According to an October 2001 Canadian Marketing Association (CMA)
report, conducted by IBM Canada, 86% of large companies in Canada have expanded their presence online in the past year. The CMA also found that 80% of medium-sized companies
have expanded online and 65% of small companies have done the same. What
kind of online marketing initiatives have companies used? Banners and
interstitials and e-mail marketing are the most common e-marketing applications
for all businesses.

The CMA surveyed 452 member and non-member small, medium and large companies.
It found that the greatest impediments companies faced in developing customer
relationship management (CRM) solutions were internal company views (45%)
and lack of funding (42%).

The survey also determined that 25% of companies do not track their performance
online, hence, there is significant opportunity for marketing online in
Canada.

To put the CMA percentages into perspective in terms of ad spending in
Canada, eMarketer’s Online Advertising Report presents data from
different research firms. Though Forrester believes total spending in
2001 will hit $101 million, eMarketer predicts it will be even larger
at $145.8 million.