Ethan Boldt

While Black Friday weekend suffered the first spending decline since 2009, Cyber Monday increased nearly 20 percent to a record level, according to ComScore. Online retail sales reached nearly $2 billion, with mobile devices generating more than 17 percent of online purchases, according to IBM. Clearly, the lure of deeper discounts while steering clear (as in, not being in the car at all) of crazy Black Friday in-store madness is taking internet shopping to another level … and marketers are taking advantage.

If you rely on direct mail to bring in business, you've probably had a bumpy ride the last couple of years. Well, time to turn that around with the aid of some very handy "response boosters." Specifically, here are 3 tips for boosting direct mail response during crazy economic times, from the just published "Strategy & Tactics for Boosting Direct Mail Response" report, courtesy of Direct Marketing IQ and Chief Content Officer Ethan Boldt.

Need a quick tutorial on QR Codes? It's all here in QR Codes Explained. Ethan Boldt, Chief Content Officer of DirectMarketingIQ discusses many QR Code best practices and case study examples.

Highlights of the 15-minute session include:

• A short history of the QR code.
• Why QR codes are THE hot topic in integrated marketing campaigns today, including the explosion of smartphone usage.
• Top uses for the QR code.
• The industry sectors where QR codes are being used, and where they work best.
• Best practices for implementation.
• Competition from Microsoft Tags and NFC and more!

Who's not talking about QR codes in direct marketing? But are you still not convinced that QR codes are a growing trend in the mailstream? Or that they only work for certain verticals?

Join DirectMarketingIQ's own Chief Content Officer Ethan Boldt as he discusses PURL best practices and case study examples.