Despite a year marred by economic uncertainty and public concern over anthrax-in-the-mail, a new report from the Direct Marketing Association found that U.S. sales revenue from direct and interactive
marketing rose 9% last year to $1.86 trillion from $1.71 trillion in 2000. According to The DMA's Economic Impact: U.S. Direct & Interactive Marketing Today study, this sales growth outpaced overall
sales growth in the U.S. by 3.5%.
According to the study, the direct and interactive marketing industry can expect to see continued economic growth. Sales are projected to reach more than $2
trillion in 2002. Overall direct marketing sales growth is forecast at 8.3 percent annually through 2006, while total U.S. sales growth is estimated at a significantly lower growth rate of 4.8% per
year.
Industries that contributed to direct and interactive marketing sales growth in 2001 included: business services ($176.9 billion), non-store retailers such as catalogers ($152.2 billion),
real estate ($63 billion), and insurance carriers/agents ($61.4 billion). Key growth industries that are poised to generate direct and interactive sales revenue during the next five years include:
health services (15.8%), electrical machinery/equipment (12.6%), security/commodity brokers (12.4%) social services (11.6%), and insurance carriers/agents (11.2%).
The study also reported that
spending on direct and interactive marketing rose 3.6 percent to $196.8 billion in 2001 from $189.9 billion in 2000. According to the latest findings, direct and interactive marketing represents more
than 55.2% of total U.S. traditional advertising expenditures.