More than half of UK businesses plan to increase spending on internet marketing as the economic climate worsens, new research has found.

The survey carried out by research company Shape the Future also revealed that nearly a fifth of those polled said they would invest in website optimisation to improve their business potential.

Managing director of Shape the Future and author of the report Peter Martin said: "There is a clear message here that companies have really got to grips with the influencing power of the internet."

He added: "Firms with a finger on the pulse of social media campaigns may well be the likely winners."

The report revealed that business service companies are more likely to boost marketing investment.

Around 20 per cent of businesses in the south-east said they would either maintain or boost their spending, while only nine per cent of those polled across the entire UK said they would decrease marketing budgets.

Meanwhile, an industry expert has claimed that e-marketing is much more eco-friendly than traditional PR methods because it prevents waste and is more measurable.

Chris Lake, editor in chief of E-consultancy, added that posting leaflets and brochures gets a smaller response than internet marketing campaigns.

Living Steams comment:  Companies that purely reduce spending on advertising and spending as a reaction to the credit crunch will suffer for years to come - if they survive.  There is great potential for most SME to reduce overall spending by switching from offline to online methods and still take a larger share of the reduce market.