Forrester Research, a media research firm, predicts that interactive marketing spending will hit $25.6 billion this year, up 11% from $23.1 billion in 2008, as advertisers shift money from traditional media to digital.
That total, which includes search, email, social media and mobile marketing dollars, is expected to more than double to nearly $55 billion by 2014.
A recent Forrester survey of more than 200 marketers found that 60% planned to increase interactive budgets by pulling back spending on traditional outlets. The biggest victim of the trend will be direct mail, which stands to be slashed by 40%. Print will not fare much better, with spending on newspapers expected to be cut by 35%, and magazines by 28%.
Mobile and social media will enjoy the biggest spending gains in interactive, increasing nearly 70% to $391 million and almost 60% to $716 million, respectively, in 2009. But the recession’s toll on other segments will leave display advertising virtually flat at $7.8 billion, and email up only slightly to $1.2 billion.
Search marketing, is expected to grow 14% to $15.4 billion in 2009, and more than double by 2014 to 31.6 billion
