Chicago—Despite the rapid, decade-long growth of Google and other digital forms of advertising, traditional channels still commanded 66% of b2b marketing budgets this year, according to the “2011 B2B Marketing Outlook” study, which was conducted by Google in September and October. In fact, traditional media accounted for the top three budget items for the average b2b marketer: trade shows and events (28%), magazines/trade publications (13%) and direct mail (9%).

Nonetheless, more than 80% of marketers are using digital marketing methods in one form or another. “Digital is becoming kind of traditional,” said Sam Sebastian, Google’s director-local and b2b markets.

Email marketing was the top digital expenditure, garnering 8% of a typical b2b marketing budget. Google’s bread and butter, search engine marketing, accounted for 5%, as did search engine optimization.

A majority of b2b marketers said that combining digital with traditional and using multiple media in a campaign improves effectiveness. Six in 10 marketers said offline efforts affect online activity. “When efforts across the marketing continuum are well coordinated … we see all boats rise,” an unidentified General Electric Co. marketing executive said in the survey.

The report also found that more than three-quarters (77%) of b2b marketers expect their budgets to increase or stay the same next year.

The research was conducted by Ipsos OTX, which surveyed 636 b2b marketing executives online. An additional five marketing executives participated in 20-minute phone interviews.