Next year the marketing industry expects to see an increase in digital marketing budgets while many believed the impending VAT rise would have little effect on consumer spending, a new piece of research has found.

Research by affiliate network LinkShare has found that two-thirds of respondents to its latest research believed that digital marketing budgets will rise next year, despite an impending VAT rise.

In addition, over half said that they expected the VAT increase to have little or no impact on consumer spending, with a tenth saying that they felt it would lead to a decrease in marketing spend as well.

Liane Dietrich, managing director of LinkShare, commented; “Overall, the results were encouraging for marketers, revealing confidence in the performance of the digital industry in a time of continued economic uncertainty”.

The research also found that 30 percent expected to see more of a focus on target campaigns in contract to mass marketing techniques, while a fifth of companies planned to streamline their processed to increase efficiency as a result of the VAT rise.

18 percent said that they expected to encourage a great emphasis on measurement and return-on-investment next year, while only 18 percent expected their budgets to be cut as a result of limited resources and seven percent predicated a lack of funds would cause their company’s creativity to be impacted.

 A rise in video advertising is also expected by 30 percent as the rise of digital format continues, while advertising on social networking was also expected to rise.

In the run up to the Christmas period, research found that marketers will use social media and vouchers to encourage consumer spend, with 43 percent of marketers choosing coail media orientated campaigns, followed by online vouchers and offers (37 percent) and averters in online video (17 percent), also proving popular routes.

“The research is good news for the industry as we head closer to the rise in VAT and it’s definitely a positive sign that marketers are recognising the need to spread their reach far and wide by preparing to invest more heavily in their digital strategies” continued Dietrich.

“A call for more targeted and measured campaigns is certainly in line with what we are seeing from our own customers who are looking to increase their efficiency and after the Christmas sales boom this will remain important. Affiliate marketing provides a good opportunity for those wishing to adopt this approach, as it is a targeted online marketing tool which can be closely monitored and tailored for the client to maximise ROI.”