One of the most frequently quoted predictions from 2012 was Gartner’s belief that, by 2017, CMOs will spend more on technology than CIOs, and these findings appear to back that up.

What best describes your plans for digital marketing technology spending in 2013?

Looking at how the increase in spending will take shape, the most common area for investment will be business and web analytics (46%), CRM (45%) and content management systems (41%).

The prominence of analytics and CRM systems suggests that collating and managing data is still one of the key challenges for businesses.

Other popular areas for investment include social media management systems (38%), email platforms (38%) and paid search/bid management (35%).

In the year-on-year comparison, there has been a significant decline in the proportion of organisations who plan to increase investment in online reputation monitoring, from 27% in 2012 to 20% this year.

On which types of digital marketing technology will you be increasing investment in 2013?

In line with the increased investment in digital technologies, businesses are also planning to recruit more digital marketers in 2013.

Exactly half (50%) of client-side respondents said they plan to add more people to their digital marketing teams this year, down from 56% in 2012.

Interestingly, agencies paint a very different picture, with 73% of respondents stating that their clients are planning to recruit more people into their digital teams, up from 67% last year.