CRM spending is up by leaps and bounds
Seventy-four percent of businesses will spend more money on customer relationship management software and hardware this year than they did last year—some by as much as 50 percent—according to a report from Internet research company Jupiter Media Metrix Inc., in New York.
Despite the economic downturn, Jupiter has placed its seal of approval on this planned increase because its research indicates that the number of individuals seeking online customer service will jump from 33 million this year to 67 million in 2005. However, Jupiter warns that companies investing in online-only solutions will fail to improve customer satisfaction because they will not build a consistent customer experience across all channels.
Currying favor with customers
Enterprises looking to further bolster good customer relations would do well to consider spending marketing dollars on online media, according to a survey from Myers Reports, a New York marketing consultancy that conducts quarterly surveys of media-buying executives.
Myers uses a weighted average derived from the percentage of executives who plan to increase, decrease or maintain overall media spending in the next 12 to 18 months. The overall index for all media runs at about 49.40. In the consultancys latest study, executives are more bullish about interactive TV, online sponsorships and banner ads, which rate 52.13, 60.82 and 49.09, respectively.