Digital Marketing Strategy
The fundamentals haven't changed—quality content, genuine expertise, and consistent value creation still win. What's changed is how that value is discovered and consumed. AI doesn't replace the need for excellent marketing; it raises the bar for what "excellent" means.
Digital marketing has fundamentally transformed. With 91% of marketing leaders now using AI and Gartner predicting traditional search volume will drop 25% by 2026, the strategies that worked yesterday won't deliver results tomorrow. This guide covers everything UK businesses need to know about digital marketing in the AI era—from channel ROI benchmarks to the shift from SEO to Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO).
AI is no longer a future consideration—it's the foundation of modern marketing strategy. According to HubSpot's 2025 State of AI Report, 91% of marketing leaders have AI actively deployed in their organisations, with 66% of marketers globally using AI tools in their daily work. The adoption rate has been staggering: generative AI usage doubled year-on-year, jumping from 33% in 2023 to 71% in 2024.
For UK businesses working with platforms like HubSpot, this shift has profound implications. The science of marketing—data analysis, pattern recognition, personalisation at scale—is increasingly automated. What remains uniquely human is the craft: strategy, creativity, and building genuine connections with audiences.
The most common AI applications in marketing reflect a focus on efficiency and quality:
The productivity gains are substantial. Whitehat SEO's analysis of AI-assisted content workflows shows marketers save an average of 3 hours per piece of content and 2.5 hours daily overall. More importantly, 84% of marketers using AI report faster content production, whilst 82% create significantly more content than before.
Key Insight: AI adoption isn't optional for competitive marketing teams. With 77% of organisations now having AI embedded in their workflows, the question isn't whether to adopt AI, but how to integrate it effectively with your existing marketing strategy.
Traditional search engine optimisation remains vital, but it's no longer sufficient on its own. Gartner predicts traditional search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026 as AI chatbots and virtual agents become primary information sources. This doesn't mean SEO is dead—it means optimisation strategies must expand to include Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
| Aspect | Traditional SEO | AEO | GEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank on search results pages | Win featured snippets and answer boxes | Get cited in AI responses |
| Target | Search engine algorithms | Answer boxes, voice search | ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews |
| Focus | Keywords and backlinks | Direct, structured answers | Comprehensive authority content |
The scale of AI search platforms has reached critical mass:
The impact on click-through rates is dramatic. When Google AI Overviews appear, organic CTR for position one drops from 7.3% to just 2.6%—a decline of 34.5%. In some analyses, the drop reaches 61%. For businesses relying on organic traffic, this represents both a threat and an opportunity: those who optimise for AI citation will capture visibility whilst competitors remain invisible.
Whitehat SEO's SEO services now incorporate AEO as standard, structuring content to be cited by AI systems whilst maintaining traditional search visibility. This dual approach ensures clients capture traffic from both traditional search and emerging AI channels.
Understanding channel ROI is essential for budget allocation. Gartner's 2025 CMO Spend Survey reveals marketing budgets have stabilised at 7.7% of revenue—down from 11% pre-pandemic. With tighter budgets, every pound must work harder, making channel selection critical.
| Channel | Average ROI | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Email Marketing | £36-42 per £1 spent | Nurture, retention, conversion |
| SEO (3-year) | 825% | Sustainable traffic, brand authority |
| Google Ads/PPC | £8 per £1 spent | Immediate traffic, high-intent leads |
| Content Marketing | 3x leads per £1 vs traditional | Thought leadership, SEO support |
| LinkedIn (B2B) | 2x higher conversion rates | B2B lead generation, ABM |
Email marketing continues to deliver exceptional returns for UK businesses. Litmus research shows email generates £36-42 return per £1 spent, with retail and e-commerce sectors achieving up to £45 per £1 (4,500% ROI). The UK average value of a customer email address is £36.64—making list building one of marketing's most valuable activities.
Welcome emails perform particularly well, achieving 69-80% open rates and generating 320% more revenue than standard promotional emails. For businesses using HubSpot's marketing automation, automated email sequences consistently outperform manual campaigns.
SEO remains the highest-ROI channel over time, delivering 825% average ROI over three years according to FirstPageSage research. Compared to PPC's 4x return, SEO's 8x ROI makes it the more efficient long-term investment. Additionally, SEO leads to 60% lower customer acquisition costs compared to paid channels.
The key is patience and consistency. Most Whitehat SEO clients see measurable ranking improvements within 3-4 months, with significant traffic and lead growth by month six. SEO compounds over time—early gains build momentum for larger results.
Video has become the dominant content format. According to Wyzowl's 2025 research, 89-91% of businesses now use video marketing—an all-time high. The results justify the investment: 90% of marketers report positive ROI from video, 83% say video directly increased sales, and 85% credit video with lead generation success.
Short-form video has emerged as the single most effective content marketing format. Videos under 30 seconds deliver 2x engagement compared to longer content, and 69% of consumers prefer learning about products through short video rather than text.
