Digital advertising and customer events are marketers' top areas for planned investment in 2017, according to recent research from Autopilot.

The report was based on data from a survey of 505 marketing decision-makers based in the United States.

Some 30% of marketers say they plan to invest in digital advertising in 2017, and 30% plan to invest in customer events.

Other top areas for planned investment include email marketing (26% of marketers plan to invest), social media (26%), content development (24%), and customer loyalty (24%).

Marketers say their biggest priorities for 2017 are to grow brand awareness (23% cite it as their top goal), to convert more leads to sales (20.4%), and to generate more leads (18.4%).

About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 505 marketing decision makers based in the United States.