How Direct Marketers Can Weather The Economic Storm

February 11th, 2009

Dave Frankland Vice President, Research Director

With contributors:

Suresh Vittal , Christine Overby , Emily Murphy

Summary

In June, we surveyed 84 direct and database marketers about their spending plans for the next three years and probed about how an economic slowdown might affect their planned spending. What did we find? Although marketers expected DM budgets to grow, an economic downturn was the biggest threat to their enthusiasm. Nevertheless, we still expect to see budgets shift from mass to direct channels, since it's easier to measure the impact of these channels. Direct marketers will increase their focus on online communication as well as on marketing and customer analytics. As the downturn sets in and the spotlight intensifies on the bottom line, what can direct marketers do? Focus their efforts on enhancing the value, efficiency, and effectiveness of their activities.

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