• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 19, 2002

Marketers Prefer CRM to Mass Media Advertising

In a recent survey from Reveries.com, US marketing executives were asked how they would spend the majority of their budget if it were unlimited, and 28% responded that they would spend it on customer relationship management (CRM). The responses looked like this:

How would you invest majority of marketing dollars if budget were not an issue?

• CRM (Consumer Relationship Management) 28%
• Mass media advertising 22
• Sales promotion 12
• Public relations 12
• Traditional direct marketing (non-CRM) 7
• Retail trade activities 6
• Internet/media promotion 2
• Other 13

Source: Reveries.com, May 2002

When 197 US marketing executives were asked their opinion on the "single biggest" reason for CRM success, 32% cited marketing strategy, and then:

US Marketers' Opinions Regarding the "Single Biggest" Reason for CRM Success, May 2002 (% of respondents)

• Marketing strategy 32%
• Executive commitment 26
• Realistic expectations 12
• Proper metrics 8
• Organizational design 7
• Technology excellence 4
• Other 12

Source: Reveries.com, May 2002

e-Dialog, in an April 2002 survey, determined that US marketers plan to allot more of their 2002 budget to e-mail marketing than they did in 2001. Although The survey did not separate 'CRM' out as an element of marketing budgets, but as the Reveries.com report notes, the major CRM initiatives to date have been customer service call centers, web response, and sales force management.

US Marketing Budgets by Marketing Vehicle (as % of overall budget)

	2001	2002
Direct mail	27.8	25.2
E-mail	18.2	24.3
Offline broadcast advertising (TV, radio, etc)	14.6	13.2
Internet advertising (not e-mail)	10.3	9.9
Telemarketing	9.4	9.0
Other (events, sponsorships, etc.)	19.7	18.4

Source: e-Dialog, Inc, April 2002

You can find out more here at eMarketer