Higher Ed Marketing Trends for 2025 

 Advanced technology, data, and personalization are redefining higher ed marketing in 2025. As powerful technology becomes more widely available, educational institutions are turning to marketing experts to gain a competitive edge in attracting prospective students. This, paired with the fact that college-age individuals rely heavily on technology themselves, makes a compelling case for universities and colleges to develop dynamic marketing strategies.  

Following is a helpful run down on higher ed marketing trends that can help you attract diverse and talented students.  

Top Higher Ed Marketing Trends 

Effective Personalization 

In a world with endless information coming at people from every angle, personalized messaging helps break through the noise. Moreover, as more aspects of daily life merge with the digital world, people gravitate to personalized messaging that recognizes their individuality and unique needs. With marketing—particularly higher ed—it is important to develop messaging that celebrates the uniqueness of its recipient while also acknowledging their needs and goals.  

Personalization is possible in both print and digital channels. Using advanced software, consumer data, and automation, higher ed marketing can be tailored to a student’s specific goals, field of study, and demographic background. For example, segmenting your audience into personas can help appeal to students seeking specific degree programs or those looking to achieve certain career goals after graduation.  

Everything from e-mail blasts, video testimonials, and direct mail campaigns can be segmented to anticipate the needs of certain types of students. Mail pieces can also be personalized with technology like VDP (variable data printing), which addresses recipients by their legal name. Implementing PURLs and QR codes into mail pieces can also be used to drive recipients to individualized landing pages with helpful information on curriculum, research breakthroughs, and social organizations that will appeal to specific types of students.  

Data-Driven Campaigns 

Harnessing data helps with student outreach. Data can be used to develop a deeper understanding of your audience. With predictive technology, data can help you anticipate the needs of students. Essentially, data-driven campaigns ensure that your content and messaging resonate with students and increases their interest in your institution.  

Direct Mail Retargeting 

Direct mail retargeting is an excellent technology for converting prospective students into enrollees. In a nutshell, retargeting involves sending direct mail to a person’s physical address after they interact with your university or college online. For example, a prospective student signing up literature on degree programs, applying for a scholarship, or even attending a summer camp for middle or high school students are user actions appropriate for receiving a retargeting campaign. Direct mail retargeting is a great way to merge your digital presence with your physical one.  

Video Marketing 

Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to boost engagement with prospective students. As one of the most powerful messaging mediums, video captures attention in a way that written content and audio cannot. Video marketing can be used for in-depth virtual tours, interviews with accomplished students and faculty, and to showcase the social aspects of student life on campus. Not only can social media and websites direct students and stakeholders to video content, direct mail can also drive students to videos through PURLs and QR codes.  

Pel Hughes works with higher ed institutions throughout the United States. We offer direct mail, retargeting, cross media marketing, database management, campaign automation, and promotional apparel. Call us at (504) 486-8646 to request a quote or visit our website to learn more about our services.  

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.  

Marketing with Promotional Apparel & SWAG 

Pel Hughes makes marketing with promotional apparel and branded merchandise a breeze. There’s a reason SWAG (stuff we all get) is always popular among new hires, convention/conference attendees, and as gifts to loyal clients or customers—particularly if these items are something that will be used on a frequent basis by their recipients. Below are some wonderful benefits to working with Pel Hughes for all your customized promotional apparel.  

Benefits of Marketing with Promotional Apparel/ Branded SWAG 

Develop a Strong Brand Identity 

Customizing everything from pens and coffee tumblers to t-shirts and zip-up hoodies with your corporate logo helps your business generate a stronger brand identity. Imagine the power of marketing with promotional apparel when your employees are seen out and about with well-made branded apparel, canvas grocery totes, or laptop bags.  

Make Employees Feel Appreciated 

Promotional apparel and SWAG make for excellent gifts to employees in your organization. From onboarding new associates to yearly holiday presents, promotional apparel and useful items like mousepads, metal tumblers, mugs, laptop bags, and umbrellas can make employees feel valued by your company.  

