Most UK SMEs lack formal marketing plans & lose core focus

A recent study has found that a majority of UK small and medium-sized enterprises lack formal marketing strategies and are losing grip on core marketing fundamentals.

The Marketing Centre, which provides fractional Chief Marketing Officers for SMEs, has published insights based on nearly 2,000 responses to its Marketing 360 (M360) Assessment, a diagnostic tool designed to measure marketing maturity across 13 areas.

Respondents to the assessment, who represent businesses across the UK, rated their organisation's marketing capability through a guided multiple-choice questionnaire. Results show that only 31.4% of participating businesses reported having a formal marketing action plan in place, and just 45.2% had a documented business plan. Fewer than 60% stated they had a clearly defined vision, indicating that many firms lack foundational strategic elements in their marketing operations.

Longitudinal trends reveal that these figures have fallen over time. While 41.1% of businesses had a formal marketing action plan in 2020, this had dropped to 25.3% by 2024. The proportion of businesses with a documented business plan also decreased from 48.8% to 41.5% over the same period.

Ian Webb, Chief Marketing Officer at The Marketing Centre, said the findings show that many businesses are not taking a structured approach to marketing.

"Far too many businesses are running on marketing autopilot. They have campaigns running and content going out, but no clear strategy, no measurable goals, and no understanding of what's actually working."

The M360 Assessment asked decision-makers to self-evaluate their organisations on statements such as, "we have a clear brand proposition that is lived by the whole organisation and well-articulated", "we know which audiences we are targeting with our marketing", "our specialist marketing services deliver good value for money", and "we measure our lead conversion rate at each stage of our pipeline." These responses were then scored to provide an average maturity rating for each industry sector.

On a more positive note, the highest scoring areas of marketing maturity were Engagement (70.4%), Brand (70.1%), and Compliance (70.3%). However, The Marketing Centre cautioned that because the assessment relies on self-reporting, there may be overconfidence among respondents. Many businesses may overestimate the strength of their brand or the level of engagement with their customers.

Regional and sectoral differences

The study identified disparities in marketing maturity by region, industry, and business size. Businesses in Southern England performed better than the national average for marketing maturity, while those in the East of England were found to be lagging. Among industry sectors, professional services - such as accounting, consulting, and healthcare - scored the highest. By contrast, manufacturing and construction businesses tended to underperform, which may indicate a struggle to modernise marketing practices in more traditional sectors.

Company size trends

An unexpected finding was the variation in marketing maturity by company size. Both the smallest businesses and larger enterprises achieved higher scores, while mid-sized firms tended to perform less well. This pattern suggests that small businesses can benefit from agility and focused effort, and large businesses have the resources and formal structures to support marketing, whereas mid-sized companies may be caught between relying on in-house, do-it-yourself marketing and professionalised approaches.

The Marketing Centre has encouraged SME leaders to use the M360 Assessment to identify gaps in their marketing strategy and operations. The assessment provides a personalised scorecard and actionable advice for improvement, enabling organisations to address the shortcomings revealed by the research.

Ian Webb said, "Marketing doesn't have to be a guessing game. With the right insights and leadership, any business can build a clear, effective marketing strategy that actually drives growth."