Phygital: The Emerging Trend Marketers Need to Know About  

Among marketers, the “phygital” concept is the talk of most industry-related conversations. If this word and concept are new to you, we have you covered. Phygital is a trending approach to marketing and advertising that seeks to merge the best elements of both digital and physical messaging. The goal is to create a customer experience that blends the benefits of digital consumership with physical brand interaction. 

Examples of the Phygital Experience  

The core components of the phygital marketing philosophy are “instant, connected, and engaging”.  By embracing technology, brands can provide instantaneous customer service and communication to their consumers. Plenty of examples of the phygital experience already exist in common, everyday transactions. A great example of the phygital experience is digital kiosks in fast food and casual dining establishments. These kiosks are used to quickly process orders and take payments while the in-person components of the customer’s experience focus on preparing the orders and delivering them. This model produces a seamless customer experience that is efficient for both the patron and the business.  

Other common examples of a phygital customer experience are the use of QR codes and live video shopping.  

QR codes are great for offering in-person access to discounts and coupons and can help integrate digital advertising on streaming platforms to online shopping apps and websites.  

Live video shopping is an emerging form of customer service that allows a digital customer the ability to interact with a salesperson, ask questions, and view products from the comfort of their home. Mega retailers such Nordstrom and shopping malls have recently dived into live shopping streams with great results.  

Industries that Benefit from Providing a Phygital Experience  

A diverse range of industries can benefit from merging the physical and digital worlds for their customers. As it stands now, automotive dealerships, real estate brokerages, and retailers are benefiting from merging physical and digital into a unique consumer experience.  

Car dealerships have found success with optimizing their websites for prompt customer service with live chatting and video conferencing. Live video calls are great ways to allow a customer to tour new vehicles, ask questions, and discuss their needs with sales professionals. Video calls produce a great customer experience that is both convenient and efficient for all parties.  

As mentioned previously, retailers are using video calls and live streaming to curate an individualized and helpful customer experience. From personalized shopping video calls to livestreams on social media, the phygital trend is excellent for showcasing new products, discussing their benefits, and receiving feedback from consumers.  

Another industry utilizing this trend is real estate. According to the National Association of Realtors, over 50% of people first find the home they end up purchasing on the internet. Real estate brokerage firms should have their websites optimized for immediate customer service with live chatting and video call features. Video calls can also be used to digitally tour properties in real time with buyers’ agents.  

How Pel Hughes Can Help Improve the Customer Experience  

Our team at Pel Hughes can help your business or organization thrive by merging high-quality print messaging with curated digital experiences. We offer cross media marketing, personalized printing, QR codes and PURLs, campaign automation, and so much more. Request a quote online or call us at (504) 486-8646 to learn more.  

Retailers are Using QR Codes in CTAs 

Prominent retailers like Capital One are utilizing QR codes in CTAs on both digital communications and print materials like direct mail. Embedding QR codes into the first position of CTAs helps consumers take action on marketing materials easily and efficiently. Moreover, using a QR code in a CTA makes tracking engagement and conversions with print materials much easier for businesses and organizations. 

QR Codes Encourage Consumer Engagement

Even a well-written CTA can land flat when consumer action requires multiple steps. Often times, consumers intend to interact with direct mail or other forms of communication but don’t actually follow through in the moment. By placing a QR code in CTAs front-and-center, consumers can scan the code as soon as they hold a piece of direct mail or open an e-mail. 

Not all QR codes are created equally. An effective QR code will take a consumer to a personalized landing page, a curated shopping cart, or a pre-filled form that inputs consumer data to reduce labor for the recipient. 

Tips for Engaging CTAs with QR Codes

When using a QR code in a CTA, it’s important to keep the copy of CTA brief and simple that highlights the benefits of scanning a code. An arrow pointing to the QR code with text that says, “Scan for Your Free Gift”, “Scan to Sign Up for A Free Consultation”, or “Scan to Unlock Incredible Savings” are great examples of compelling CTAs. Consumers are overwhelmed and very busy. Simplifying the process of interacting with your brand is a must. 

