It is interesting to take note of the world’s reactions to new ways of doing things. After all, who could have imagined that we’d all be using Facebook to catch a peek at each other’s daily lives? Just four years ago, would we have believed that a little thing called social media would become so important?

Now, multi-channel marketing seems to be forging a similar path as direct marketers everywhere are increasingly coordinating interactions with customers, using digital and new media channels in an orchestrated fashion.

A recent Pitney Bowes survey of 231 attendees polled last month at the Direct Marketing Association’s 2011 Conference and Exhibition revealed some very telling signs, indicating that multi-channel marketing has already made quite an impact.

According to a recent Pitney Bowes press release, nearly all -- 94 percent -- of the survey respondents agree that multi-channel marketing is more effective than a single-channel approach.

The press release goes on to say that call center conversations, live chat on a web site, direct mail, search engine optimization, SMS and QR Code marketing activities can all be aligned with data analysis and application that delivers dynamic personalized interactions throughout the customer experience.

It seems that companies of all sizes are realizing the value of multi-channel marketing and thinking outside the box when it comes to using technology to turn these personalized interactions into a tangible return on investment.

The good news for small and medium sized businesses is that large marketing budgets are not a prerequisite for carrying out an effective multi-channel marketing campaign.

And while some direct marketing tactics like cold calling, email and direct mail are time intensive and -- in many cases -- not worth their opportunity costs, they can be integrated with QR Code and SMS marketing along with email, IM, voice broadcast and social media messaging to provide the immediate, high performance results that are required for revenue growth.

Using All-In-One Multi-Channel Marketing solutions like Trumpia, businesses of all sizes can easily and affordably become active participants in the experience of their customers. In doing so, as the research seems to say, they will find the secret elixir for business success.