Fewer business-to-business marketers plan to increase their budgets next year and their will be less change overall in budgets, according to a new survey from Goldstein Group Communications and Hearst Business Media. In the survey of 86 business-to-business management and marketing executives, 44% said their marketing budgets would remain the same in 2011, which is 11 points higher than a year ago. Twenty seven percent of respondents said marketing budgets would increase next year and 6% expect them to decrease. This compares with last year’s survey, when 35% of respondents said budgets would increase in the coming year and 9% said they would decrease. In addition, companies said the amount of budget they allocate for print advertising and trade shows would remain steady in 2011 compared with 2010. However, printed collateral and direct mail continued to erode in priority on the traditional side, with print collateral/catalogs expected to account for 8% of BTB marketing budgets next year and direct mail 2%. Overall, respondents indicated 51% of their budgets would be allocated to traditional strategies in 2011 compared with 60% in 2010. To see how BTB marketing budgets in 2011 further break down, click here to see the full report. The report also asked BTB marketers about the methods they are using to measure the impact of marketing programs. While “sales increases” continues to occupy the top of the list for most companies, the next highest priority changed from the last survey and is now lead quality instead of lead volume. In other words, companies are focusing their efforts on not simply flooding the pipeline with any old leads but finding true opportunities. For more on direct mail’s role in the lead generation mix, read this interview with Carolyn Goodman, president and creative director at Goodman Marketing Partners.