A majority of marketers are optimistic about business prospects for 2025, with 65% expecting improved trading conditions, according to 'The Voice of the Marketer 2025', a global report rolled out by WARC.

However, expectations for increased marketing budgets are less positive, with just 34% of marketers forecasting growth in spending, down from 41% last year. 

As 44% anticipate maintaining current budget levels, agencies remain less optimistic, with only 28% predicting higher budgets than 46% of brand marketers.

The report, based on a survey of over 1,000 marketers worldwide, aimed to highlight key trends in budgets, media strategies, and measurement tools shaping the marketing landscape for the coming year.

Other key highlights:

• Around 35% of marketers expect increased investments in brand marketing, while 38% plan to enhance performance marketing efforts.
• Online advertising to account for 58.7% of total ad spend in 2025, compared to just 25.3% for traditional media.

• The adoption of marketing measurement techniques is on the rise, with 93% of marketers employing at least one method. The use of controlled experiments has doubled, increasing from 18% in 2023 to 36% in 2024. These experiments, considered the gold standard of marketing evaluation, provide valuable insights for optimising strategies.

• Brand metrics (57%) and ROI (54%) are viewed as the most impactful measures of effectiveness, while revenue and profit metrics are less prioritised.

• Marketers face increasing challenges, including media fragmentation, highlighted by 44% of respondents as a top concern for 2025. However, these challenges also present opportunities for innovative strategies to engage audiences in a highly fragmented landscape.

Isabel Cleaver, senior analyst, WARC, said, “The Voice of the Marketer report explores broader marketer thinking on budgets, media channels, measurement and investment plans. We hope readers find the insights outlined in this report useful as they begin to finalise their marketing plans for the year ahead.”

David Sandstrom, chief marketing officer, Klarna, added, “We do think traditional media, versus the very hardcore performance media, still can create trust and tell a story. One thing that brands are lacking today is not their ability to optimise their Facebook ads it is their ability to tell a story.”