Convey Gratitude to Loyal Clients/Customers 

Longtime customers and clients will certainly enjoy receiving promotional items from your business. When gifting customers, useful yet universally appealing items are best. Gifts like tote bags, lip balm, hand sanitizer, beanies, and ball caps tend to have mass appeal.  

Pel Hughes provides an array of apparel and SWAG to make marketing with promotional products a breeze. Some of our favorite items include: 

The Stanley Quencher H2.0 

Stanley tumblers are wildly popular among many demographics because these tumblers make staying hydrated easy. The 30-ounce size is sleek and can easily fit on any desk or in any cupholder. This product is customizable with your brand’s logo and comes in seven colors.  

Ribbed Knit Beanies 

Beanies are a wonderful and universal option for branded headwear. These ribbed knit beanies are modern, available in various hues, and appealing to almost anyone’s personal style.  

The Urban Messenger Bag 

This messenger bag is modern and has several compartments as well as a laptop sleeve. Perfect for storing everyday essentials, the messenger bag is an affordable yet useful option for conveying appreciation to your associates.  

Full-Zip Lightweight Jacket 

This lightweight jacket looks sleek and professional for casual office days or out-of-the-office events. Available in nine sizes and two colors, this water-repellant jacket is a budget-friendly option for branded office apparel. Pel Hughes offers an assortment of outerwear for both men and women to suit every climate and occasion.  

The Solstice Softbound Journal  

This journal makes an excellent addition to anyone’s desk and is perfect as a yearly gift to employees or loyal customers. Available in seven colors with plenty of space to add your corporate logo, this journal’s per unit cost is very budget-friendly.  

Marketing with promotional apparel is easy with Pel Hughes. Feel free to peruse our website to see all our offerings or give our team a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more. We serve businesses, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions throughout the United States. 

Personalization in Marketing: Consumer Opinion 

Personalization in marketing is all the rage; and for good reason: it works when it is executed properly. Professional marketers tout personalization as a means to increase sales and build meaningful relationships with clientele. But, as with anything, there can be a dark side to this practice. When it comes to personalized marketing, it’s important for brands to strike a balance. In a nutshell, personalized messaging should be helpful, not intrusive or creepy. Intrusive messaging will send consumers running. Thoughtful and helpful personalized content, on the other hand, could lay the foundation for a loyal customer relationship.  

How Consumers Feel About Helpful Personalization 

When personalization is executed properly, it should enhance a customer’s experience with your brand. Helpful personalized marketing can involve customized landing pages that make product recommendations from past purchases or coupons through direct mail offering a discount for a loyal customer’s birthday. These forms of personalization can show appreciation for your clientele and demonstrate an understanding of their needs. 

When personalization adds value to a customer’s experience, consumers will have positive feelings about a brand. According to the 2023 Consumer Trends Index conducted by Marigold, about 64% of consumers don’t mind sharing information with a brand if it leads to helpful product/service recommendations.  

When Personalization Goes Too Far 

Intrusive personalized marketing creeps out consumers. There’s research to back this notion up, too. Over half of consumers report feeling that their privacy is invaded by brands who use personalization irresponsibly. The bottom line is that consumers don’t want to feel watched or tracked. While most consumers enjoy a better brand experience, overly intrusive personalization will drive them away from your business. A great example of the line between helpful personalization and creepy personalization is search history. Let’s say a consumer is looking into a specific set of symptoms they are experiencing with a Google search and then, moments later, they begin receiving targeted ads and e-mails for remedies or supplements used to treat a suspected health condition related to their symptoms. This chain of messaging can quickly feel intrusive and downright creepy.  

