A recently released report by the Direct Marketing Association, “Digital Marketing Practices and Trends”, shows interesting insights into usage of the various forms of digital and social media available to marketers. Via an email survey, conducted in November and December 2009, the study explored how businesses are marketing themselves via: online channels, email, social media, mobile advertising, direct mail, catalogues, telemarketing, print and television, and gives an idea of which direction digital media trends are heading.
Social media is evidently a rising contender, with the majority of companies using social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter. However, it is still an area in which many companies feel they are still learning – implementing trial and error to find the best results for their business. Analytics for digital media are difficult to track accurately, and this is proving a problem for businesses wanting to see an immediate, tangible result from these channels. The main use of social media for the participants of this study, therefore, seems to be to “nurture a stronger bond with their customers,” says George Orme from David Shepard Associates, who partnered with the DMA on the survey.
Interesting points taken from the report include:
- The most frequent use of digital media for publishers is to generate online sales
- Approximately 35% of companies use CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) to evaluate online programs
- Direct mail still accounts for 17% of the overall marketing budget
- Brand building is cited as the main objective of digital marketing by 71% of marketers
- 62% of marketers use paid keywords
- 45% of marketers use banner/skyscraper ads
- 88% of b-to-b companies use social media, primarily LinkedIn, microblogging and blogging
Rus Rempala (David Sheppard Associates) commented on the future of digital marketing: “We expect to see much more advanced strategic testing in the near future as more and more marketers navigate the multichannel digital age.”
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