Companies are increasingly adopting “cloud”-based CRM solutions, as they continue to discover the many advantages cloud-based systems have over on-premises systems.

According to experts, the move to cloud-based CRM solutions won’t be abating anytime soon, with a recent report predicting the revenue will total more than $14 billion for the enterprise application markets.

According to a report, email marketing was found to be a commonly used marketing channel among growing businesses and is a likely option for companies moving forward.

The report found that of all strategies, email marketing generates the highest direct marketing conversion rates, while Twitter is the most effective means of extending advertising reach.

Social media has been identified as a platform that could give organisations long-tern gains when integrated with online direct marketing.

This is despite research from Econsultancy’s Social Media and Online PR report revealing that one-third of businesses are not planning to boost spending on social media in 2010.

Two major Contact centre industry players have written the definitive study of the UK contact centre outsourcing industry, which is the most wide-ranging and detailed report available about this complex and dynamic growth area.

The report proves that when it comes down to contact centre performance, outsourced contact centres are better than in-house operations, which supports the belief of Eclipse Marketing, experts in the Contact Centre industry.

Businesses could benefit from seeking some outside help for their direct marketing campaigns.

According to an expert from advice website Marketing Donut, in some cases, designing direct marketing material in collaboration with a third-party provider may prove more valuable in the long run.