Now, on the other hand, let’s say one of your long-time customers has purchased a specific supplement for several months online. Sending this customer personalized direct mail with a coupon or discount code for a product they have purchased in the past can be seen as helpful. In fact, consumers appreciate it when their loyalty to your product or service is rewarded. According to the 2023 Consumer Trends Index, roughly 82% of consumers favor messaging when their loyalty to a brand is acknowledged.  

Personalization Tips from Pel Hughes 

The printing experts at Pel Hughes are no strangers to personalization in marketing. In fact, our team is committed to helping our clients create well-received customer experiences. Following are some helpful tips for those new to personalized marketing: 

  • Use data responsibly. Be mindful of how your messaging is received by your customers.  
  • Aim to be helpful. If personalization doesn’t add value to your consumers’ experiences, it’s not worth using.  
  • Merge print and digital personalization. You can personalize direct mail with custom URLs, QR codes to curate digital shopping carts, variable data printing and so much more.  
  • Use personalization as an opportunity to treat each consumer as an individual.  

Pel Hughes serves businesses and non-profits in a variety of sectors throughout the United States. We offer graphic design, campaign automation, database services, and stunning direct mail campaigns. Give our friendly pros a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more about direct mail and personalized marketing. 

Higher Education Marketing: Communicating with Students 

The landscape of higher education has changed. Today, higher education marketing is more important than ever.  In the past, prospective students would request a course catalogue and pamphlets to be delivered via mail. Many students of yesteryear selected colleges based on where their family members attended. In the digital age, however, more students are selecting higher education institutions for the specific programs they offer, hire rates after graduation, and scholarship opportunities. Quite a lot of this information is available online, too so prospective students have an idea of what your institution has to offer before official communication begins.  

Tips for Higher Education Marketing & Communication  

Understand a Student’s Needs & Expectations 

When it comes to higher education marketing, it’s important to present information in a way that treats a student like a customer. Simple, concise, and personalized messaging that highlights the benefits of attending your institution is vital to attracting today’s tech-savvy, information-conscious students. 

 Today’s students enter a highly specialized and competitive workforce. Many of them also take on substantial debt to achieve their desired education and career goals. In short, modern students are under quite a lot of pressure while also facing a good deal of uncertainty. Your institution’s messaging should operate with an understanding of a student’s needs and challenges.  

The crux behind communicating with prospective students is to highlight what your institution and its programs has to offer. How does your university stand out from competitors? Does your institution help students earn internships? What types of career services do your programs offer? These questions can help you tailor your messaging for optimal appeal. 

Include Parents & Guardians in Your Communications 

While students are your primary audience, it is important to bear in mind that their parents and caregivers play a large role in the decision-making process. Like students, parents will have their own concerns and expectations. For example, parents and guardians tend to prioritize campus safety more than students. They may also want to know about social clubs and how students can assuage feelings of isolation and homesickness. This isn’t to say that information about post-graduation hire rates, internships, and tuition costs don’t matter to caregivers and parents. They do.  

Know that Students See Education as an Investment 

Although students at your university may partake in a soiree with their classmates or even join a fraternal organization, today’s students aren’t just attending college for freedom and pub crawls. Modern students are acutely aware of the need for their education to pay off in the long run.  

Aside from purchasing a home, deciding which university to attend is one of the most important decisions a person can make in their lifetime. Most students view higher education as a worthwhile investment in their future. When communicating with prospective students, it is important to center your messaging on how attending your institution can pay off. Perhaps you have a robust network of alumni that have connections in a variety of industries or maybe your university has partnered with a large corporation for internships. This crucial information should be front and center on your direct mail, website, and social media platforms as it can help a student feel empowered in their school search.  

Realize the Importance of Personalization 

Personalized messaging can go a long way with prospective students. Technology makes this quite easy to accomplish, too. PURLs (personalized URLS to landing pages), variable fields in e-mail blasts, and variable data printing, can ensure that both your digital and print communication addresses your recipient by name. Maintaining accurate databases can help, too. Sorting recipients by program/major of interest and demographic data makes it easier to ensure that your communication resonates with their needs.  

