(DURHAM) -- A Duke University survey of chief marketing officers finds that marketing executives are increasingly relying on social media in their strategies. Professor Christine Moorman of the Duke Fuqua School of Business said spending on social media advertising will go up over the next year, even if the economy doesn't improve.

"2011 CMO survey shows that companies are spending about 7.1 percent of their overall marketing budgets on social media and that this is expected to increase to over 10 percent in the next 12 months and surprisingly to 17.5 percent in the next five years," said Moorman. She added that this certainly dispels the notion that social marketing is a fad.
 
The survey also found that executives are planning to increase spending on all forms of marketing, even though the economy is still struggling.