Marketers Most Wanted April 2025
New Financial Year, new categories
As we gear up for a new financial year, our monthly Marketers Most Wanted report has also seen a bit of a refresh. We have updated some of the names of our categories to better showcase how big brands are shopping for Marketing services.
This month we have a number of new exciting categories making their way onto the top ten: whether this be an entirely new entry to the table, or as an appropriate re-working of a pre-existing category, such as 'Digital PR and Content Marketing,' which you can read more about later in the report.
StudioSpace is an agency/client matchmaking platform, monitoring real-time briefs we receive from chief marketing officers (CMOs) and brand owners. This information gives us a unique perspective on what's hot and what's not each month – data which is then distilled into our monthly Marketer's Most Wanted report.
These new categories signal an exciting shift into new technological marketing territory, as well as a growth in the number and variety of projects we're overseeing on the StudioSpace platform. In fact, we recently reached our 500th brief!
This month our top ten briefing categories are in an order that we haven't seen before, with each individual category - except one - having moved from last month's table. Without further ado, let's dive into this month's Marketers Most Wanted.
Software Development tops the table, usurping Integrated Digital Marketing
Software Development has reached the number one spot on our top ten for the first time in our reporting history this month, representing 9.9% of March's briefs. It appeared to have made itself comfortable in third place since October 2024.
This category has been a steady member of our top five for the last year, so it's exciting to see a leap to first in 2025. Projects in this category vary from new web and app development to optimisation and ongoing maintenance.
"It's exciting to see Software Development finally claim the crown," said our CEO Pete Sayburn. "It will be interesting to see whether this marks a more permanent change in brand investment, or whether the beginning of the new financial year has caused larger initial investment which will plateau."
Our agencies in this field are at the top of their game: you can view our Software Development agencies here.
After a similar first-time victory last month, our Integrated Digital Marketing category (renamed for clarity as this category covers marketing campaigns across multiple digital channels), has dropped into third place, though not too shy of Software Development and making up 8.5% of this month's total briefs.
"Campaigns range hugely in size and shape as well as audience, but our clients are consistently looking for external partners to bring their experience from specific target markets and industries, as well as seeking external creativity for their brands," said Pete.
Digital PR & Content Marketing marks its first entry on the table in second place
Digital PR & Content Marketing is a new category in our monthly report, and has taken the second spot, representing 9.2% of briefs. This category includes digital PR, and all aspects of digital content creation - from copywriting, editorial, graphic design and video editing.
"These are common areas of outsourcing for big brands, so it's not surprising to see this category sit so high up on the table. As we progress into an increasingly-digitised marketing landscape, it's hard to imagine popularity for these types of briefs decreasing any time soon," Pete told us.
Social Media and UX/UI Design hold onto their mid-table spots
Social Media, previously called Social Media & Content, has retained its fourth-place position this month, with a 0.2% increase in total share to currently make up 8.5%.
As we discussed in our last report, this category (in its former name) dominated the table in throughout the entirety of 2024, so it's certainly been interesting to see its position drop over the last few months.
In a similar position is UX & UI Design, which has climbed one place since last month, now sitting in fifth and making up 7.7% of briefs (a 0.1% increase). Having suffered a huge drop late last year, it's encouraging to see this category on an upward trend the past couple of months. We are seeing fresh projects being lined up with new financial year budgets. We'll definitely be watching this space to see if the upward trend continues.
Research & Insight and New Product & Proposition both drop one place
Research & Insight is down one spot this month, from fifth to sixth, but there is still strong demand in this category. Projects are very varied, and we are seeing demand for customer segmentation, competitor intelligence, and user testing in this space. With the increased prominence of AI, it's unlikely that demand in this category will decrease any time soon.
New Product & Proposition is a category that brings together Proposition Design, with other new product development projects including prototyping, experimentation and MVP / pilot delivery, and has also dropped one spot, now sitting in eighth representing a 6.3% share of March's briefs.
"We find that this category tends to rise and fall in the table throughout the year, depending on budget available for innovation, so perhaps it will pick up again with the fresh financial year," noted Pete.
Video Production makes a new contender in seventh position
In 2024, attention spans were estimated to be around 8.3 seconds long - thanks TikTok! This means that brands are aiming to perfect their video-creation skills in a way that will captivate their audience - whether it's for 8 seconds or much longer! Video Production is a first-timer on our Marketers Most Wanted. Brands are looking for all sorts of production help: everything from product and explainer videos to large-scale commercial advertising. We have a wealth of agencies with strong video production skills on the StudioSpace platform, so it's great to see this category gaining traction.
Experience Strategy & Design and Brand Strategy stay on the table, whilst PR & Comms makes an exit
Experience Strategy & Design (formerly 'Experience Strategy') retains its ninth place position this month. We're seeing demand to both reimagine existing experiences and develop new experiences, with a focus on omnichannel experiences and a splash of service design help.
In tenth place this month we have Brand Strategy, after a fall from eighth and a 2% decrease in volume share. There are several categories just below, so it will be interesting to see if it remains in the top ten next month.
Conclusion
This month has been another of movement in the top ten, especially at the top of the table and with the new entry from Video Production. However, with the revised categories that have made an appearance this month, we suspect the shake up may continue into the next. There are also a number of categories vying for a top ten position, including Creative Campaign, CRM and Digital Paid Media - how exciting!
To read last month's Marketers Most Wanted report, click here.
We'll see you next month for May's report! In the meantime, if you've got any questions, please do reach out to hello@studiospace.com and we'd be happy to help.
