I contributed to an article for last weeks’ DM News, titled “Adding Dimension to DM Success”. You can read the entire article here. For the right target, and the right product or service, nothing works like getting a “present” in the mail. We recommend a dimensional piece for a number of our clients, because the engagement level is so great. And most importantly, because they work. Here’s one we recently mailed for Weyerhaeuser. You can check it out in our portfolio

That’s what I learned at the DMA in Chicago last month.

The whole idea of the Web site as a static environment…one that delivers information in an organized way and enables visitors to find information due to its “structure”…is a thing of the past. We no longer make our Web site available to our customers and prospects. We create an environment that is customized entirely based on their needs. So when a prospect searches for refrigerators and then clicks on Sears, the site is designed to provide information on refrigerators…not the Sears home page. After all, they’ve already told us what they want, right? Why make them tell us again?But that’s just the beginning. As data is gathered based on customer behaviors and inquiries, our ability to deliver an increasingly customized experience on our Web sites has grown substantially. Current customers are recognized upon entry…specific cross-sell offers are presented, based on their current product ownership…special offers are presented on products that have been of interest in the past…the entire experience is unique. In one test that was referenced, targeted vs. random content drove a 71% lift in site effectiveness.So don’t even bother “building” a Web site…think of it as a sales presentation, one that is fully customized to the audience and everchanging as we learn more. And what do we know about effective selling? Spend your time talking about the client…not yourself.Web sites may be dead. Branded, relevant, customized experiences, delivered online (as we have done in the offline arena for years) will carry the day. It’s the start of something truly different. DM 2.0.

At the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA’s) annual meeting (October 13-17 in Chicago) I participated in a number of sessions that addressed marketers’ growing desire to integrate interactive and traditional direct marketing methods into cohesive and tightly coordinated campaigns. A new form of direct marketing is afoot. Clearly, marketers who embrace multi-channel communication strategies quickly realize the powerful effect these channels have on delivering results and revenue. These clients and agencies are the ones embracing Direct Marketing 2.0, and they are quickly reaping the benefits. All the different talk tracts (Strategy, Creative, and Data and Analytics, across both B-to-B and B-to-C) delivered observations, case studies, and best practices that included interactive marketing as a key and critical component of direct marketing. Let me share a personal example.

Prior to rejoining Catalyst Direct this past August, I was working in the corporate marketing department for Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, a leading provider of innovative solutions for conventional, digital and blended print production environments. Obviously, delivering the message to corporate marketers that “print is alive and well” was a major priority. Kodak’s “Print Is…” campaign was designed to demonstrate Kodak’s commitment to driving demand to its customers’ printing presses?a challenge, considering all the attention we’ve seen given to interactive. Pitching print might seem a bit old-fashioned. So we did it in a new-fashioned way.

First, Kodak declared that “print is the new interactive” and asserted the power of Variable Data Print (VDP) to communicate as personally as a Web site. Second, the campaign emphasized the prowess and physicality of print as a powerful and interactive customer experience. Third, we executed the campaign through an integrated approach, leveraging both online and offline channels to great effect. The campaign used traditional techniques, such as print ads and direct mail. But these traditional methods were augmented by banner ads, a video stream and a powerful Web site, www.printambassador.com. This program provided Kodak with an opportunity to leverage their brand strategy and provide a value-add for those who rely on print every day. And it’s the blend of traditional and interactive methods that is driving the results. Heck, if a company that sells printing presses can see and understand the value of integrating online channels into their direct marketing efforts, shouldn’t we all?

As you may know by now, Catalyst Direct recently purchased the interactive agency, Auragen Communications. Auragen began in 1995, as one of the first organizations of its kind, and built an impressive record delivering strategic brand experiences online to leading national companies such as Russell Investments and Eastman Kodak Company. Now we are integrating this knowledge and experience into Catalyst. Here’s why.

We see it every day—more and more marketing dollars are shifting to the Internet. The Direct Marketing Association’s Power of Direct Marketing report predicts that expenditures in Internet marketing and commercial e-mail will claim more than 11% of the total direct marketing spend this year.

Over the next five years direct marketing will become even more Internet-oriented as online spending grows faster than traditional direct marketing media spending. At Catalyst, we’re seeing an even faster shift. Last year, interactive projects accounted for 13% of our clients’ spend. This year it will be closer to 20%.

The fastest shift is occurring in the B2B category. And there is a very logical reason. Business decision makers are constantly looking for research and information that can help them make sound business decisions.

The Web is easier and less intrusive than other forms of interaction. Consequently we see this as an opportunity to leverage the Web within marketing campaigns to extend selling messages and create dynamic interaction with prospects and clients.

Over the past four years, virtually all of our B2B campaigns have contained a landing page, a personalized URL or a Web site as a destination point. In our efforts to drive purchase behavior, we see the Web as a fundamental component of all integrated direct marketing programs.