Members of the Direct Marketing Association said their profitability increased slightly in the fourth quarter of 2003, according to a revenue index report released by the DMA on Wednesday.
Members gave their net profitability an index of 64 for the quarter, up from 61 in the third quarter of 2003.
Members rated their overall revenue performance in the quarter at 65, up from 63 in the previous quarter. For the fourth quarter of 2002, members rated their revenue performance at 57.
The DMA’s Quarterly Business Review uses a 1-to-100 index to measure how the revenue of users, suppliers and agencies are performing overall. Numbers above 50 represent growth and numbers below 50 show decline.
Over the holiday period, members said their sales increased 12% compared to the 2003 holiday period.
Survey respondents projected their revenue performance for the current quarter would rate an index of 69, further evidence that direct marketing is on the rise, according to the report.
The research also showed that users expect to put more money into customer acquisition, e-mail marketing and Internet integration and e-commerce solutions.
They said they expect to cut spending in wages for staff, customer relationship systems, paper and telemarketing.
The report is based on three online surveys of DMA member companies conducted from Jan. 14 through Feb. 1, and includes more than 360 total responses.
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