Marketers believe that CTAs with QR codes increase response times, improve engagement, and make tracking response rates with direct mail, posters, and other forms of communication much more reliable. 

Utilizing a QR code with CTAs helps more than just retailers. Service-based businesses such as restaurants, household service comapnies, dental practices, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations can benefit from placing QR codes in the first position of their CTAs. Codes can provide full menus, sign-up forms, marketing videos, personalized URLs, and so much more. 

Make Your Marketing Campaigns More Effective with Pel Hughes

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that provides cross media marketing, graphic design, direct mail, and campaign automation. We can help you embrace the latest technology, like QR codes, to make your campaigns more effective. Call us today at (504) 486-8646 or visit our blog to learn more. 

Holiday Marketing Ideas for 2025 

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Holiday marketing is a great opportunity to reconnect with existing customers and reach new ones. Everyone knows that the holiday season involves much more consumer activity when compared to the rest of the year, but not everyone takes advantage of all the marketing tools at their disposal to maximize revenue and engagement.  

Following are five easy and affordable holiday marketing tips. 

5 Holiday Marketing Tips for 2025 and Beyond 

Time-Sensitive Holiday Bundles 

Bundling products or services for special Holiday pricing is a great way to incentivize customers to engage with your business. If you’re a retailer, bundling popular items into kits works very well. Those who operate cafes and restaurants can bundle appetizers into samplers or offer family-style dining options for large parties or catered events. Service-based businesses can also benefit from bundling. If you operate an organizing and housekeeping business, bundling services together in anticipation of homemakers hosting guests for the holiday season can be very appealing to consumers.  

Daily Deals Implemented as a Countdown to Christmas 

Offering daily deals as an Advent Calendar or “12 Days of Christmas” style countdown helps boost consumer engagement. This can be as simple as making social media posts, sending direct/email campaigns, and changing banners on your website’s homepage that reflect daily countdown style deals and discounts.  

Offer Free Shipping with Minimum Purchasing Amounts 

An interesting phenomenon happens when businesses offer free shipping with minimum purchasing requirements: customers will add additional items to their cart to qualify for free shipping. This extra volume in sales can often surpass the cost of shipping while incentivizing extra purchases and moving surplus inventory.  

Use Holiday-Themed Graphics on Marketing Materials, Websites, and Social Media 

Giving your digital and print marketing materials a holiday refresh is helpful for cultivating a festive mood with your customers. Holiday-themed banners, widgets, direct mail pieces, and email campaigns are cost-effective and easy to implement.  

Deploy Targeted Direct Mail and Email Campaigns 

Announcing holiday marketing deals and discounts is easy with direct mail and email campaigns. Pel Hughes offers campaign automation, which allows for quick printing of pre-approved materials and cross media marketing services to help you utilize both print and digital advertising.  

In addition to these holiday marketing tips, our blog is a great resource for businesses, non-profit organizations, and higher education institutions to stay abreast of the latest trends. Click here to subscribe to our blog. To request a quote or inquire about our services, give our team a call at (504) 486-8646.  

Digital Flipbooks Enhance Cross Media Marketing 

Digital flipbooks are wonderful additions to any cross media marketing strategy. They’re interactive, cost-effective, and drive engagement with consumers. Online flipbooks can be used by businesses in a number of industries as well as with non-profit organizations and educational institutions.  

What are digital flipbooks? 

A digital flipbook can be used to replicate printed materials like brochures, magazines, and catalogs online. A flipbook can be used to create the following: 

  • Educational materials 
  • Travel and Product/Service Brochures 
  • Documents for large purchases and legal transactions 
  • Flyers 
  • Product catalogues 
  • Course catalogues 
  • Training materials  
  • Sales presentations 
  • Customer testimonials 
  • Patient Testimonials and service descriptions for elective dental and medical treatments 

 

Flipbooks have unique features that make them especially engaging with readers. Popular flipbook features include: 

  • Embedded audio, video, and hyperlinks 
  • Viewable across tablets, PCs, and mobile phones 
  • Animations including page flipping 
  • Interactive forms 
  • Easy-to-navigate table of contents 
  • Tracking and analytics for reliable data 

Who should use online flipbooks? 

