It is that time of year when marketing budget planning for 2027 gets going and next year’s budgets start getting argued over. Before you settle yours, it helps to know what everyone else is doing. For once, the news is mostly good: more UK companies are raising their marketing budgets than cutting them, and it is the third quarter running.
That is useful, but it isn’t a reason to spend more by default. Here is what the figures say, what I wouldn’t read into them, and how I would plan 2027.
What the latest IPA figures show
The IPA Bellwether Report is a quarterly survey of around 300 UK marketing professionals, researched by S&P Global. In the third quarter of 2026, 25.6% of the panel raised their marketing budgets and 11.3% cut them (InPublishing). The difference, known as the net balance, was +14.3%, up from +6.9% in the previous quarter. The IPA says it is the strongest upward revision to total budgets in nine quarters, since the second quarter of 2024.
It is also the third increase in a row. Every category the survey tracks was revised up. PR and events led the way, spending on main media (online, video, audio and outdoor advertising) reached a nine-quarter high, and sales promotion rose sharply. Direct marketing rose too.
One thing to be clear about. The net balance tells you how many companies are raising budgets, not by how much.
What I wouldn’t read into it
It is a panel of around 300 marketers, so it is a mood rather than a census. And the forecasters aren’t promising it lasts. S&P Global Market Intelligence expects UK advertising spend to grow 2.8% in 2026, but has cut its forecast for 2027 to 1.3%, down from 2.3%.
The IPA’s director general, Paul Bainsfair, sounded a warning too. He welcomed the rise in investment but cautioned against becoming “hooked on short-term activation”, and said successful businesses balance capturing demand with creating it.
My own read, and it is only that, is that if more companies are spending, there is more competition for the same attention. A bigger budget doesn’t buy more results on its own. A better plan does.
How I would approach marketing budget planning for 2027
None of this needs a spreadsheet the size of a house. These six steps would get most businesses to a sensible budget.
1. Start with what 2026 actually produced
Look at where your enquiries and sales came from, not where the activity went. If you can’t tell, that is the first job for 2027: proper tracking of calls, forms and bookings, so you know what a customer costs rather than what a click costs.
2. Split the budget by job, not by channel
Some marketing captures demand from people who are already looking, like Google Ads, search optimisation and your Google profile. Some creates demand among people who haven’t heard of you yet, like content, PR, events, email and brand. The IPA’s warning is about doing only the first. Decide roughly how much of your budget does each job, and write it down. Paid search is also changing, with ads heading into Google’s AI answers, which we cover in our post on Google AI Mode ads.
3. Protect the basics first
Your website, your Google profile, your email list and a way of collecting reviews. None of it is glamorous and all of it makes the rest work harder. If one of them is in a state, fix it before you pay for more traffic. Our web support team and email marketing team can help.
4. Put the dated things in the diary
Exhibitions, annual reports, print runs and big launches all have lead times measured in weeks. Our guides to annual report design costs and to what makes people stop at an exhibition stand are a good place to start if either is on your list.
5. Keep a slice back
Set aside part of the budget that you don’t allocate on 1 January. Something will turn up: a platform change, a rival’s move, a chance too good to miss. A plan with no room in it breaks the first time anything happens.
6. Decide how you will judge it
Pick two or three numbers, such as enquiries, cost per enquiry and sales from marketing, and put a date in March in the diary to look at them. Our reporting and analysis service can set that up. If a channel isn’t earning its place by then, you will have the evidence to move the money.
What if budgets are tight?
Then the basics matter more, not less. Spend on what you can measure, protect your own email list, and do fewer things properly rather than many things badly. Our post on looking like a premium brand without a premium budget has ideas, and our marketing packages show what a monthly plan covers.
Marketing budget questions, answered
Are UK marketing budgets going up?
According to the IPA Bellwether Report for the third quarter of 2026, yes. 25.6% of companies raised their marketing budgets and 11.3% cut them, a net balance of +14.3%. The IPA says it is the strongest upward revision in nine quarters.
What is the IPA Bellwether Report?
It is a quarterly survey of around 300 UK marketing professionals, researched by S&P Global for the IPA. It tracks whether companies are raising or cutting marketing budgets, not by how much.
How much should a small business spend on marketing?
There is no single right number, and the Bellwether does not suggest one. Start with the job you want marketing to do and what a customer is worth to you, then work back to a budget you can measure.
The takeaway
More companies are spending. That is a reason to plan carefully, not a reason to spend by default. The businesses that get the most from 2027 will know what their marketing is for, measure it, and keep a balance between reaching people who are ready to buy now and making sure everyone else remembers them later.
If you would like a second pair of eyes on your plan, our marketing planning page explains how we work, and our free digital presence audit scores your website and wider marketing out of 100 and gives you practical recommendations you can use straight away.
Sources
- IPA, Q3 2026 Bellwether Report.
- InPublishing, Q3 2026 IPA Bellwether Report released, 21 October 2026.
- The Drum, IPA Bellwether Q3 2026: third straight quarter of budget growth, 15 October 2026.
Staunton Rook is a full-service marketing agency based in Chester, working with clients across the UK.