3 marketing ‘tweaks’ to get the most out of a tight budget

Targeted ethnography, performance penalties and the power of IMC –  key lessons for marketers facing a budget cut

Marketing budgets are tight this year. Gartner’s 2025 CMO Spend Survey  saw global marketing budgets remain flat – and low –  at 7.7% of total revenue. While the latest quarterly IPA Bellwether Report saw UK marketing budgets decline in Q1 for the first time in four years, which is being reflected in cuts to market research spending and brand building communications.

Some good news for the UK at least is that the IPA predicts better times ahead. Just over 36% of respondents said they expect an increase in their total marketing budget for 2025/26. But either way, many marketers are being expected to hold down the fort with less right now.

There is a proper way to do marketing. The framework taught by Mark Ritson on MiniMBA in Marketing is best practice. Applied correctly and consistently, it will generate business results. But sometimes, when budgets are stretched, there’s the reality of what you can do within your marketing plan too.

In times of tighter measures, there are a few adaptions you can make in the process that will still yield results. We’ve outlined a few simple tweaks to help cash-strapped marketers get the most out of their budget.

1.  STP: an alternative model

Let’s start with the biggest twist in the tale. If your budget is truly depleted, Mark is giving you a permission slip to skip quantitative research…

We always start with market orientation. That’s a non-negotiable. The next step is usually market research, followed by segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP).

However, if you don’t have any budget to commission a proper quantitative study, Mark suggests an alternative model: reverse the marketing process. Let segmentation feed your market research, rather than the other way around. You can do this using only secondary data and a technique Mark calls “targeted ethnography.”

He explains: “Rather than going into heavy research mode and using the quant data to build your segments, go into segmentation using only secondary, descriptive data to slice the market into its main constituent parts.

“At that point, you can do targeting – in the sense that you can identify the size of the different prizes and the potential attractiveness of the segments, at least on face validity.”

Now, Mark says, is the time to do qualitative research or “targeted ethnography” to help you define your market positioning.

“Go and find 8-10 of your target customers and spend some time with them. You can answer the questions of positioning (as well as objectives and tactics) as you spend time with those customers.”

Of course, this isn’t advice to be taken if you would just rather spend less – there’s no substitute for combined quant and qual. The framework delivered by MiniMBA is as effective as it gets. If you can do some level of quant research, you absolutely should.

 

2.   Avoid the “Performance Penalty”

The knee-jerk reaction to tightening budgets is to throw long-term brand building out the window and put all your eggs in the performance basket. This is what we’re witnessing right now in the Q1 Bellwether Report.

IPA Director General Paul Bainsfair says: “We’re seeing a familiar pattern emerge in these challenging times: increased investment in short-term sales promotions and cuts to main media budgets. While these adjustments may offer immediate relief, they are not a sustainable path to long-term brand growth.”

By now, most marketers understand the magnitude of Les Binet and Peter Field’s The Long and The Short of It. Their time-proven Long/Short campaign model is the best way to secure long-term growth for any business of any size. Sometimes known as the 60/40 rule (60:40 being the average sweet spot for FMCG), brands who split their promotional spend between brand building advertising – The Long – and sales activation – The Short – will see more growth and profit over time.

And yet there’s still a lurking temptation to treat this model as a fair-weather concept – something to be followed only when budgets are in good shape.

New research has come along to show us just what a bad idea that is. Combining data from Analytic Partners, BERA.ai, Prophet, System1 and WARC, The Multiplier Effect backs up the work of Field and Binet, showing that brands who move from a performance strategy to a mixed approach enjoy a median revenue ROI increase of 90%. But it also shows us the other side, aka the “Performance Penalty.” Brands who move from a balanced strategy to a performance approach suffer a 40% ROI decrease.

So, by turning off your long-term efforts, you’re not just stunting growth, you’re hurting profit.

All that being said, the reality of what you should spend and what you can spend – even under normal budget conditions – are often two different things. Maybe key stakeholders are still coming round to the idea of brand building, or you need some immediate returns to keep the organisation’s head above water. In such circumstances, it’s okay to relax the rules a little bit. Just don’t throw them out altogether.

it’s okay to relax the rules a little bit. Just don’t throw them out altogether

Short is important. Hitting your targets is important. “There is no long without short,” says Mark. He recommends using Tracksuit’s free budget calculator to find your optimum Long/Short split – and then getting as close to that number as your budget realistically allows.

“Any investment in the long pot is a good start,” Mark says. But whatever you can ringfence for long-term brand building, it’s crucial that you stick with it and let the investment play out.

“The question is how much money can you, with a good degree of certainty, carve out and invest in long-term brand building and protect it for three years, so it doesn’t get sucked back into performance marketing?

“Whatever it is – it might not be 60 percent, it might be 30 percent – that’s what you need to focus upon,” says Mark. Something is still better than nothing, so long as you can hold the line.

3.  IMC: the maths still applies [a x b > 2a or 2b]

When it comes to marketing communications, the system is rigged towards bigger brands. Outside of the odd media obsession, more money spent on media reach will almost always trump a great ad with limited budget behind it. But you can still play your best hand using the power of integrated marketing communications (IMC).

When budgets get slashed, it might seem like a good idea to throw all your weight behind whatever platform appears to garner the best results. But research tells us that’s not the best way to go.

Spreading your spend across multiple channels will significantly boost the effectiveness of a campaign. This Analytic Partners study found that an integrated campaign across five different media platforms results in +35% ROI.

 

Mark Ritson summarises this phenomenon with a simple equation: a x b > 2a or 2b. (Module 10: Marketing Communications, MiniMBA in Marketing)

Perhaps TV becomes Digital Video and Out of Home (OOH) becomes Digital Out of Home (DOOH), but the principal laws are the same. Whatever size your budget or the tools in your belt, a x b is still greater than 2a or 2b.

“The principals of inter-channel synergy apply to any channel and any client,” says Mark. “Play to your strengths. You still are looking for multiple channels – you’re just looking for multiple channels that have a lower apex of access.”

The quotes from Mark Ritson in this article are taken from his Festival of Marketing 2021 talk Small Marketing and bi-weekly Q&A sessions with learners enrolled on MiniMBA in Marketing. Find out more or sign up for the next course here.