A digital flipbook is a versatile tool for a variety of organizations. It’s great for small, niche, or independent publications like trade magazines or independent news agencies. Brands with a loyal online following can use flipbooks to announce new products, produce curated catalogues for a segmented audience, and so much more. Beyond business, flipbooks are especially beneficial to non-profit organizations and educational institutions. 

Professionals also benefit from utilizing flipbooks. For example, a flipbook is a wonderful tool for showcasing your portfolio—especially if you’re an interior designer, real estate agent, graphic designer, architect, artist, or home builder.  

Online Flipbooks Offer Key Data Insights for Marketing Professionals 

Adding a flipbook to your marketing arsenal can be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method of engaging in thoughtful communication with your customers, clients, students, or donors. The analytical and tracking capabilities associated with flipbooks can provide useful data for your organization. These valuable metrics provide insight on what types of content your readers appreciate and the sources (i.e. social media, e-mail, websites, and direct mail) driving readers to your digital flipbook.  

An online flipbook is just one of many cross media marketing services that Pel Hughes offers. We provide graphic design, campaign automation, direct mail retargeting, database services, and so much more to businesses and organizations throughout the United States. Give us a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more or request a quote online by clicking here.  

Personalized Video from Pel Hughes 

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Personalization in marketing isn’t going anywhere. In fact, this approach to reaching customers is likely here to stay because it is engaging and effective. Pel Hughes now offers personalized video, which is an easy and cost-effective way to build relationships with consumers.  

On average, households in the United States watch nearly 44 hours of video on devices each week. Video is a wonderful format for reaching new customers as consumers are very attuned to watching videos in general. Taking video marketing a step further with personalization can make your efforts much more powerful.  

What is personalized video content in marketing? 

In marketing, personalized video content is typically between 30 seconds to 2 minutes long. These videos can feature products and services along with personalized elements that address a consumer by name. Consumers can be routed to personalized videos by links sent to their mobile phone or e-mail. They can also scan QR codes on direct mail that will route them to video content. With Pel Hughes, your videos can include variable text, video footage, and images incorporated into video content showcasing products, services, and information about your business or organization.  

Which industries can benefit from video personalization? 

A variety of industries and organizations can benefit from personalized content—especially video. Below are a just few examples: 

Dealerships: From automotive to RV and marine, dealerships can benefit from video personalization. These videos can focus on reminders for appointments and servicing, announcements of new vehicles, personalized video tours of automobiles, boats, jet skis, and RVs.  

Real Estate Brokers and Agents: The real estate industry can enjoy many advantages in marketing with video personalization. These types of videos are perfect for introducing buyers and sellers to real estate agents and for giving personalized digital tours of new listings.  

Human Resources and Training Videos: Video personalization works well within organizations during the onboarding process with new employees or training new hires and recently promoted professionals.  

Non-Profit Organizations and Higher Education Institutions: Non-profits can use video to announce fundraising events and campaigns or to thank loyal donors while higher education institutions can deploy personalized videos to welcome prospective students or fundraise with alumni.  

Sales: Video marketing can translate well into a variety of sales scenarios. From medical devices and emerging software to B2B sales, videos with variable personal elements can make sales content more engaging for consumers.  

Improve Your Brand’s Personalized Marketing with Pel Hughes 

Pel Hughes offers an array of cross media marketing services including campaign automation, efficient online ordering, direct mail retargeting, and personalized video. Give our team a call at (504) 486-8646 or visit our blog to learn more.  

 

Hyper-personalization in Marketing: What You Need to Know 

Personalized marketing has been a well-established trend for nearly a decade. Hyper-personalization in marketing is an emerging trend that shows great promise in reaching consumers with highly individualized and intuitive content.  

