Marketing on the internet appears to be the way forward for many of the biggest companies in the digital media sector, with many cutting back from "traditional" channels.

StrategyEye Digital Media surveyed over 200 important people in big digital media companies, from publishers to broadcasters.

The company found that there is broad confidence in the sector despite the poor economic climate, and many are taking advantage of the increasing migration of consumers to the online world.

Online marketing was found to be becoming more popular, with 67 per cent of respondents who use traditional channels saying they would cut back on their spending in the next year but over half of online advertisers expect to spend more in the same period.

And of the respondents who expressed a preference, 87 per cent said that online advertising gave better returns than traditional.

"This major survey of attitudes going forward in digital media shows that despite continuing economic drift following the credit crunch, there remains continuing investment and expectation of returns from digital marketing channels," said StrategyEye co-founder Jeremy Phillips.

But is this trend just because of the poor economic climate or will online channels continue to gain ground on their traditional cousins?

Online Marketing specialists Business Feet help create value from business websites