Marketers choose social media over DM

LONDON - Marketers are diverting marketing budgets away from direct marketing and into social media, according to research by Alterian.

In a survey of more than 1,000 marketers from around the world, Alterian found that 66% of respondents will be investing in social media marketing activity over the next year and as many as 40% said they would be using the DM budget to do so.

The 40% said they would cut their DM budget by more than a fifth to pay for their social media activities, according to

David Eldridge, Alterian chief executive, said: "Untargeted and irrelevant marketing techniques are now redundant and the results of this survey show many in the industry recognise this."

The research found that 51% of those surveyed were placing a reasonable or significant amount of effort moving from a campaign-centric DM model.

The upsurge of investment in social media overall also includes marketers investing in monitoring and analysis tools with 36% surveyed indicating they were planning such a move.

The rise in the number of marketers turning to social media monitoring tools is reflective of a maturing of the market and a growing understanding of the role social networking can plan in marketing campaigns.

Eldridge said: "Without the adequate investment in listening and measurement tools it renders any anticipated investment in social media ineffectual. The key to an effective social media strategy is listening."

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