The latest IPA Bellwether Report reveals that marketing budget revisions reached their strongest level since Q2 2024, with a net balance of +14.3% of businesses reporting increased budgets in Q3 2026.
Investment increased across all seven marketing categories, with particularly strong performances in PR, events, online advertising and video.
At first glance, this is encouraging news. But for university marketing teams, operating in a sector facing its own distinct financial and recruitment pressures, the findings perhaps raise a more interesting question.
Is the opportunity simply to invest more, or to think differently about how existing investment delivers value?
We’ve identified five themes that we believe are particularly relevant to higher education.
1. More investment doesn’t necessarily mean more effectiveness
The Bellwether suggests that businesses are becoming more willing to invest in marketing, with positive campaign performance cited as one of the factors encouraging increased expenditure.
It’s an encouraging sign of confidence in the value of marketing, but increased investment doesn’t automatically guarantee improved outcomes.
For universities, where recruitment ambitions are often balanced against significant financial pressures, there may be an opportunity to look beyond the scale of marketing activity and consider its contribution to wider institutional objectives.
After all, strong reach, engagement and enquiry volumes don’t always translate into applications, acceptances or enrolments.
Equally, some of the most valuable marketing activity may contribute to outcomes that are harder to measure immediately, such as growing awareness, building reputation or increasing consideration among future applicants.
The Hunterlodge view
Perhaps the most interesting opportunity isn’t necessarily to do more, but to understand more clearly what’s making a difference.
Looking at marketing performance across the entire student journey, rather than through individual campaign metrics, may reveal opportunities to make existing investment work harder and deliver greater long-term value.
2. Brand building and student recruitment are more closely connected than we sometimes think
One of the most interesting findings is the breadth of investment growth across both longer-term brand activity and shorter-term promotional channels.
PR budgets recorded a net balance of +15.3%, events reached +15.1%, while sales promotion increased sharply to +13.1%.
For universities, this raises an interesting question about the relationship between brand building and immediate recruitment activity.
Choosing a university is rarely an impulsive decision. It’s a significant emotional and financial commitment, often influenced by experiences, perceptions and conversations over an extended period.
A prospective student’s first interaction with a university might occur years before they apply. Their impressions may develop through social media, reputation, student stories, open days and countless other touchpoints.
By the time they make an application, their preferences may already be well established.
The Hunterlodge view
There may be considerable value in viewing brand building and recruitment as complementary elements of the same journey, rather than separate activities competing for resources.
A distinctive, trusted university brand can help create the conditions for more effective recruitment, while well-executed recruitment activity can reinforce the wider brand.
3. More channels don’t necessarily create a more connected experience
Online advertising was one of the strongest-performing areas in the report, with the ‘other online’ category recording a net balance of +17.2%. Video advertising also grew strongly at +9.8%.
For university marketers, this reflects an increasingly varied landscape of opportunities to connect with prospective students.
But the growing number of channels also brings greater complexity.
Students don’t necessarily distinguish between a university’s advertising, website, social content, prospectus or open-day experience. Each interaction contributes to their overall impression of the institution.
A compelling social campaign might generate interest, but that enthusiasm could diminish if the subsequent website experience feels disconnected. Similarly, an engaging open day might create strong intent, but without relevant follow-up, some of that momentum could be lost.
This raises the question of whether the greatest opportunity lies in expanding the number of channels used, or in creating a more connected experience across those already in place.
The Hunterlodge view
A joined-up approach, where audience insight, messaging, creative execution and media activity are connected by a clear understanding of the student journey, could offer greater value than optimising each element independently.
It is perhaps less about being everywhere and more about ensuring every interaction contributes meaningfully to the overall experience.
4. Research is making a comeback. And that could be particularly relevant to universities
One of the less-publicised findings is the return to growth in market research budgets.
The net balance reached +5.2%, representing the first positive reading in seven quarters and the strongest since Q4 2021.
In a marketing environment increasingly dominated by performance data, automation and AI, renewed interest in research is particularly interesting.
Universities already have access to considerable amounts of information about prospective students, from campaign engagement and website behaviour to enquiry patterns and application data.
But there remains a distinction between knowing what students do and understanding why they do it.
Why does one institution feel more appealing than another? What makes a prospective student confident enough to apply? Which concerns, perceptions or practical barriers might influence their eventual decision?
And how might those factors differ between undergraduate, postgraduate, international and mature students?
The Hunterlodge view
There is an interesting opportunity to bring together the strengths of audience research, first-party data and campaign performance.
While data can reveal patterns in behaviour, deeper insight into student motivations may help explain those patterns and inform more compelling communications.
In an increasingly competitive environment, understanding the reasons behind student choices could become a particularly valuable source of differentiation.
5. Confidence is improving, but uncertainty remains
Despite the encouraging budget figures, the latest Bellwether Report also highlights continued caution about the wider economic outlook.
Although business confidence improved during Q3, sentiment remained negative at both company and industry levels.
This presents an interesting contrast: organisations are showing greater willingness to invest in marketing while remaining cautious about the environment in which they operate.
For universities, this may feel familiar.
Recruitment ambitions, financial pressures, shifting student demand and institutional priorities all create a need to balance short-term requirements with longer-term objectives.
In this context, effectiveness is arguably as much about flexibility and informed decision-making as it is about the initial allocation of budgets.
There may also be value in considering how investment decisions made today influence recruitment opportunities several years into the future.
The Hunterlodge view
A degree of flexibility, supported by a clear understanding of performance, may offer universities greater confidence in their marketing investment.
The ability to respond to changing recruitment patterns while maintaining a consistent longer-term brand presence could prove increasingly valuable.
The bigger picture: connecting investment to impact
The report provides a welcome indication that UK businesses continue to recognise the value of marketing investment, even against a backdrop of economic uncertainty.
While the findings are not specific to higher education, they raise some interesting questions for universities.
How effectively are brand and recruitment activities connected? How well do we understand the motivations behind student decisions? And are we measuring the outcomes that genuinely matter to our institutions?
There may be no single answer, particularly given the different challenges and ambitions of individual universities.
But one theme seems to connect all five observations.
The greatest opportunities may come not from treating marketing activities as individual investments, but from understanding how they work together to influence student choice.
From initial audience insight and brand perception through to creative messaging, media engagement and eventual enrolment, each element has a part to play.
The Bellwether suggests that the wider marketing industry is beginning to invest with renewed confidence.
For universities, perhaps the more interesting opportunity is to consider how that confidence can be matched by an even greater understanding of what makes marketing truly effective.
Want to make your university marketing investment work harder? Get in touch with the Hunterlodge Education team to see how we can help. mailto:nick.friend@hunterlodge.co.uk