All Channels Lead To The Consumer
According to a new Forrester Research report released at the Forrester Consumer Forum 2007 in Chicago, interactive marketing spending in the US will more than triple over the next five years, reaching $61 billion by 2012. The growth in interactive marketing spending represents a 27 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years, and interactive marketing, 8 percent of all ad spending, will grow to 18 percent of total ad budgets in five years.
Forrester Research Principal Analyst Shar VanBoskirk, said "As firms continue to make customer centricity a higher priority, they will recognize that maintaining separate marketing teams to manage different sets of channels that all target the same customers makes no sense," ... (as) interactive technologies gradually infiltrate... such traditional paragons as television, billboards, and direct mail... the concept of a separate interactive marketing organization will disappear."
Based in part on a survey of 344 interactive marketing professionals and their budget decisions affecting display ads, search, email marketing, online video, and emerging media (social, mobile, and advergaming). Forrester's breakdown of spending includes the following:
VanBoskirk adds "These changes will... give interactive marketing professionals a more legitimate seat at the marketing table... with interactive marketing gaining executive visibility.. for its popularity with young consumers (as well as) measurability and cost effectiveness... "
For the complete release, visit here, or the US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2007 To 2012 is available from Forrester here.