Demand Gen Report

With efficiency the rule of the day in the current climate, marketers are increasingly looking for the best response rates possible from all of their outreach. A new Direct Marketing Association (DMA) study sheds new light into the strategies and media driving the best return for marketers. While the DMA 2009 Response Rate Report showed decline in click-through rates over the past several years, the survey still found the majority of marketers continue to shift money to email—57.1% increasing email budgets vs. 8.0% decreasing. They study also found email now represents 12.6% of marketers’ budgets, third only to direct mail and internet marketing.

As powerhouse brands from financial services to manufacturing look to pare their operations, small to midsized firms are emerging as a big opportunity during the economic downturn. According to industry data, small businesses have created 60% to 80% of the net new jobs added since the mid-1990s.

Regardless of how good a company is at customer service or how superior their products and solutions are to their competitors, every company has lost customers and prospects along the way. However, in the current economic climate, there may be no better time to reach out and market to those customers/prospects that have either defected or opted for a competitive solution.
 
With a limited number of active buyers, win-back strategies are becoming a bigger part of sales & marketing strategies.