Every audience is different." "Speak to people in their own voice." "You must be believable." These basic truths are drummed into direct marketers. But these lessons don't sink in with some copywriters.

There is no denying that 2008 has been a rough year for those of us in direct marketing. Besides a rise in postal rates, prices have risen for everything from paper to quali­fied talent. And, of course, consumers have been keeping a tight grip on their money. We have even witnessed the bankruptcy of vener­able players in our industry, such as Lillian Vernon and Sharper Image.

Every advertising medium from time to time fights an urban myth of the "alliga­tors in the sewer" sort. For example, the Yellow Pages industry, which, with the current "green" phenom­enon, is fighting the myth that millions of trees are cut down each year in order to print your local directories.

In an online world dominated by search, e-mail and analytics, most every visitor's intent can be tracked to something. Despite this insight, why do many online stores fail to engage, persuade and convert their visi­tors? E-commerce shoppers are increasingly mature, with correspondingly high expecta­tions, but the problem is deeper. Marketers have broken the sales funnel.

The advent of blended search by the major engines this past year changed the search landscape. The integration of other forms of digital content, such as images, video and news within the general search results, is now the norm.

Direct marketing programs can succeed or fail based on an often undervalued piece of the puzzle — customer motivation. Sure, some DM programs are driven solely by volume, but one marketing axiom is always true: The more you know and understand about your customers, the more likely they are to respond to your offer.

Today, content comes in a variety of fla­vors. Some is positive, some is neutral, and some can be...well, downright negative. Often this less than flattering material appears in the form of blogs and reviews, and can be particularly damaging when visible on branded terms. So what's a marketer to do? Combat it.

Marketers are making dramatic changes in acquisition strategy as rising costs threaten the most effective means of acquiring new buyers — direct mail.

I'm forever amazed at how out of touch some marketing people are with the way real people interact with ad messages. Take direct mail, for example. To hear some marketing gurus talk, you'd think people camped out beside their mailbox waiting for the mail truck to pull up.

You've heard the hype, seen the numbers, and been wowed by the unbelievable growth of the new buzz word: Mobile. According to CTIA The Wireless Associa­tion, there are now 255 million US wireless subscribers — roughly 84% of the population.