What is hyper-personalization exactly? 

Hyper-personalization derives content from data analyzed by AI (artificial intelligence) and LLMs (large language models). When AI and LLMs work in tandem, these systems can produce substantially personalized content at lightning speeds. Hyper-personalized content can be generated for individuals during chat bot sessions, in e-mail marketing, and in one-on-one social media conversations.  

Hyper-personalization in marketing differs from personalized content we have seen in the past. While personalized content relied on data, it was quite limited. For instance, personalized marketing focused on segmenting audiences based on demographic trends or previous consumer history. Now, AI and LLMs make it possible to unearth an individual’s behavior, preferences, and needs from previous interactions, purchase history, and more. AI is excellent for enhancing e-mail marketing while LLMs can craft content in the form of blogs and product descriptions that can resonate with a specific consumer on a much deeper level. 

Today’s AI software provides a much more thorough analysis of consumer activity than previous software systems. Emerging LLMs produce engaging and human-like content at record speeds, too. Moreover, both AI and LLMs provide predictive technology that can help anticipate a consumer’s needs at speeds that rival software of the recent past.  

In a nutshell, AI and LLMs can be leveraged to improve customer relations while saving businesses time, money, and labor.  

Benefits of Hyper-personalization in Marketing 

Leveraging AI and LLMs in hyper-personalized marketing can yield the following benefits: 

  • Improved customer retention and loyalty: Hyper-personalized messaging produces a more engaging and intuitive consumer experience. A customer experienced based on personalized marketing helps individuals develop deeper emotional connections to your brand while delivering goods and services tailored to their unique needs.  
  • Increased efficiency and cost savings: LLMs and AI produced streamlined content that takes a fraction of the time and labor it would for a conventional marketing department, which saves time and labor costs. 
  • Collects data as it operates: AI and LLMs are continuously learning and improving. As LLMs interact with consumers, it is logging their reactions to content, which will be used to produce key data insights in the future. Over time, LLMs and analysis from AI will help craft even more effective and compelling content.  

 

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that can help your business, non-profit organization, or higher educational institution maintain a competitive edge. We offer direct mail, retargeting, database services, campaign automation, and cross media marketing. Call us today at (504) 486-8646 or visit our blog to learn more.  

Small Business Marketing: Direct Mail and Facebook Ads 

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If you’re looking to improve your small business marketing efforts in 2025, we recommend adding direct mail and Facebook ads to your arsenal of tools. It’s no secret that small business marketing involves tight budgets and limited resources. This reality means that the type of marketing and its quality is highly important to enjoying good results from campaigns.  

The two channels that produce the best ROI in small business marketing are direct mail campaigns and Facebook ads according to a recent Small Business Marketing survey. The following points and statistics will explain why.  

Direct Mail for Small Business Marketing 

Direct mail is a cost-effective method of reaching consumers in their real lives. There are no ad blockers and spam filters where direct mail is concerned. Moreover, direct mail is positively received by all demographics of people.  

Harnessing technology makes direct mail that much more effective. Data, retargeting, and campaign automation makes direct mail a breeze to execute while ensuring that it resonates with the needs of your consumers. Imagine being able to send direct mail to a customer after they have left items in a digital shopping cart or segment your audience with unique messaging meant for specific demographics.  

Pel Hughes offers database services, direct mail retargeting, and campaign automation to enhance direct mail for small businesses.  

Facebook Ads & Small Business Marketing 

According to a small business marketing survey, Facebook ads are the top performer for digital outreach. This is, in part, because Facebook is a widely used social media channel across numerous demographics, including older generations.  

To help illustrate the importance of Facebook ads, considering the following facts and figures: 

  • Facebook is the third-most visited website globally with more than 3 billion people using it actively each month 
  • The average person in the United States spends at least half an hour a day on Facebook 
  • Facebook ranks in second place for consumers discovering new brands and products through social media 
  • Almost half of Facebook users interact with brands on a daily basis 

Facebook Ads are affordable, easy to deploy, and can be localized to consumers in your community—all of which are ideal for small businesses.  

