Is a focus on effectiveness delivering bigger marketing budgets?
Almost a third of marketers say their budget rose by 0% to 10% over the past two years after ramping up their focus on effectiveness.
Marketing budgets are a source of friction within many businesses. While global economic volatility and the cost of living are major factors determining how spend is allocated, are marketers getting credit for their effectiveness efforts?
Some 29.2% of the more than 1,000 brand marketers responding to Marketing Week’s 2025 Language of Effectiveness survey, in partnership with Kantar and Google, say their budget has increased by 0% – 10% over the past two years following a focus on effectiveness.
Taking a greater interest in effectiveness measurement has delivered a 10% – 25% budget uptick for less than a fifth (16.2%) of marketers. A tenth (10.6%) have seen budgets decrease, for example due to better efficiency, while just 3.6% of the sample have experienced a 25% – 40% budget uptick thanks to doubling down on effectiveness.
Only 1.9% claim their effectiveness efforts over the past two years have contributed to a more than 40% increase in marketing budget.
In fact, 17.3% of the total sample say they haven’t been focusing on effectiveness measurement at all.
A quarter (24.2%) of B2B marketers claim taking a greater interest in effectiveness over the past two years has led to a 0% – 10% increase in their budgets, although a similar proportion (25.3%) admit there hasn’t been a focus on effectiveness within their business.
Just two-fifths of marketers ‘can quantify’ link between brand and price elasticity
A third (33%) of B2C marketers have experienced a 0% – 10% uplift in budget since 2023 thanks to their focus on effectiveness, while half that number (16.5%) have seen investment rise 10% – 25% over the same period.
More than a quarter (26.6%) of marketers working within SMEs (250 employees and under) and 30.7% of their peers within large firms credit a focus on effectiveness for driving a 0% – 10% uplift in marketing budget.
Returning to the total sample, when asked how they expect their company to optimise spend over the next 12 months, two-fifths (41.1%) predict budgets will remain about the same, while a third (33%) are expecting to see less volume of activity at a higher rate of efficiency. Half that number (14.5%) predict the focus will be on lower volumes at a lower efficiency.
Two-fifths (41.2%) of B2C marketers expect budgets to remain the same over the next year, while a third (33%) are predicting a lower volume of activity, but at a higher level of efficiency.
Some 36.7% of their B2B peers are expecting to be working at lower volumes, while just under a third (31.1%) believe spend will stay at similar levels in 2026.
Over a third (35.4%) of SME marketers expect the focus to be on higher levels of efficiency, while 33.1% expect budgets to track a similar path to this year. Within larger firms, closer to half (45.2%) expect their business will maintain the status quo with regards to marketing budgets, while 32% are predicting a focus on lower volumes of activity, but a higher level of efficiency.
Decision time
When asked how their company’s marketing budget is decided, a third (33.2%) of the total sample say their business takes a ‘semi-flexible’ approach, whereby the budget is reviewed and adjusted regularly – say monthly or quarterly.
For 27.7% of marketers, their budgets are set and remain fixed for a specific period, while for under a fifth (19.8%) their budget is determined by factors beyond marketing, such as company performance and the wider strategy.
For just over a tenth (11.5%) the marketing budget is entirely flexible and adjusts according to customer demand or marketing’s performance against targets, such as cost of acquisition or return on ad spend.
B2B marketing budgets are more likely (36.7%) to be fixed in place for a set period, with a quarter (24.4%) working in a firm where investment is reviewed and adjusted on a regular basis. Under a fifth (18.9%) work for a business where factors beyond marketing performance have a bearing on budget, while for a tenth (10%) budgets are set based on customer demand or marketing performance.
The data shows B2C brands trend more towards (36.1%) semi-flexible budgets reviewed monthly or quarterly than fixed investment (22.7%). A fifth (21.6%) of consumer facing marketers have budgets based on company performance or the wider strategy, while 10.3% have totally flexible budgets that shift with consumer demand or performance against targets.
Some 35.1% of marketers in large corporates have semi-flexible budgets that are reviewed regularly, compared to 30.7% of their peers in smaller businesses. Over a quarter of SME marketers (26.8%) and their counterparts in large firms (28.5%) have budgets that are fixed for a specific period.
However, the data suggests (15%) smaller firms are more likely to set budgets based on consumer demand and marketing performance than large corporates (8.8%).
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