Reaching out and touching someone is not so easy in the digital age. Audiences are fragmented and so is the media. Marketers are dealing with tighter budgets too.

In the old days, we knew our customers by their first names. Business was conducted face-to-face.

Today, marketers have to work harder to connect with customers. One way to connect is through multichannel marketing. Here are some new tools to help you connect with your direct marketing campaigns:

Refer-a-Friend
Word of mouth is still one of the best ways to obtain new customers. Make sure you incorporate a "refer a friend" option in your communications so that prospects can direct their friends to your marketing message/offer.

Opt-In
Opt-in marketing has become the only acceptable way to market through the Internet, mobile or social channels. Make sure you have an exclusive offer of value to entice prospects to opt-in.

Personalize It
Marketers who use the receiver's history to create personalized communications see significant lifts in response. Make sure you use personalized URLs in marketing communications to allow individualized tracking of what specific customers do after receiving your message.

QR Codes
QR codes, which allow smartphone users to snap a picture and immediately launch content related to that symbol, offer a great way to take a customer directly from an ad or direct mail piece into interacting with your product and brand. If you use them, include a backup SMS number as not all customers will respond to a QR code.

Online and offline communications work well together. When you need to drive online traffic, an integrated approach is hard to beat.