Corporate marketing budgets are expected to increase an average of 8.7% this year, thanks in part to a strong U.S. economy, according to the semi-annual Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Survey released recently by Duke University, the American Marketing Association and McKinsey & Co. To contrast, in 2014, marketing budgets were only expected to go up an average of 6.7%.

CMOs were the most optimistic they’ve been about the economy in the six years the survey has been conducted, giving an average rating of 70 (on a scale of 0 to 100). Back in February 2009, when the CMO Survey was launched, confidence was only at 48.

“Customer acquisition, customer retention and customer purchase volume are all increasing, as well as the entry of new customers into the market,” said Christine Moorman, professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and director of the survey.

According to the survey, CMOs believe low prices won’t be as important to buyers as things like excellent service, superior product quality and trusting relationships. Business-to-consumer services companies will likely see the biggest marketing boost this year (13.4%), followed by B-to-B product companies (9.1%) and B-to-C product companies (5%). Spending on digital marketing will go up an average of 14.7% for 2015, as opposed to 8.2% last year.

One budget area expected to grow significantly is analytics, currently making up about 6.4% of marketing budgets, but projected to grow to 11.7% of the budget in the next three years. – TH