E-mail No. 1 Demand Generator: WebTrends
Online retailers rank e-mail marketing as the most important demand-generation activity for holiday success in 2006, according to a study released by WebTrends today.
As a result, e-mail will also see the biggest increase in spending, with 52% of retailers surveyed saying they plan to increase spending on electronic mail, according to the Web site analytics company.
Search marketing was No. 2, with 46% responding they plan to increase spending on the channel.
The biggest decreases in spending will be on banner ads, with 17% of those surveyed saying they plan to lower spending on them. No. 2 is print advertising, with 16% of those surveyed saying they plan to cut spending on the channel.
While 63% of respondents said they rely on activity-based metrics, such as click-throughs, and page and product views, an eye-popping 27% of the more than 300 retailers surveyed said they aren