Sponsored Content WEBINAR: ELECTION 2008: E-mail Tips from a Political Insider   WEBINAR: Becoming the Illusionist: The Magic of Using "Brand" to Drive Response without Results Disappearing in the Process   WEBINAR: Score and Win Through Cooperation   TOOLS OF THE TRADE: Holiday's are prime-time for email marketing - maximize your ROI by getting to the inbox   ON DEMAND WEBINAR--MASTER CLASS: High Performance Online and Off-line Strategies for Large Scale Customer Acquisition   FREE WHITE PAPER - Direct Mail and the Internet Find any supplier you need - agencies, CRM, fulfillment, lists, e-commerce, paper, printers, telemarketing, and more. Featured Categories Lists and Data Telemarketing Database Marketing E-commerce Web Marketing Agency & Creative Services Print, Production & Paper Lists and Data Processing :: view all categories Get free access to more than 50,000 list data cards - one of the most comprehensive databases in the industry. >> Search Now DIRECT Buzz Blog Webinars Buyer's Guide Calculators JobZone ListFinder Promo Calendar Research Store E-Newsletters Print Magazine This Month in Direct Magazine Deal With It Direct had a full house for this year's list roundtable. Considering all the additional responsibilities on brokers' plates, that's impressive... See Full July Issue

It's a small but real change.

Yes, most database marketers still rely on revenue and income to determine return on investment. But a growing number are measuring brand equity, especially those that sell to businesses, according to Direct's 2007 database marketing practices survey (see chart 1).

What accounts for the shift?

Part of it is due to the emergence of search engine marketing, says Dave Frankland, a senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc. The stronger a brand is, the more likely it'll be used as a search term.

Another factor is the blurring of creative and analytic functions. Marketers who use either side of their brains are “certainly more aware of the other side,” Frankland adds.

Finally, B-to-B purchases have a longer cycle than consumer ones so it pays to keep the brand top of mind.

What else is new in this year's survey? Not much, if you're looking for massive economic setbacks or burgeoning markets. The gains and losses reported by readers are mostly incremental.

But the poll does show that database marketers are embracing the best practices agreed on by most experts.

For example, two-thirds now use their databases to provide customized offers (see chart 2). And why shouldn't they? These activities provide enough of a lift to cover costs on both a per-campaign and customer lifetime basis, say those who measure their impact.

But there's been a slip in the number of firms that rely on customer value to drive personalization or customer service (see chart 3).

At the same time, many more companies are calculating lifetime value (see chart 4).

As for spending, most respondents are upping their budgets for database-driven direct marketing (see chart 5).

And a majority are increasing or maintaining database investments this year (see charts 6 and 7). But fewer expect to cover costs, and those who do fear it will take longer than it once did.

One reason is that databases are also being used for non-revenue-producing activities like data integration and standardization. “Knowledge across channels and business lines has increased, and the ability to analyze that data has mushroomed,” Frankland says.

“There's also been an increased internal focus on measurement and metrics,” he continues. “The CFO has become a more prominent figure in the marketing department.”

Finally, marketers may not be measuring the right things, For example, some might be sticking to simple campaign results when they should be assessing the impact of customer data across the entire enterprise, Frankland says.

Reader comments bear this out. One respondent states: “We are not currently utilizing our database to its fullest extent.”

But some are. And they're using them for varied purposes like event marketing, print-on-demand brochures and data licensing.

So who's most active onthe database track?

Consumer firms, which tend to have more data on customers and prospects than their B-to-B counterparts, are more likely to boost spending.

They're hiring more, too. Head counts may be stagnant at most companies, but consumer firms are adding staff.

Meanwhile, a third of all respondents expect to upgrade or invest in database hardware in 2007. This seems to confirm the widespread theory that technology generally has a three-year life span.

Outsourcing relationships also tend to be for three-year periods, at least for the initial contact.

Here's another finding: Fewer marketers plan to bring their databases in house this year. But that may be because fewer are outsourcing them to begin with.

What does it all mean? It may be that marketers finally are becoming more comfortable with hands-on activity.

Those that want more day-to-day control are bringing systems in. Those seeking the high-powered analytics and systems available through vendors are signing contracts.

What kinds of software are they spending money on? Customer relationship management, data hygiene and consolidation/analytics programs, the survey shows.

And who are marketers buying systems from? B-to-B firms are more likely to rely on a single vendor, while consumer firms tend to buy from several suppliers.

How do they decide? It depends on size. The larger the company, the more likely it is to embrace several providers.

For more CRM and database marketing material, go to http://directmag.com/disciplines/crm/.

This survey was conducted for Direct by the Penton Media Custom Research Department, an in-house unit. It was e-mailed to 9,549 Direct and e-newsletter subscribers. Participants were chosen on an nth-name basis (a representative sample of all subs).

An initial copy of the survey, offering a chance to win one of four $50 Amazon.com gift certificates, was sent to print subscribers on May 2 and to e-mail newsletter subscribers on May 17. A follow-up e-mail, along with the sweepstakes offer, went to non-respondents.

Results are based on surveys returned by 274 qualified participants: corporate or general managers (12%); sales, marketing or telemarketing executives (61%); advertising or promotion managers (6%); and circulation, list or media managers (9%). The remaining 12% were fulfillment, operations or production managers, CIOs and consultants.

The median annual revenue of respondents' companies was $22.8 million. Current-year revenue was reported as follows: under $1 million (13%); $1 million to $2.5 million (7%); $2.5 million to $5 million (7%); $5 million to $10 million (9%); $10 million to $25 million (16%); $25 million to $100 million (19%); $100 million to $500 million (9%); $500 million to $1 billion (6%); and more than $1 billion (14%).