Redwood City, Calif.—Despite economic concerns, businesses will continue to invest in key marketing programs in the coming year, with a particular focus on programs that yield a high return on investment, such as e-mail and search marketing.According to the “2009 Marketing Outlook” survey released by e-mail marketing solutions company StrongMail Systems, 51% of the nearly 1,000 global business leaders polled plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2009 with an emphasis on high-ROI campaigns.

Of those, 73% will bolster e-mail marketing programs, while 44% will add dollars to their search marketing campaigns. ( SEO & PPC ) Spending cuts will come in advertising (indicated by 29% of respondents) and trade shows (19%).

The online survey polled 949 marketing, IT, e-commerce, sales and executive management representatives in a wide range of industries, 90% of which are U.S.-based. It was conducted this month. —C Hosford

SEO = SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

PPC = PAY PER CLICK AD’s (eg ) google adwords