Cross Media Marketing is an Effective Small Business Marketing Strategy 

Pel Hughes strongly encourages our clients to use both digital and print channels when marketing and advertising to consumers. We offer a suite of services to help small businesses thrive in a variety of industries throughout the United States. To learn more, call us at (504) 486-8646 to speak with a knowledgeable member of our team.  

Personalized URLs: When and How to Use Them 

Personalized URLs are excellent marketing tools that drive consumer engagement, produce a more individualized customer experience, and help businesses develop messaging that grabs a customer’s attention. Using personalized URLs make for a robust cross media marketing strategy that gives brands and organizations a competitive edge in today’s tough business climate.  

What are Personalized URLs? 

Personalized URLS—or “PURLs”—are unique websites tailored to an individual recipient. They can be used to send out surveys, solicit donations for non-profits, provide special offers with discount codes and coupons, or give customers an individualized shopping experience with curated goods and services.  

The possibilities with PURLs are endless, which gives businesses and organizations a variety of ways to develop relevant messaging to their audience that feels thoughtful and appreciative.  

When and How to Use Personalized URLs 

There is no shortage of ways to use personalized URLs. PURLs perfectly compliment e-mail and text-based messaging. They’re also great for adding to direct mail to incentivize digital connections after receiving printed materials. Following are some common scenarios where PURLs make good sense: 

  • Welcome new clients, customers, and even employees with a PURL.  
  • Celebrate customer milestones or repeated purchases with special offers in a PURL. 
  • Provide curated shopping carts specific to individual tastes and purchase history. 
  • Highlight new services or products.  
  • Produce easy-to-complete surveys or digital sign-up forms. 
  • Produce PURLs for new students at colleges and universities. 
  • Use PURLs to direct customers or employees to personalized video content. 

Advantages to Marketing with Personalized Links 

PURLs offer a number of advantages to marketers for brands, organizations, and educational institutions. A PURL makes it possible to personalize messaging. In a time where people long for real connections, personalized marketing adds a thoughtful touch to communication where consumers feel seen and valued.  

Adding a PURL to direct mail increases engagement and drives customers to your digital channels. When PURLs are printed on mail, they make it possible to track valuable metrics when these recipients use their links. Essentially, a PURL is one of the best ways to integrate digital and print messaging for cross media marketing. These metrics can also be used to measure which types of messaging resonate with certain age groups, income levels, and other demographic data.  

Personalized URLs help make audience segmentation a breeze. PURLs can be generated to tailor content to the specific needs and interests of a recipient. For example, a PURL can highlight goods or services based on past purchase history. PURLs can also be used to recommend products most likely to be purchased by certain demographics.  

How Pel Hughes Can Help 

Our team provides an array of services to enhance your cross media marketing including direct mail, campaign automation, database services, and graphic design. We serve businesses, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations throughout the United States. Call (504) 486-8646 or request a quote by clicking here.  

Integrated Marketing Improves the Customer Experience 

With today’s technology, there’s no shortage of ways for brands to interact with consumers. Integrated marketing involves coordinating cohesive and helpful brand messaging from different channels to ensure a productive customer journey. From direct mail to e-mail marketing and social media, well-executed integrated marketing is essential for streamlining communication channels in a way that helps consumers—not overwhelms them.  

What is integrated marketing? 

Integration in marketing utilizes technology to blend of sources of customer interaction into an organized consumer experience. Leveraging data, consumer history with your brand, and coordinated communication helps mitigate customer fatigue, gives you an edge above your competition, and lays the informational groundwork for developing more effective marketing campaigns in the future.  

Ideal integration coordinates messaging across the following channels: 

  • SMS text messaging 
  • E-mail blasts and newsletters 
  • Print advertising such as direct mail  
  • Landing pages 
  • Social media 

Why is integrated marketing necessary? 

