• by Michael McLaren , Op-Ed Contributor, January 10, 2022

With the holiday season in full swing, “mail order” was climbing steadily since early November, as measured by Bombora Company Surge. Also known as “direct marketing,” this method involves selling products and services directly to the public rather than through retailers. 

In recent years we’ve seen a massive uptick in direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing, virtually eliminating the need for physical retail stores. Many DTC brands have long relied on the digital marketing strategies they were built on in order to connect meaningfully to their audiences. Now, seeking continued scale beyond digital advertising, DTC brands are turning to mail programs to drive commerce growth and reinforce customer loyalty.

“Customer communications” also rose sharply mid-December, according to intent data. In this usage, the term refers to a convergent set of information technology (IT) solutions that help businesses achieve their objectives by providing tools to advance the way they communicate with their customers. 

By now we know that having a centralized customer-focused strategy is likely to succeed. Grand View Research predicts 17.5% in annual growth of the global customer experience management market from 2021 to 2028. 

The growing importance of understanding buyer preferences, behavior and expectations, in response to the increased use of digital channels to communicate and enable sales, is something that modern enterprises must master to realize customer centricity across processes and stand out in the marketplace.