Pel Hughes is a woman-owned enterprise serving businesses, universities, and non-profit intuitions throughout the United States. We offer direct mail, cross media marketing, graphic design, campaign automation, and database services. Call our friendly pros at (504) 486-8646 to request a quote or visit our blog for more information about our offerings.  

Personalized Marketing Copy: 5 Tips for Optimal Results 

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Personalized marketing copy can be a game changer—particularly for businesses providing individualized services like dental and healthcare along with brands that produce consumer goods. With personalized marketing copy, you can help set your business apart from your competition by making your customers feel appreciated and valued. Valuing your clientele can go a long way in today’s technology-forward commerce climate.  

Following are five helpful tips to get optimal results from your personalized marketing copy.  

5 Tips for Personalized Marketing Copy 

Keep Your Copy Casual and Relatable 

Using overly technical vernacular in your copy can confuse and even turn away potential customers. Whenever possible, it’s best to use casual and simple language that can highlight the benefits of your goods and/or services with minimal risk of confusion. While maintaining a simple, friendly tone is important, it’s wise to avoid being overly informal as it could come off as unprofessional. Our team recommends creating copy with short sentences, an informative tone, and personalized touches.  

Anticipate Your Customer’s Needs in Your Copy 

Every customer has specific wants and needs. When you draft marketing copy, understanding these needs is critical to creating messages that spurn interest in your goods and services. One way to demonstrate your understanding of your target consumer is to anticipate their needs in your copy and offer solutions to their problems. For example, let’s say you provide residential cleaning services. Your clients likely struggle with keeping a clean home due to time constraints from work and family life. Your copy should recognize your customer’s desire for a cleaner home while also offering a solution: a team of professional cleaners who can make a house spotless in a couple of hours. 

Abide by the Golden Rule 

It might not seem like the Golden Rule applies in business when the focus is on expansion and profits but treating your customers with empathy and respect can go a long way. When drafting marketing copy, ask yourself questions like “if I were in this consumer’s shoes, what type of communication would resonate with me?” With marketing copy, your mission is to make decision-making easier for your potential customer. Highlighting the unique advantages associated with purchasing from your brand is a great way to demonstrate to your consumers that you value their wants and needs.  

Consider Feedback from Surveys 

One way to connect with your customers is to conduct brand surveys and carefully evaluate the feedback. Understanding the wants and needs of your customer base helps foster long-term relationships with your business. Customers want to be understood and appreciated so implementing surveys and taking constructive criticism seriously shows your clientele that you make their satisfaction with your products and services a priority. The results of these surveys can help shape the tone and direction of your future content, which can help your brand build staying power.  

Leverage CRM Databases to Your Advantage 

CRM databases are valuable tools to help you produce content that resonates with your target consumers. You can use CRM technology to create detailed personas of the people who purchase from your brand as well as those who show interest in your business by interacting with your social media and website. CRM makes it possible to understand what messages drive customer interaction and their purchases. These reliable metrics can be used to make sure your personalized marketing copy strikes a chord with customers.  

Print and digital personalized marketing copy can make a world of difference in your messaging. Our team at Pel Hughes can help you develop personalized marketing campaigns through e-mail, direct mail, social media, and more. We also provide online databases to store approved brand messages, retargeting technology, variable data printing, and CRM software to help you create effective personalized marketing.  

Give our friendly experts a call today at (504) 486-8646 to request a quote.  

 

 

Marketing Trends: Hot Colors for 2023 

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A new year is almost upon us and for professional marketers, that means it’s time to develop editorial calendars for next year’s marketing projects as well as finalize the overall aesthetic of a brand’s messaging for the new year. Color, like anything else, follows trends based upon world events, popular culture, and a host of other social factors. When the calendar rolls to a new year, people tend to focus on the future so tapping into marketing trends is a great way to help ensure that next year’s content will resonate with consumers.

