Making your budget work for you

As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver the Autumn Statement on 26 November, many marketers will be thinking about how to make their budgets stretch even further.

Marketers are being asked to do more with less. But good budget management isn't just about cutting costs, it's about being smart with your spending, knowing where your money makes the biggest impact and, above all, staying flexible.

"Strong financial management in marketing centres on turning data into action, channelling resources into approaches that drive growth, cutting those that don't and moving quickly when even the best of strategies fall short," says Julia Payne, founder of Fractional CMO Services.

We asked marketers and finance experts how to make every pound of the marketing budget work harder over the coming months.

Measure what matters

If there's one theme that keeps popping up amongst those we spoke to, it's that many teams are still measuring the wrong things.

"Metrics are the backbone of smart financial marketing management, but marketers often focus too narrowly on what they measure. When you track in silos, you end up with a fragmented view of performance, impeding successful decision-making and often, your ROI," says Payne.