DMA Releases Digital Marketing Practices and Trends Report

NEW YORK, July 19 -- The Direct Marketing Association issued the following news release:

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today released its new Digital Marketing Practices and Trends report which takes the pulse on digital and traditional marketing methods as they are implemented today. DMA partnered with David Shepard Associates, a database and interactive marketing consulting firm, on this report.

Digital media have grown rapidly, as highlighted by the report findings, which show that social networking sites are the most used media platform. However, many businesses still consider themselves operating in the learning, transitioning, and integrating phases. This report identifies just how marketers react to evolving opportunities concerning online/web channels; email; social media; mobile advertising; direct mail; catalogs; telemarketing; print; television; etc. The questions were designed to elicit insight into the use of digital and traditional media to implement customer and prospecting contact strategies - both as they are practiced today and as they are likely to evolve over the next year.

"DMA has always been a leader, putting forth best practices and benchmarks in marketing to help companies operate more efficiently," said Yoram Wurmser, DMA research manager. "This new report extends this tradition with timely and compelling results that serve as a snapshot of what marketers are doing in the digital world. Take social media, for example, right now the majority are using general social networking sites like Facebook."

"Two findings come through loud and clear from this report," said George Orme from David Shepard Associates. "First, most marketers today are using digital media to both sell and nurture a stronger bond with their customers. But the study also underscored that very few companies have mastered the analytics and found ways to accurately measure the incremental effect of each media within a multi-media campaign."

'Not surprisingly, the study shows many companies are continually testing targeted messages across various media to find optimal cost efficiency and marketing effectiveness," said Rus Rempala of David Shepard Associates. "We expect to see much more advanced strategic testing in the near future as more and more marketers navigate the multichannel digital age."

Key Findings:

-Most marketers cite Brand Building (71 percent) as a main objective of their digital marketing.

-Direct mail still represents 17 percent of the overall marketing budget, which is larger than the share held by any other media.

-Roughly 35 percent of companies us CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) to evaluate online programs.

-The most frequent use of digital media for publishers is generating online sales.

The Digital Marketing Practices and Trends report is based on an email survey deployed in November and December of 2009. Altogether, DMA received 541 usable survey responses. The report, available at DMA's Bookstore, costs $135 for DMA members and $240 for non-members.

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About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 48 other nations, including nearly half of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2009, marketers - commercial and nonprofit - spent $149.3 billion on direct marketing, which accounted for 54.3% of all ad expenditures in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures will generate approximately $1.783 trillion in incremental sales. In 2009, direct marketing accounted for 8.3% of total US gross domestic product. Also in 2009, there were 1.4 million direct marketing employees in the US. Their collective sales efforts directly support 8.4 million other jobs, accounting for a total of 9.9 million US jobs.

The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.

About David Shepard Associates

David Shepard Associates (www.DSADirect.com) is a multi-channel direct marketing consulting firm experienced in both traditional and digital media. DSA specializes in four areas: Marketing Programs and Strategic Planning; Marketing Analytics, Predictive Models and Data Mining; Marketing Database Technology; and Professional Education.

Since 1976, the firm has served such well-known brands as Allstate, American Express, Bookspan, Brookstone, Ernst and Young, Hallmark, Kraft General Foods, Mercedes Benz, Microsoft, Pepsi, RadioShack, and Verizon. The firm's executives have been recognized for their thought leadership and expertise throughout the marketing community, and their book, The New Direct Marketing, is widely acclaimed as the leading resource and reference tool on marketing and analytics for today's data driven marketer.

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