The survey predicts that online marketing investment will increase for the sixth consecutive year as organisations begin to look to social networks as well as email, SEO and pay-per-click advertising.
However Alterian points out that despite this increase only 48% of organisations use analytics to measure the success of this activity. A quarter of those surveyed cited analysing results as the hardest part of any campaign.
David Eldridge, Alterian CEO, said: "With the current economic climate, it is refreshing to see results that show businesses investing in areas that can directly drive sales -- essential in this market.
"What is less encouraging is the low number of marketers who use analytics to evaluate and refine their campaigns."
Alterian said that it polled more than 1,500 marketers, agencies, marketing services providers and systems integrators to provide a comprehensive analysis of spending and investment priorities for the industry over the coming year.
The survey claims that despite the widespread coverage of the death of offline media and marketing, only a fifth of those surveyed are predicting a reduction in offline marketing investment, with 38% predicting it will actually increase.
Online direct marketing is also set to see a healthy growth this year with nearly 62% of organisations citing planned increases in budgets.
Marketers are still using multiple applications to do their job with around a quarter of respondents using more than seven applications on campaigns.
Alterian said that with 51% using between three and six applications it means that a vast majority of marketers are attempting to analyse data from disparate systems with little or no integration.
Eldridge said that the challenge for marketers is to measure the value and draw results across these various systems in order to provide a true picture of ROI back to the business.
The survey also found that one in five respondents considered their website to be basic and not core to their marketing activity.
Alterian said that with increased investment predicted in online marketing channels, companies need to better understand the importance of the website in effectively underpinning its online presence.
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