New approaches to marketing seem to be taking hold, as a recent study from Forrester Research estimates that companies will spend nearly $77 billion on interactive marketing by 2016.
The research firm noted that this figure is equivalent to what businesses spend on television advertising today. This data furthers the notion that new media, such as mobile platforms and social networks, are becoming more valuable to businesses' marketing strategies.
According to Forrester, interactive marketing will account for 35 percent of all advertising spend in the next five years. In a Forbes blog post, Forrester analyst and the report's author Shar VanBorskirk wrote that mobile marketing will see the steepest growth during this year, surpassing both social media and email marketing.
However, social media marketing is also poised to grow, albeit at a slower pace that mobile. More businesses are tuning into the social media world to take advantage of cost-effective marketing platforms.
Forrester's forecast differs somewhat from a recent study from the Direct Marketing Association. As Brafton reported this week, the DMA estimates that social media represents the largest portion of marketing budgets. However, both studies found that mobile, SEO and social media are top areas of investment fro competitive brands.
