Despite the economic fallout from Sept. 11, the anthrax scares, and the dot-com bust last year, the Direct Marketing Association released a report yesterday that U.S. sales revenue from direct and interactive marketing in 2001 was $1.86 trillion, an increase of 9 percent from $1.71 trillion in 2000.
“In an industry that accounts for nearly 8.6 percent of the U.S. economy, it is no surprise that direct and interactive marketing is still growing at a healthy pace,” said H. Robert Wientzen, president/CEO of the DMA.
The report, titled “Economic Impact: U.S. Direct & Interactive Marketing Today”, stated that sales growth for the DM industry outpaced overall sales growth in the U.S. by 3.5 percent.
Direct and interactive marketers can expect continued growth, the report said, with sales projected to reach more than $2 trillion in 2002. Overall direct marketing sales growth is forecast at 8.3 percent annually through 2006, while total U.S. sales growth is estimated to be 4.8 percent per year.
Industries contributing to direct and interactive marketing sales growth in 2001 included business services, $176.9 billion; catalogers and other non-store retailers, $152.2 billion; real estate, $63 billion; and insurance carriers/agents, $61.4 billion.
Key growth industries over the next five years include health services, 15.8 percent; electrical machinery/equipment, 12.6 percent; security/commodity brokers, 12.4 percent; social services, 11.6 percent; and insurance carriers/agents, 11.2 percent.
The report also stated that spending on direct and interactive marketing rose 3.6 percent to $196.8 billion in 2001 from $189.9 billion in 2000. According to the latest findings, direct and interactive marketing represents more than 55.2 percent of total U.S. traditional advertising expenditures.
The report also breaks out data on direct marketing advertising expenditures, revenue, and employment throughout seven major media categories in 52 major industries.
The full report, available in late June, is priced at $495 for DMA members and $595 for non-members. To order, call the DMA Book Distribution Center at 301/604-0187 or go to http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/offer?uid=000197.
