Over 40% of UK marketing budgets are spent on digital

Digital now receives the largest investment of the UK marketing & communications budget: at 40.7% it has increased 18.5 percentage points since 2015, according to research company SCOPEN. 

The remainder is divided between above-the-line actions (37.5% of marketing budgets) and below-the-line (21.8%). The findings are contained in the 4th edition of SCOPEN’s AGENCY SCOPE UK 2021/22, published today in partnership with WARC and with the participation of ISBA members. 

Key findings 

• Digital budgets in the UK are higher than most of the markets in which AGENCY SCOPE is conducted (40.7% vs. 35.7% average investment from the ten market-benchmark). 
• Around six in ten marketers in the UK like to work with different specialist agencies for particular disciplines, while four in ten prefer to work with an integrated agency to solve all their marketing and communication needs under one roof.
• Pitching (92.6%) and Workshops (67.6%) are the most frequently used method to select an agency.
• Two thirds of UK marketing professionals say their procurement department is involved in the negotiation process. The involvement of Procurement has increased worldwide in the last few years but is highest in China (77.1%).

• Metrics and proving results remain a key challenge for companies (cited by 29.1%).
• Companies think the biggest challenges for creative agencies in the coming years will centre around being more innovative and able to deliver bigger creative ideas (29.0%) and having an understanding of different communication platforms and channels (20.2%).