Data Driven marketing and sales census
New figures from the Direct Marketing Association's industry census 2002-2003 highlight the evolution in direct marketing's role. Many marketers have concentrated on enhancing customer retention and winning new customers - a central pillar of both direct marketing and CRM.
As this research reveals, campaigns designed to encourage a consumer response accounted for £11.8 Billion worth of business in the UK last year, a 6% increase in expenditure since 2001.
Directors are clearly pushing for spending increases in direct and interactive marketing at the same time as instigating cuts in media advertising and public relations budgets. Such findings confirm forecast expenditure revisions like those of the IPA's Bellwether survey which has forecast media advertising spend to be down by 13%, new media to be up by 13% and direct marketing to be up by 6% in 2003. With a growth of 17% recorded for new media spending in the DMA Census this year, perhaps these revisions are actually more reality than future.
The interest in, and commitment to CRM has played a significant part in this continuing healthy growth over the past year. Whilst CRM systems may have attracted less investment, the methods and media that are central to this emerging discipline have not declined at all. Direct marketing and CRM are intimately intertwined – suggesting that this should be a good read for anyone interested in either discipline who would like market intelligence delivered in a succinct and digestible form.
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