A recent survey conducted by Vizu found advertising executives and marketers plan to use nearly 60 percent of their online budgets on brand advertising in the new year, which means 2012 could be the first time brand advertising will surpass direct response advertising in a number of years.

The survey also showed 64 percent of marketers allocating more funds to their online brand advertising budgets in 2012, with 22 percent responding they will increase spending by more than 20 percent.

With many students across the nation pursuing a marketing degree, understanding these new advertising and marketing trends will be vital to success in the business sector.

"I believe that when brand advertisers understand that their online ads can now be measured and optimized using classic offline brand metrics such as awareness and purchase intent, we will see a further growth in their online ad budgets," said Dan Beltramo, CEO of Vizu.

While brand marketing is expected to grow in 2012, there are other online marketing trends that will grow in new year, as well, according to Business 2 Community.

The website said social, local and mobile marketing tactics will continue to expand, with many businesses making tremendous strides in mobile advertising.