How Color Marketing Trends are Determined

A few well-known organizations like Pantone and the Color Marketing Group (CMG) contribute to analyzing upcoming trends with color. The Color Marketing Group, a non-profit organization, takes a deep dive in color trends and produces a color forecast on a regular basis. Analyzing world events, social changes, and high volumes of data is involved in their color recommendations for brands and marketers. You can view a more detailed analysis of this year’s upcoming color marketing trends by clicking here.

Color Marketing Trends for the New Year

For 2023, CMG determined that space, emerging technology, the rise of digital commerce, and environmental issues are the driving forces behind determining the upcoming year’s color trends. CMG also evaluates the psychological impact color has considering world events and social changes to develop their marketing recommendations.

Following are some key takeaways from the CMG color forecast that you should know.

Warmth 

After years of contending with a global pandemic and economic uncertainty, consumers are gravitating towards comfort. This fact has demonstrated that warm colors, particularly warm reds, yellows, and oranges pique consumer interest. Warm colors have a comforting effect on the psyche and can be implemented beautifully in marketing materials for several industries. Focusing on a warm aesthetic doesn’t mean that blues and greens are out the window. Warm earthy tones can be balanced in marketing materials with cool-toned blues and sage greens.

Neutrals 

Neutrals have a big place in 2023—especially in packaging. As consumers desire more environmentally conscious goods, brands are responding by reducing their reliance on dyes for packaging and mailing boxes. The general public’s acceptance of neutrals is certainly beneficial to companies utilizing raw and recycled materials for their packaging and products.

Invigorating & Bold Black 

One surprising addition to the CMG color forecast is a specific black called “Bohld”. This hue isn’t just any black either. It’s a rich, inviting black that evokes feelings of creativity and contemplation rather than darkness or sadness. Bohld is a great choice for direct mail materials, logos, and digital graphics.

While awareness of color marketing trends is helpful, it’s important to work with design professionals. A graphic designer can help you implement trending colors while maintaining your existing brand’s aesthetic so that new marketing materials won’t confuse your clientele.

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that provides cross media marketing, campaign automation, database services, and graphic design. Call our marketing experts at (504) 486-8646 to learn more.

Psychology Hacks for Marketing & Advertising 

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With widespread access to the Internet and social media, today’s consumers have abundant purchasing options and a wealth of information at their fingertips. This can make selling your service or products more difficult as you likely face steep competition from your peers in business. Producing effective marketing and advertising campaigns is a necessity to stand apart from your competition and break through the onslaught of brand messaging consumers see on a daily basis. Implementing these psychology hacks for marketing can help you develop compelling messaging that resonates with consumers.  

Helpful Psychology Hacks for Marketing & Advertising 

Tap into the Power of Social Proof  

Social proof is a powerful psychological phenomenon. Human beings are a highly social species and respond to messaging that conveys the popularity of a product or service. A common example of social proof you have likely seen is the classic “As Seen On TV” icon found on packaging for consumer goods like appliances, kitchenware, and gadgets. The “As Seen on TV” icon legitimizes a product or service by demonstrating that other people have used and bought a particular item.  

Essentially, social proof helps consumers feel more comfortable making purchases. While not every product or service can be advertised on television, smaller brands and businesses can use social proof by sharing testimonials, positive reviews, follow counts from official social media pages, and more. For example, highlighting testimonials in an easily-seen location on a website’s product page is a great way to benefit from the social proof phenomenon.  

Use Symbols & Shapes to Enhance Your Brand Messaging 

As visual creatures, people respond to images. The way our brains are wired makes the use of symbols in marketing especially powerful. One easy-to-implement example is placing checkmarks in your copy. For instance, rather than using traditional bullet points, use checkmarks in your copy for bulleted lists. Our brains interpret checkmarks like we would a green light at an intersection. Checkmarks send the message that we are on the right track and can positively influence our decision-making behavior.  

