The research, carried out in September by AP Information Services, asked marketing directors and marketing managers about their allocation of marketing spend during the coming year, with over 5,000 marketers responding.
Direct mail scored high among marketers, with 69% choosing this route to market to prospects and potential customers.
However, the survey did highlight a lack of support for direct response television and SMS text messaging, with only 4% of marketing manages listing these two as chosen media. Telemarketing, cinema and television advertising also featured low on the list.
The recent increase in online advertising was also reflected in the research with 34% of companies allocating marketing spend to digital communications. Despite confusion over opt-in/opt-out legislation, one-fifth of responders planned to run email campaigns.
Philip Lowther, marketing manager at AP Information Services, said: "It is interesting to observe that as well as the growing emergence of online marketing, traditional below-the-line marketing routes such still hold favour among marketers. The effective value of direct mail has been acknowledged, with over two-thirds of respondents saying they will use this route."
The survey also highlighted the importance of corporate literature. As many as 80% of marketers allocated budget to this area with 78% listing ads in trade magazines as another effective tool in targeting audiences.
The data will feature in AP's Marketing Manager's Yearbook 2006, due to be published in March 2006.
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