Report: Interactive marketing to top $25 billion

This, despite flat predictions for 2009 because of the US and global economy. Forrester researchers combined search, email and social marketing efforts as well as mobile marketing efforts. How can they be certain about the increases? According to a blog post by a Forrester Research analyst marketers are pulling ad dollars from channels which are not performing well or which do not have accurate metrics and pushing ad dollars into more trusted areas.

Although most forecasts have hedged at smaller growth rates, the Forrester reports notes that in one recent survey more than half of online marketers reported plans to increase interactive budgets by taking money from areas which are not performing to par. One of those areas is direct mail, which could lose as much as 40% of its market share. Newspaper advertising is another likely loser; this should not be surprising with news that many papers are cutting off print circulation, merger with their biggest competitors or are going with an online-only format.

In addition, newspaper circulation is sinking. With circulation dropping, it is no wonder marketers are dropping off of newspaper radar.

The biggest gainers, and the reasons interactive advertising is gaining ground, are expected to be social marketing and mobile marketing platforms. With consumers flocking to hubs such as Facebook and Twitter each day, marketers are quickly becoming familiar with ways to create an on-going, social program to build loyalty with social consumers. The same can be said with mobile. Although consumers are still lagging, new devices like the iPhone will bring more and more consumers to the mobile web.

Tags: email marketing, Forrester Research, interactive advertising, mobile marketing, online advertising, search marketing, social marketing