Integrated marketing is necessary because having so many avenues for communication can become messy and cumbersome for consumers. Moreover, a consumer may interact with your brand through different channels at different stages of their consumer journey. Integrated marketing and the technology that powers it, helps brands identify customers across all channels and segment messages based on where these consumers land within their journey.  

Without integrated marketing, a consumer may be inundated with unhelpful, repetitive messaging that isn’t driving them toward making purchases. Imagine the following scenario: A consumer receives a piece of direct mail directing them to your website with a QR code. The website then displays a pop-up offering a 10% discount when he or she signs up for e-mail notifications. Then, the consumer receives an e-mail that is essentially a digital copy of the direct mail campaign that initiated their customer journey. This breakdown in messaging can actually become a roadblock to productive customer activity.  

Let’s juxtapose this scenario with how this could play out through integrated marketing. A customer is directed to a website or landing page via a QR code on direct mail. The customer is offered a discount for signing up for e-mail notifications. Their first e-mail offers a digital coupon with links that send them back to your website to shop for items. While your customer is simply receiving communication, clicking links, and perusing your website, integrated marketing software is collecting helpful data and building a consumer profile that will analyze demographic data, their habits, and more to help your brand tailor future messaging. With technology, integration can eliminate repetitive messaging and guide consumers through each stage of their customer journey.  

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that offers an array of services to help you develop effective integrated marketing including campaign automation, direct mail retargeting, database services, and cross media marketing. Visit our website or call (504) 486-8646 to request a quote with a friendly member of our team.  

Data-Driven Marketing for Carwashes 

Marketing for carwashes can be tricky since this is a highly regionalized industry with some challenges such as equipment repair, seasonal upticks, and competition. One way for carwashes to gain a leg up on their competition and attract customers is to develop a data-driven marketing strategy. Data-driven marketing for carwashes helps target ideal customers, increase revenue, and build a solid brand identity.  

What is data-driven marketing? 

Data-driven marketing utilizes sophisticated technology and information sorting to better understand consumer motivations and behavior. Leveraging data to your advantage can help you develop more powerful messaging in marketing campaigns, improve the customer experience, develop brand loyalty, and boost revenue.  

Typically, data comes from customer feedback, analytics from digital campaigns, and third-party sources that compile consumer data and sort it by demographic information and location. With data, brands can isolate the type(s) of customers they would like to attract as well as segment their audience with customized messaging most likely to resonate with the needs of specific groups of people.  

What types of marketing for carwashes should I consider?  

Since carwashes are regional businesses serving adjacent neighborhoods and commercial centers, it is important to take a blended approach to marketing.  

Cross media marketing, for example, involves utilizing both digital and print forms of advertising. One effective method for utilizing digital marketing is to enroll customers in rewards programs that require an e-mail address to sign-up. Quarterly or monthly e-mails can be sent to repeat customers showcasing news about your carwash, promotional offers, and other incentives to patronize your business. For print, we recommend developing personalized direct mail campaigns targeted to locals in your area. Direct mail is useful for attracting people who have just moved, celebrating repeat customers’ birthdays, showcasing customer testimonials, or for offering friendly reminders that it’s been a while since a customer has had their car detailed.  

Direct mail can also be used to drive customers to your digital channels through QR codes, social media links, e-mail addresses, and your website.  

Are there other benefits to marketing with direct mail? 

Direct mail is a perfect addition to marketing for carwashes. This form of marketing resonates across most age groups and demographics. According to the USPS, direct mail is viewed as one of the most trustworthy forms of advertising by consumers. 

 Unlike digital marketing, direct mail provides a sensory experience that aids in consumer recollection. In fact, consumers recall up to 75% of the businesses who sent them direct mail. Another advantage to direct mail is the absence of ad blockers or spam filters that plague the efforts of reaching consumers through digital channels.  

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that works with businesses and organizations throughout the United States. We offer direct mail including retargeting, database services, campaign automation, graphic design, and cross media marketing. Call us at (504) 486-8646 or request a quote with our convenient online form.