Andrew Lang said “Unsophisticated forecasters use statistics like a drunk uses lampposts — for support rather than for illumination” But I think he could have taken this further. Using a single figure for guidance is as ‘silly’ as using an opinion. This is why, using the strength of Big Data’s V for Volume if we want to approach any certainty, we have to use not a single fact or figure, but many. With this idea in mind, this post compiles the most fascinating, revealing direct and interactive marketing statistics to help you plan your 2016 marketing mix:

Facts and Figures on General Marketing

1. 86% of viewers successfully circumvent ads on television. Source: NewsCred

2. Advertising investment in the media will increase by 5.6% in 2016. Source: Zenith Vigía

3. In Spain RTB will account for 21.3% of all online display advertising by the end of 2016. Source: Zenith Vigía

4. In 2016 advertising expenditure on digital media will surpass television advertising expenditure. Source: Warc

5. 94% of marketing managers plan to launch some mobile application over the next five years. Source: MarketingLand

Email Marketing Figures

6. The Email Marketing channel continues to provide the best ROI, 38 dollars on each dollar spent. Source: Direct Marketing Association

7. Microsoft continues to be the ISP with the largest number of active emails in Spain. It accounts for 62.1% of the total (with Hotmail, MSN and Outlook) as compared to 31.9% covered by Gmail, and 4.9% by Yahoo. ONO is the top national ISP with only 0.7% coverage. In-house source. Xcampaign Data Dec. 2015.

8. Frequent, segmented newsletters are the marketing formula with the biggest impact on marketing goals. Source: National Client Email Report 2015

9. 48% of emails are now opened on smartphones. In-house source. Xcampaign Data Dec. 2015.

10. 80% of emails sent never reach their destination due to anti-spam filters.

Business To Business Marketing

11. 82% of B2B visits are in no case potential customers. Source: DemandBase

12. According to LinkedIN, your chances are 30 times greater in getting a response from an INMAIL than from a cold call in a B2B contact.

13. The percentage of active companies in Spain with over 200 employees is only 0.25%. In-house source. DataCentric- MarketBase Business File

14. Payment periods between businesses held steady at 90 days in Spain throughout 2015. Source: Estudio Iberinform

15. 86% of American B2B companies use content marketing but only 38% of them recognize it as effective. Source: The Content Marketing Institute

Offline Direct Marketing Facts

16. 73% of United States consumers prefer postal mailings above any other form of receiving information. Source: Compu-mail

17. The Data Base continues to be the most important factor when planning any Direct Marketing action, 6 times more than the next factor, the offer, which is 3 times more important.

18. The number of Spanish Robinsons in the Federation’s file as of December 2015 was 364,610.

19. At least 90% of Spaniards over the age of 18 can be impacted through one of the following direct media: telemarketing, postal mailing or email.

20. Pay heed to the 5 minute rule. Leads generated convert 22 times more easily if you call them within the first five minutes of having filled in the online form.

I’m sure I’m leaving out a lot of other curious and even astounding marketing facts. Please help us and share them with us and we’ll certainly add them on.

Gerardo Raído

Digital Business and Customer Marketing Manager at DataCentric http://www.linkedin.com/in/gerardoraido

http://twitter.com/gerardoraido

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