News
 The
Top 2 Headaches in Direct Marketing
Looks like direct marketers are going to need to pop
those Advils. According to an annual report released
by database marketing provider Alterian, direct
marketers might have to worry about these big
hurdles this year.
The survey reports that those “DM-related headaches”
will be in the form of customer insight and
analysis. Fifty-two percent of respondents noted
this would be one of the biggest frustrations this
year. Coming in at second was data hygiene, with 46
percent of the vote. Data hygiene is expected to
pose a significant challenge for direct marketers.
Meanwhile, 55 percent of survey respondents in the
U.K. cite data hygiene as its biggest problem.
Marketers are having a tough time dealing with data
quality issues and extracting value from their data
mostly because they don’t have the in-house
expertise or “aren’t empowered to interact with the
data themselves,” notes Alterian CEO David Eldridge.
Technical awareness and maximizing return on IT
investment also is high on the agenda. Almost half
(47 percent) say that despite access to a bevy of
technologies within the marketing department, the
technologies aren’t used to the best advantage. This
could be due to a lack of appropriate tools for
marketers or a shortage of skills in the marketing
department.
But despite some of these obstacles – direct
marketers are still optimistic about the industry.
The report reveals 63 percent of respondents expect
direct marketing spending to increase in the next 12
months. Only 5 percent said it would decrease.
Confidence in the U.S. was higher than in the U.K.
this year – 70 percent versus 53 percent.
The survey also notes that marketers expect to shell
out lots of money for their direct marketing
endeavors. How will the direct marketing budget be
divvied up? Forty-seven percent of direct marketers
will spend more than $1 million this year. And 27
percent indicated their direct marketing
expenditures fell into the highest budget category
of $5 million and more.
Alterian interviewed 700 marketers and marketing
services providers in the U.S. and the U.K for its
report.
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