The DMA is projecting that marketers will spend $176.9 billion on direct-marketing efforts by the end of the year, slightly outpacing last year's total of $171.1 billion in 2007. Looking ahead to next year, the association is projecting direct-marketing expenditures will increase to $183.1 billion.
Other findings from the DMA's "Power of Direct Marketing" study include: Above-average double-digit spending growth will occur in commercial e-mail and internet marketing; expenditures in the newer online media will maintain significant growth in the coming year; commercial e-mail will continue to claim the top growth ranking for 2009, while internet advertising will claim more than 15% of all direct-marketing advertising dollars in 2009; and for 2008, an investment of $1 in direct-marketing advertising expenditures is predicted to return, on average, $11.63 in incremental revenue across all industries. This exceeds the $11.56 achieved in 2007 and is expected to improve further to $11.74 in 2009.
