why This Is Marketing, first published in 2018, still resonates so strongly today. Seth Godin didn’t write a book about tactics or tools. He wrote about principles—and principles endure far longer than platforms. At Direct Choice, many of the ideas Godin articulates aren’t new to us. In fact, they’ve guided our work for over 30 years, long before digital channels, social media, or marketing automation existed. Four of those principles, in particular, continue to define how effective brands grow—and how we help them do it. 1. Trust Is the Most Valuable Currency in Marketing Attention is everywhere. Trust is not. Godin argues that modern marketing succeeds only when it’s built on trust—earned slowly, reinforced consistently, and never taken for granted. This is especially true in regulated and high-stakes categories...

November 18, 2025

in Uncategorized

by Patricia Uhrich

Designer vs. Agency: When to Call Which

Let’s be honest — sometimes you just need a clean layout fast. And sometimes, you need a strategic partner who can connect the dots between data, creative, audience behavior, and ROI. Knowing when to call a freelance designer or design firm versus engaging a full-service agency isn’t just a budget question — it’s a business decision. And it starts with knowing what you’re really solving for. Here’s how we help clients think it through. When a Designer or Design Firm Is the Right Call A freelance designer or small design studio can be a great solution when: ✅ You’ve Already Built the Strategy If you already know the “what,” “who,” and “why” — and just need someone to translate that into a visual deliverable — a designer may be exactly what you need. Think: Resizing existing creative assets Adapting a campaign to different formats (social tiles, banners, flyers) Internal presentations, event signage, sales sheets ✅ You Have...

August 26, 2025

in Uncategorized

by Patricia Uhrich

3 Trends Marketers Should Know for Q4 2025

As Q4 approaches, the pressure is on. For many organizations, the last quarter of the year isn’t just about closing strong — it’s about setting the tone for the year ahead. In highly competitive and regulated industries, that means more than “keeping up.” It means staying ahead of trends that directly impact acquisition, onboarding, retention, and renewals. At Direct Choice, we see three trends that should be top of mind as you build your Q4 2025 campaigns. 1. Print and Offline Channels Are Making a Comeback We’ve seen firsthand how print and direct mail have regained traction in recent years. In a world where digital messages can get lost in crowded inboxes, tangible materials stand out and create a sense of credibility that’s hard to match. Campaigns that integrate mail with digital touchpoints consistently outperform single-channel efforts. For Q4, pairing direct mail with email, streaming video, or SMS can create a powerful one-two punch...

January 13, 2025

in Uncategorized

by Patricia Uhrich

Five Top Trends Reshaping Marketing In 2025

Top Five Marketing Trends In 2025 Survival in the marketing world has always been about evolving with societal and technological trends. What’s different today is the pace of evolution, especially on the technology side. If you feel like innovation is accelerating in every direction, you’re correct and AI is a major force behind it. That’s why AI is number one in our top five marketing trends. 1. AI-Driven Personalization at Scale AI continues to revolutionize how brands engage with consumers. Now, AI is enabling us to build more hyper-personalized marketing strategies and unique customer experiences at scale. Tools like AI-powered chatbots, predictive analytics, and dynamic content generation helps us anticipate customer needs and create tailored offers in real-time. We’ve already become accustomed to seeing incredibly on-target ads and product recommendations on various platforms, all thanks to AI analyzing our browsing behavior and past purchases. Source: www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/artificial-intelligence-marketing-market-report 2. The Rise of Zero-Party Data The term “zero-party data” was...

September 4, 2024

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by Patricia Uhrich

GEN Y: OUR BIGGEST & BADDEST GENERATION

In our continuing series on generational marketing, we’re moving down the timeline from Gen Z to Gen Y. Among the media and marketing worlds, the two generations are often lumped together for their similarities. Both are associated with a prominent tendency to shop online and through social channels. That’s also where they get their news and entertainment. Gen Y and Gen Z are also lumped together for their world view and politics. According to a report from the Centre for the Future of Democracy at the University of Cambridge, they are more disillusioned with democratic politics than Generation X or baby boomers were at the same stage of life. That comes as no surprise in the U.S. where the presidential and congressional seats are filled with Boomers. Time will tell if this election cycle changes any of that. How Gen Y differs from generations before and after They’re the biggest: Generation Y/Millennials, born...

May 16, 2024

in Uncategorized

by Patricia Uhrich

GEN Z’s Rapid Economic Recovery: What You Need to Know

As the college class of ’24 launches their mortar boards into the air, they should be celebrating more than academic achievement. They navigated the social and educational perils of COVID 19 and came out of it with unrivaled economic success. According to CNN, the unemployment rate for recent college grads ages of 21 to 24 has recovered more than 2.5 times faster than after the Great Recession of the late 2000s. Better still, fewer of them are underemployed compared to Gen Y, which bodes well for their economic success and the marketers who have goods and services to sell to them. SOURCE: Economic Policy Institute Gen Z from A to …uh… Z Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z, along with the tail end of Gen Y, share some defining traits that should shape how we marketers approach them. Here are our top 5: Behold THE mobile tech generation: Gen Zers knew how to...

marketing trends Tag

Your Website Visitor Just Left. Should You Send Them a Letter?

Marketing That Endures: Why Trust, Stories, Courage, and Ethics Still Matter

Designer vs. Agency: When to Call Which

3 Trends Marketers Should Know for Q4 2025

GEN Y: OUR BIGGEST & BADDEST GENERATION

GEN Z’s Rapid Economic Recovery: What You Need to Know

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