The Internet is causing a profound shift in marketers' spending.
Business spending on automating, analyzing and optimizing marketing and sales functions is predicted to increase, according to Forrester Research. International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that marketing automation market will grow from $3.2bn in 2010 to $4.8bn in 2015.
The move from traditional media channels - such as broadcast and print - to emerging interactive channels including web, email, mobile and social media are, according to the research, the result of internet impact and the way businesses communicate, share information, educate customers and market to prospects.
It appears that a new market has emerged for Distributed Marketing Management (DMM) solutions using existing technology. DMM can be customised and localised by individuals, while still maintaining brand consistency and remaining compliant. Poor marketing, using inaccurate information can attract heavy fines, particularly in the financial services sector.
Forrester states that automating business processes using Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions has also proved to be good for DMM. Moving away from traditional internal IT resources and software applications - which handle sensitive sales marketing data - to cloud-based SaaS for critical business processes is becoming increasingly common as companies recognise the benefits.
Meanwhile, Gartner predicts the Enterprise Application Software segment of the global SaaS market will grow by 16% from $10bn in 2010 to $21.3bn in 2015. Within the global CRM market, which includes distributed marketing software, IDC states on-demand CRM solutions will lift 18% from $2.3 billion in 2009 to $5.3bn in 2014, while on-premises software solutions are only projected to grow by around 4% during the same period.