B-to-b marketing budgets appear to be in good shape this year, with more than half of marketers expecting the purse strings to loosen up. While interactive tactics will gain from that increase and see the most growth, traditional media will still command the bulk of the budget. Read the complete article on BtoBOnline.

Those are the conclusions reached in Forrester Research's "B2B Marketers' 2008 Budget Trends" report. The research company, in partnership with MarketingProfs, surveyed 369 b-to-b marketing professionals online in September and October. It released its report last month.

Fifty-three percent of marketers surveyed anticipate increasing their overall marketing budget this year, and, of those, the average increase in spending expected is 28%.

Six percent of marketers expect to decrease their budget, and the remaining 41% expect the budget to remain the same.

Traditional media will still get the largest share of marketing spending this year. Among the top-ranking categories, trade shows will garner 13% of the budget, followed by e-mail (9%); print, public relations and direct mail (8% each); search, executive seminars/events and inside sales/telemarketing (7% each); and sponsorships (5%). Read the complete article on BtoBOnline.