Shapes help convey your brand’s tone, too. Following is some helpful information on how particular shapes enhance your messaging: 

  • Triangles: Psychologically-speaking, triangles evoke emotions of stability and strength. Common brands that utilize triangles in their messaging include Mitsubishi and Adidas. Triangular shapes can often be found in branding and logos for legal practices and businesses in scientific industries. 
  • Horizontal Lines: Lines oriented horizontally convey tranquility and community. A famous example of horizontal lines used effectively is IBM’s logo.  
  • Vertical Lines: Suggesting masculinity, aggression, and strength, vertical lines are eye-catching and attention-grabbing when used in infographics, logos, banner images, and in printed marketing pieces like direct mail.  
  • Circles and Ovals: There’s a reason circular shapes are wildly popular in marketing and advertising materials. Well-known brands like Ford, Land Rover, Pepsi, and GE all incorporate ovals and circles in their imaging. Circular shapes are associated with feelings of unity, community, and trust.  

These psychology hacks for marketing only scratch the surface. There’s been a wealth of research devoted to this topic, especially the effect shapes, font, and color have on consumer emotion. In a previous blog post, our team delved into the psychological effects of color on consumer habits, which you can read by clicking here. The pros at Pel Hughes recommend devoting some time to studying the psychological impact that graphic design can have on your business for optimal marketing and advertising campaigns.  

Based in New Orleans, Pel Hughes is a woman-owned, full-service printing company that offers graphic design, direct mail campaigns, database services, and campaign automation. Give us a call at (504) 486-8646 to request a quote on your next project.  

Five Must-See Inspirational Ad Campaigns 

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Inspirational ad campaigns can leave a lasting impression on the general public. This form of advertising is great for for-profit and non-profit organizations—especially when inspiration is executed with authenticity. Inspirational ad campaigns can generate powerful responses, brand loyalty, and increased sales. Many times, inspirational ads go viral because their content is share-worthy on social media or discussion-worthy over the water cooler in workplaces. Following are five inspirational ad campaigns that the experts at Pel Hughes love.

5 Positive & Inspirational Ad Campaigns

#1 Stabilo Boss 

In 2018, Stabilo Boss launched the “Highlight the Remarkable” ad campaign. These ads literally highlighted women in history who made noteworthy contributions to society that were overlooked in their time. In the example below, Stabilo Boss highlighted Katherine Johnson in a group photo at Nasa. The ad featured copy discussing her contributions as a mathematician for NASA’s Apollo 11 mission. Katherine Johnson’s calculations were instrumental in the safe return of astronauts to Earth. This ad campaign won numerous awards and went viral on social media.

Image Source: Ad Week

#2 Always 

The Always “#likeagirl” campaign turned a common, gendered insult on its head. These series of ads showcased women and girls playing a variety of sports. This campaign juxtaposed common insults such as “run like a girl” or “throw like a girl” with footage of young athletes performing their respective sports very well. Utilizing a hashtag in the #likeagirl campaign was a brilliant way to increase the virality of the advertisements while inviting social media users to share their own experiences with gendered insults and sports performance.

Image Source: Always

#3 The Movember Foundation 

The Movember Foundation is a non-profit organization that raises awareness for men’s health concerns, particularly mental health, testicular cancer, and prostate cancer. On World Suicide Prevention Day, the Movember Foundation launched a PSA on YouTube called “Unmute & Ask Him”. This short video featured a man speaking about his mental health struggles while the subtitles displayed grilling tips. This jarring disconnect between perception and reality highlighted the fact that societal pressure and gender norms led to men stifling their feelings. This PSA was a call for people to check on the men in their lives and encourage them to speak candidly about their wellbeing.

You can view the “Unmute & Ask Him” campaign on YouTube.

