This year could be the year marketers decide to put more budget spend towards traditional media, says a report from agency-client relationship experts RSW/US. The thing is, agencies don’t see any significant spending growth in traditional media.

The report, 2016 New Year Outlook Survey, asked 165 senior level marketers and 115 marketing agency execs about expectations and issues during December last year. The report included a number of questions from US trade media publication, AdWeek. You can download it here, registration is required.

From the report, 34 per cent of marketers think spending in traditional media would be higher, but only 18.9 per cent of agencies believe that.

The gap between agencies’ and traditional media spending is not the only disagreement area, as agencies see more spending being allocated to digital, mobile and social media than marketers this year.

From the report, the numbers show 91 per cent of agencies think digital spending will be higher, alongside 79.6 per cent of marketers.

Some 67.6 per cent of agencies think it will be higher spending on mobile, compared to 53.7 per cent of marketers.

And in social, 71.2 per cent of agencies reckon more money will be splurged in this space, but only 61.2 per cent of marketers agree.

The difference between agencies and marketers falls hand in hand with another aspect of the report, the issues both agencies and marketers see with each other, called ‘troubling trends’.

One of the ‘troubling trends’ for marketers was that agencies were downplaying the importance of traditional media.

“The disparity in anticipated spending changes across new and traditional media is illustrative of marketers’ positions on this,” the report says.

“It may be a matter of who’s right or who’s wrong. And it may not be. Agencies may indeed be leading marketers in the right direction, but if so, marketers aren’t understanding why. Or, it could be that agencies are being too quick to leap on new media channels without adequately quantifying beneficial effects.”

Nevertheless, the intention of marketers to invest in advertising and marketing this year is at 62 per cent, up from 51 per cent in 2015.

Breaking down the numbers 53.5 per cent of marketers reckon their marketing spending will ‘increase somewhat’ this year, with 8.2 per cent seeing it ‘increase significantly’ and 25.8 per cent believing there won’t be a change.

From an agency perspective, the expectations for their clients on increase in marketing spending for this year is slightly lower.

Some 46.9 per cent reckon it will ‘increase somewhat’, slightly lower than marketers’ expectations. Only 1.8 per cent reckon it will ‘increase significantly’ – rather different to the marketers’ 8.2 per cent – and 35.4 per cent of agencies believe their client’s marketing spending will exhibit no change.

However, the report says the numbers are encouraging for both marketers and agencies.

“Particularly given the volatility of the global market, keep on eye on how your clients proceed with plans through the first half of the year,” suggests the report to agencies.

“If you see them begin to hold back, watch your own spending on ‘extras’ such as equipment or renovations. Maintain your commitment to invest in your own marketing and sales efforts. These support the health of your firm through both lean times and good years.”