59 percent of marketers are more optimistic about the U.S. economy than they were just one quarter ago.

Perhaps that’s not too surprising to you – after all, “green shoots” have been popping up all over – but it’s research-based, and from an unimpeachable source:  Duke’s Fuqua School of Business …probably one that not many of our readers monitor.

Conducted by Professor Christine Moorman, this late-July survey of 511 top marketing executives revealed several additional interesting conclusions…

• 47 percent feel more optimistic about prospects for revenue from end customers
• 48 percent expect an increase in purchase volume, 44 percent look forward to customers buying more related products and services, and 35 percent predict an increase in new customers
• 34 percent rank price as their customers’ top priority, indicating that the recessionary belt-tightening is not over just yet

In keeping with most other reports, these marketers plan a decrease of 8% for their traditional advertising, and an increase of 10% in their Internet marketing budgets.  Perhaps most stunning of all:  these CMOs plan to increase spending on social media by more than 300 percent, increasing their budget allocations for social media from 3.5% to 13.7% over the next five years.  (So apparently it’s not just a fad after all!)

Once again, a bit of research from MarketingSherpa that puts the stamp of validity on what we’ve kinda suspected:  in this case, that the poor economy has forced a shift away from face-to-face events and trade shows, and toward their virtual or online counterparts.  And this was a survey of buyers and influencers about the means they used for gathering information in making large (greater than $25,000) purchase decisions during 2009’s first half …not one of marketers’ preferences.

Also down:  print advertising …no surprise there.  Among those up dramatically:  search engine use;  business news/info websites, vendor websites, research/analysts, and – somewhat more surprisingly – social media (mainly due to the perceived objectivity of their content).

The message is pretty clear:  B2Bs who match their mix of methods to these buyer preferences should do better than those who chug along following last year’s model.

“We are cutting anything that is not measurable and doesn’t demonstrate immediate return.”
– Phil Clement, Global CMO,  Aon Corp. (insurance brokerage)

“We have had some significant cuts, but instead of cutting across the board, we are focusing on our customers and are optimizing dollars toward what is most effective.”
– Linda McGovern, Director of Marketing, USG Corp. (building products)

These remarks, from an opening-day panel discussion at this week’s ANA/BtoB conference “B-to-B Marketing in the New World” in Chicago, probably go a long way to explain the dramatic and continuing shift from traditional to online marketing vehicles throughout the current downturn.

“Creative will probably be one of the last frontiers.  B-to-b marketers need to engage people in different ways than catalogs or pricing discussions.”
– Phil Clement, Aon (again)

OK, that hurts a little, but:

“What counts is if your online creative is pulling and meeting metrics goals.  If you’re not testing and optimizing, creative quality is the least of your problems.”
– Gary Slack, Chairman & Chief Experience Officer, Slack Barshinger (agency)

Yes, yes! …couldn’t agree more.
(Our thanks to Kate Maddox for writing up a summary of this session that was nearly as good as being there.)