At a time when many suppliers find retailers asking them for more marketing support, a new study demonstrates that data spending in support of marketing will increase significantly in 2012. The spending will entail hiring of employees and construction of systems intended to keep pace with the opportunities and demands of digital and social media marketing.

A report from Infogroup Targeting Solutions and Yesmail Interactive concluded that almost 70% of companies plan to spend more on data-related marketing initiatives in 2013, with an emphasis on hiring. More than half of the respondents cited said they plan on adding new employees to oversee data-related efforts this year, including analysts and executives.

In surveying more than 700 marketers who attended the DMA2012 Annual Conference and Forrester Research eBusiness Forum, the companies determined that the big data trend will significantly impact corporate budgets in 2013 as marketers place a growing emphasis on analytics, real-time data and integrated multichannel marketing.

The survey indicated that most marketers have successfully implemented data-collection tools, yet they will focus this year on putting technology and people in place to use their customer information in a more sophisticated and targeted way. For example, 45% of marketers identified analyzing or applying customer information as the biggest data-related challenge they will face this year. Only 11% said data collection would be their most difficult task.

More companies understand the importance of timely customer data use to drive more personalized marketing campaigns, the study suggested. More than half of the survey respondents said they have had begun implementing real-time data and plan to make greater use of it in 2013, the report stated. Another 30% said they would use it for the first time or consider using it. This year, almost 80% of study respondents said they would make greater use of customers’ social media data to drive marketing.