Marketers do not anticipate better budgets, suggests survey
A survey of over 1,000 marketers around the world, conducted between September and October 2025, found that 59% of participants expected business to be better next year than it was this year.
However, 19% of participants expected marketing budgets to be higher next year, suggesting that business optimism has not translated into budget optimism.
The research is published in Warc’s annual The Voice of the Marketer report, which also found that 59% of marketers were worried about AI disruption, which has increased from the 28% recorded in the 2023 survey.
Customer insight emerged as a key area in which marketers are using AI, according to the research, with 60% of participants reporting they are using it for this purpose. Almost three-quarters ( 74%) of respondents are using AI for competitor and category analysis, while the most popular task, cited by 76% of participants, is summarising large texts.
Over a third ( 35%) of participants claimed to be worried that AI will replace several human functions in marketing over the next three years.
Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, chief marketing and digital officer of South Asia Pacific, Middle East & North Africa zone for L’Oréal Groupe, said: “The new rule of engagement is strategic orchestration: knowing when to deploy AI, how to combine it with human insight, and maintaining control over your data and brand integrity while scaling at unprecedented levels.”
The research also found that 61% of participants were concerned by the impact of economic conditions on their marketing strategies for 2026.
Four in ten marketers who participated in the survey reported that they are using scenario planning, which helps to model multiple economic scenarios in advance.
Stephanie Siew, senior research executive, WARC, said: “Despite the decline in marketer optimism, it’s worth pointing out that the majority of both brand and agency marketers ( 54%) still expect next year to be better than this one. However budget expectations are a lot lower, which will heap more pressure on marketers in 2026.”
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