News
 Direct
Marketing Growth Takes a Slight Tumble
Direct marketing growth slipped a tad during the
first quarter of this year. But industry analysts
are still expecting a big comeback by the time 2006
is over. What’s it going to take?
According to a recent report from the Direct
Marketing Association (DMA), the direct marketing
arena scored an industry-wide revenue index of 59,
despite a dip from last year’s fourth quarter
near-record revenue index of 68.
“Although not as robust as the last quarter of 2005,
the first quarter of this year was generally healthy
for marketers,” says Peter Johnson, vice president
of research and market intelligence for the DMA.
“With the exception of decreased sales reported by
the smallest companies, marketers across all sales
tiers reported increased sales.”
Still, there seems to be a light at the end of the
tunnel for the direct marketing industry. According
to the report, industry-wide profitability numbers
were very strong, with marketers, agencies and
suppliers each showing indices in the high 60s or
better. Revenue vs. the original projection – at 46
– returned to a level comparable with those of Q3
and Q2 of 2005. Agencies are the only segment to
show growth in this metric.
In terms of budgets, the report states that the
index for direct marketing budgets shows some growth
at 56, but is lower than Q4’s figure of 64.
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