During the final quarter of 2019, marketing budgets took a promising upward turn, returning to overall growth. The change comes following the closure of the most recent bought of the UK’s political uncertainty.
Data drawn from the IPA’s Bellwether report shows a net balance of 4% of UK companies increased their marketing budgets for the fourth quarter of 2019. This marks the biggest expansion since the beginning of 2019.
It’s also a considerable improvement on the 0.5% decline recorded in the third quarter. According to the report, approximately 23% of companies saw budget growth, while 19% reported cuts, and 58% said there was no change in budgetary allocation.
In addition, a net balance of 15.7% of companies expect their budgets to be upwardly revised in 2020/21, which is a marked jump compared to 2019/20, with just 3.4% expecting the same.
While Brexit will no doubt bring its own list of issues, collectively, this marks the beginning of what could be an encouragingly strong year for marketing as an industry, and for those whose livelihoods depend upon it.
While the overall trend is positive here, what’s interesting is the differentiation of projected increases and declines based on varying media forms.
Internet, for example, is expected to be by far the biggest growth sector; with a net increase of 7.9%. However, market research is expected to be down 13.2% (rather worryingly), direct marketing down 7.7%, and PR will be down 7.1%.
In fact, pretty much all segments bar internet and main media expected downturns, yet the increase in spending in these areas is enough to outweigh the declines.
This differentiation by segment is a likely indicator of which channels have worked for marketers over the course of the past year, hence further investment.
At Formation, we specialise in using turnkey digital marketing solutions to deliver business growth. As these findings indicate, digital, the internet, in particular, is expected to be a growth segment, providing all the proof you could need of its efficacy.
To learn more about our expert marketing solutions, make sure to contact us today.