#4 P&G 

P&G (formerly known as Procter & Gamble) is one of the largest companies in the world with dozens of household brands such as Crest Toothpaste, Dawn, Always, Bounty Paper Towels, and Pantene. As a worldwide manufacturer of popular consumer goods, P&G sought to highlight the sacrifices of mothers across the world by showcasing how their nurturing and support helped Olympic athletes achieve their goals. The “Thank You, Mom” series of ads showcased video footage of mothers who raised champions. Launched in 2010, the “Thank you, Mom” ad series was the most successful campaign in P&G’s 175-year existence. It resulted in a $500 million increase in global sales and earned over 74, 000,000 views.

Image Source: Business Wire

#5 Dove 

In an effort to promote body positivity and inclusion, Dove launched the “Real Beauty” series of advertisements. Featured in photographs and videos, the “Real Beauty” campaigns showcased ethnically-diverse models as well as models with a variety of body types and sizes. These ads also featured women of different ages. This shift toward promoting diversity and inclusion was ahead of its time when Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign launched in 2004.

Image Source: Live Oak Communications

Positivity, gratitude, and inspiration can go a long way with consumers. Incorporating stories of triumph and inclusion can be a winning formula in your next advertising campaign. If you need help with your cross media marketing, direct mail, or graphic design, give the friendly pros at Pel Hughes a call at (504) 486-8646 to request a quote. We offer a wealth of resources to businesses and non-profits alike, including campaign automation, database services, and full-service printing.

What is CRM marketing? 

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CRM or “customer relationship management” is a hot concept in marketing and advertising. While CRM utilizes advanced software, it is more accessible to small businesses and organizations than you might think. CRM marketing can efficiently streamline your digital and print advertising, reduce labor costs, and help maintain relationships with your existing and prospective customers.  

Chances are, your business is utilizing some form of CRM marketing if you produce automated e-mail blasts and newsletters. There are abundant options in the software world for businesses of all sizes across many industries. Popular CRM marketing software you may have heard of includes Zoho, Salesforce, Zendesk, and Hubspot.  

What can CRM marketing software do for my business? 

CRM marketing software is essentially a way to organize important information to enhance advertising efforts, customer service interactions, and sales. Great examples of how CRM can help your business include: 

  • Organize data for marketers to personalize campaigns including e-mail and direct mail marketing. 
  • Provide sales representatives with relevant data on purchase history during customer interactions. 
  • Assist customer service professionals with customer history related to purchases.  
  • Compile demographic data to glean the effectiveness of past marketing campaigns. 
  • Help strengthen brand messaging based on sales performance, particularly when tied to purchasing activity of specific demographics. 

Although CRM software is heavily used in marketing, this technology can provide effective support across many departments including customer service, sales, and the development of upcoming products or services.  

How can CRM software improve marketing? 

One of the biggest challenges marketers face is replicating results of successful marketing campaigns. Determining what messaging works, which customers resonate with specific campaigns, and how to ensure messaging reaches targeted consumers is a daunting task. Fortunately, CRM software organizing your data can make a world of difference.  

Organizing and analyzing data is a powerful tool for marketers. CRM software can provide data on interactions likes clicks and views on digital platforms as well as response rates on direct mail campaigns. This data can also reveal what types of messaging resonates with particular demographics along with insight on where your marketing campaigns fall short. Evaluating CRM data makes it possible to recreate successful marketing campaigns and discard tactics that don’t have a quantifiable impact.  

CRM Makes Personalized Marketing Easier for Small Businesses 

While it’s certainly true that the titans of industry are utilizing CRM for personalized messaging to consumers, small businesses can benefit from this technology, too. CRM can make sending targeted digital and direct mail to specific groups of existing and prospective consumers easy and efficient.  

The marketing experts at Pel Hughes can help. In addition to print advertising like direct mail, we offer database services, campaign automation, and an online portal for clients called “Storefront”. If you’d like to take your print and digital marketing to the next level, give our friendly team a call at (504) 486-8646. We serve businesses and organizations of all sizes throughout Louisiana and beyond.