With rising costs and shifting consumer behaviour, UK businesses are having to make sharper, more deliberate decisions about where to allocate their budget and where to scale back.
There’s also the increasing pressure to prove ROI, which is changing how businesses approach their channel mix. Businesses are asking harder questions: which channels are working the hardest, which ones are worth maintaining, and which ones no longer justify the investment?
To find out, we asked UK businesses a simple question: for each marketing channel, do you plan to grow, maintain, or reduce your activity in the next 12 months? Here is what the data tells us.
The top channels UK businesses are investing in
Below are the channels that are seeing the strongest growth. These channels also complement each other really well, with organic social, content marketing and video marketing all helping to strengthen SEO.
Organic social media: 69% plan to grow
Organic social leads every channel in the research, with nearly seven in ten businesses planning to grow their activity.
Social channels are great for businesses looking to build community, drive brand awareness, and generate consistent reach without ongoing ad spend, provided you show up regularly and with content worth engaging with.
SEO: 67% plan to grow
SEO‘s growth intent is high, but its reduction rate is the real headline. Just 1% of businesses plan to do less SEO in the next 12 months, the lowest of any channel in the research. This really shows just how important SEO has become for UK businesses, especially after the AI search developments we’ve seen over the past couple of years.
Content marketing: 61% plan to grow
In an era where AI-generated content is everywhere, the bar for what genuinely useful content looks like has risen. Businesses that invest in expert-led non-commodity content now will be building an advantage that will be increasingly difficult for competitors to replicate.
Video marketing: 59% plan to grow
Video is a lot more accessible to businesses than it was a decade ago, and with agency support, even businesses without in-house creative resource can produce content that competes. There is more choice than ever when it comes to formats, platforms, and production styles.
Nearly six in ten businesses plan to grow their video activity, investing across everything from short-form social content to longer educational and explainer formats.
Engagement rates for video consistently outperform static content across almost every platform, so you can see why so many businesses are looking to invest more.
Other channels seeing healthy growth
These channels all saw steady growth intent, reflecting how central they have become to a well-rounded UK marketing strategy.
Website upgrades and maintenance: 52% plan to grow
It’s probably fair to say that all the other channels in this article ultimately point back to one place: your website. Whether someone finds you through search, social, paid ads, or a directory listing, your website is where they form their first real impression of your business.
Before scaling spend on any other channel, ask yourself whether your website is doing justice to the traffic you are already sending it.
Digital PR: 50% plan to grow
Half of UK businesses plan to grow their digital PR activity, which is likely due to AI search.
As AI-powered results draw more heavily on trusted, authoritative sources to generate answers, the businesses with strong digital PR foundations are going to have a better chance of earning visibility.
PPC: 41% plan to grow
It’s easy to see why businesses are choosing to grow this channel. PPC puts your business in front of people who are actively searching for what you offer, at the exact moment they are looking for it. You can set precise budgets, target specific audiences, and see exactly what is working in real time.
For businesses that want measurable results without waiting months to see them, it remains one of the most controllable channels available.
Paid social media: 41% plan to grow
Paid social is one of the most versatile channels in the mix. At the top of the funnel it gets your brand in front of pre-defined audiences before they have started searching. Further down, it is a powerful retargeting tool that keeps you visible to people who have already shown interest but not yet converted.
It’s not surprising that it places the same as PPC, as the two work best together across the full customer journey.
The channels businesses are maintaining
Not every channel needs to be in a growth phase to be doing its job. The three channels below have significant maintained investment behind them, which indicates that businesses are satisfied with the performance of these channels, and that they’re consistently delivering reliable results.
Print advertising: 40% are maintaining
Print reaches audiences that digital channels simply do not, particularly in certain sectors, regions, and demographics. For businesses with a clear picture of their customer and where they consume information, print continues to earn its place in the mix.
Print allows businesses to reach local audiences by appearing in trusted news brands, providing them with an extra layer of credibility.
Display advertising: 40% are maintaining
Display has evolved considerably, and the businesses using it effectively today are doing so with retargeting and audience segmentation front of mind rather than broad, untargeted reach. When a potential customer visits your website and leaves without converting, display advertising is one of the most powerful tools for staying visible throughout their decision-making journey.
Online directories and listings: 37% are maintaining
With local search becoming increasingly competitive and Google’s local results continuing to dominate the top of the page, visibility on quality directories and listings is quietly more valuable than many businesses realise. For any business with a physical presence or a locally focused customer base, consistent, accurate, and optimised listings are one of the most cost-effective ways to improve discoverability.
What does this mean for your strategy?
- Owned and earned channels are long-term strategic assets. Businesses growing SEO, content, and organic social are building compounding value that becomes harder for competitors to replicate. If these are not central to your strategy, now is the time to change that.
- Paid channels deliver results quickly. While owned and earned channels build value over time, paid search and social can drive measurable results almost immediately. The businesses seeing the strongest returns are using both together.
- A blended approach wins. The data shows businesses are not putting all their eggs in one basket. The most effective strategies combine fast-acting paid channels with longer-term owned and earned investment.
- Benchmark, then decide. The most useful thing this data can do is prompt you to hold your current channel mix up against it. Where are you aligned with the broader market? Where are you behind, and is that a problem or an opportunity?
Wrapping up
The businesses seeing the strongest results are not necessarily spending the most. They are spending smarter, on the right channels, in the right way. If you want to make sure your marketing budget is working as hard as it should be, our team can help. Get in touch with LOCALiQ today.
If you’re finding out more about how UK businesses are conducting their marketing strategies, download our free UK State of Digital Marketing Report.
