UK firms planning on boosting marketing budgets

More than half of all UK firms are set to boost their marketing budgets in the coming year, despite economic turmoil on the continent.

New figures from MindMetre Research have shown that confidence in online advertising is returning.

The organisation found that 57.1 per cent of firms are planning on increasing marketing spend, while just 18.6 per cent intend to slash their budgets.

For larger firms, those with more than 1,000 employees, 46 per cent plan to boost expenditure. The figure is much lower for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking to Marketing magazine, Paul Lindsell, MindMetre's managing director, said: "These results augur well for 2012, which, if marketing budget trends are taken as a forward indicator of overall business sentiment, may herald the beginnings of a true upturn for Britain."

Earlier this month, eMarketer showed that online advertising was one of the fastest-growing sectors, with global display advertising expenditure expected to reach £16.12 billion by the end of the year.