• by Masha Geller , June 26, 2002

When did DoubleClick turn into a research company? Their latest release actually provides good data and insight into the online advertising industry. The Marketing Spending Index they released yesterday shows that marketers are “cautiously optimistic about the growth of their media budgets for the remainder of 2002.”

Granted, the survey is based on only 200 responses, but it does reveal that while 23% of respondents expect 2002 marketing budgets to decline from 2001 levels, 27% expect them to stay the same and a promising 50% expect them to increase. In particular, email budgets are expected to increase, with 61% of respondents expecting their email marketing budgets to grow over the next twelve months.

DoubleClick reports that relative to other forms of marketing, email (+17%) and online marketing (+9%), along with direct response TV (+18%) and channel marketing (+15%) are expected to see increases in budget in 2002. Traditional media including TV (-1%) print (-1.4%) and radio (-2.3%) are expected to see a small decrease in relative spending, while telemarketing (-7%), direct mail (-7%) and catalog marketing (-13%) are expected to see the largest relative decline.

Online advertising was cited as the third most commonly used form of advertising (54%) behind print (86%) and direct mail (58%), and slightly ahead of TV (53%), radio (47%) and email (44%).

DoubleClick says that the relative growth in online and email marketing within the marketing mix suggests an increased confidence among marketers in these marketing channels. The growth in the share of the marketing mix also reflects the increased sophistication in online and email creative, optimization and targeting, the growing number of studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of online and email marketing, and the growing audience that is reached by marketing online and by email.

Relative Growth/Decline of Marketing Budgets

Direct response TV            + 18%  
Email                         + 17%  
Channel marketing             + 15%  
Online marketing              +  9%  
TV
-  1%  
Print                         -  1.4%  
Radio                         -  2.3%  
Telemarketing                 -  7%  
Direct mail                   -  7%  
Catalog marketing
- 13%