The UK digital advertising market reached £35.53 billion in 2024, growing 13% year-on-year according to IAB UK's Digital Adspend Report. Digital now accounts for 80% of all UK advertising spend—four in every five pounds goes to online channels. The market is forecast to reach £38 billion in 2025 and £47.1 billion by 2033.
| Channel | 2024 Spend | Market Share | YoY Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search | £16.6bn | 47% | +13% |
| Video Display | £8.3bn | 23% | +20% |
| Retail Media | £1.4bn | 4% | +23% |
| Gaming | £1.1bn | 3% | +9% |
UK businesses face the highest cost-per-click rates in Europe. The average UK CPC across all industries is £1.16, with legal services reaching £7.13 and e-commerce averaging £0.93. The typical UK SME spends £5,000-£9,000 monthly on PPC management, with average conversion rates of 6.96%.
Understanding where your audience spends time is crucial for channel selection:
Google maintains overwhelming search dominance in the UK at 93.51-93.61% market share across all devices, rising to 97.85% on mobile. Mobile now accounts for 54.7% of UK internet traffic, with the average UK adult spending 4 hours 20 minutes daily on their smartphone.
B2B buying behaviour has transformed dramatically, driven by AI adoption, generational shifts, and changing expectations. According to G2's 2025 Buyer Behavior Report, 79% of B2B software buyers say AI search has changed how they conduct research, with 29% now starting research via large language models more often than Google. GenAI chatbots have become the number one source influencing vendor shortlists at 17.1%.
Gartner research reveals that 80% of the B2B buying journey takes place without direct vendor contact. Buyers spend only 17% of their time with potential suppliers, using an average of 10 interaction channels (up from 5 in 2016). Perhaps most striking: 75% of B2B buyers now prefer a rep-free sales experience.
This shift has profound implications for B2B inbound marketing. Content must answer questions before prospects ever speak to sales. The average B2B buyer consumes 13 pieces of content before making a purchase decision, engaging with 27 touchpoints across their journey.
Millennials and Gen Z now comprise 71% of B2B buyers, up from 64% in 2022. According to Forrester research, millennials account for 73% of B2B purchasing decisions and make decisions 41% faster than Baby Boomers. These younger buyers involve nearly twice as many stakeholders (6.8 vs 3.5 for older executives) and strongly prefer self-service research tools—68% of millennial B2B decision-makers favour self-service over sales interactions.
B2B purchases have become increasingly complex. The average purchase now involves 13 stakeholders across multiple departments, with 6-10 decision-makers involved in typical solutions. Gartner found that 79% of purchases require CFO approval regardless of initial budget ownership, and 74% of buyer teams demonstrate "unhealthy conflict" during decisions—one reason why 86% of B2B purchases stall during the process.
Strategic Implication: Marketing content must address multiple stakeholders with different concerns. A CFO cares about ROI and risk. A technical lead cares about integration and features. An end user cares about ease of adoption. Effective B2B content speaks to all audiences within the buying committee.
For B2B marketers, LinkedIn dominates. According to Content Marketing Institute research, 97% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for content marketing, with 84-85% saying it delivers the best value of any platform. LinkedIn generates 75-85% of all B2B leads from social media and delivers 2x higher conversion rates than other platforms. The average engagement rate of 3.85% significantly outperforms Facebook (0.15-0.20%) and X/Twitter (0.10-0.15%).
SparkToro and Datos research reveals that 58.5% of US Google searches and 59.7% of EU searches now result in zero clicks—users get their answer without visiting any website. On mobile, the zero-click rate reaches 77.2%. When AI Overviews appear, the zero-click rate jumps to 83%, compared to 60% for traditional queries.
As Seer Interactive noted in their September 2025 analysis: "If you've been waiting for things to settle down or for CTRs to bounce back, the data is telling you to stop waiting. This is the new baseline." For marketers, this means optimising for brand visibility within AI responses—not just ranking for clicks.
Google reversed its third-party cookie deprecation plans in July 2024. Third-party cookies remain enabled by default in Chrome as of January 2026. However, UK GDPR requirements mean explicit consent is still required for non-essential cookies, with cookie banners required to have equal prominence for Accept and Reject options. Non-compliance fines reach up to £17.5 million or 4% of annual worldwide turnover.
Smart marketers are investing in first-party data regardless. Research shows 91% of B2B marketers collect first-party data, with 71% actively increasing their datasets. Companies using first-party data effectively see up to 15% revenue increases.
Voice search continues growing steadily. Currently, 20.5% of global internet users use voice search, with 8.4 billion voice assistants in use worldwide. Crucially for local SEO, 76% of voice searches are "near me" or local queries. Voice search results load 52% faster than average at 4.6 seconds—speed matters for voice optimisation.
B2B influencer marketing has come of age. TopRank Marketing research shows 85% of US B2B marketers now incorporate influencer marketing, with 94% reporting success. The ROI is substantial—520% for well-executed B2B influencer programmes. Gartner predicts 80% of enterprise marketers will integrate influencer marketing by 2027.
Business podcasting has reached a tipping point. Global podcast listeners reached 584.1 million in 2025, growing 6.8% year-on-year. Half of B2B marketers are increasing podcast investment in 2025, driven by compelling engagement metrics: 80%+ listener retention through entire episodes (compared to just 12% for video) and 78% of business leaders consuming podcasts weekly. Notably, YouTube has become the number one podcast discovery platform, making video podcasting increasingly important.
Traditional SEO optimises content to rank on search engine results pages and drive clicks. Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) optimises content to be cited directly by AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. AEO focuses on structured, quotable content that AI can extract and attribute to your brand, whilst SEO focuses on keyword rankings and link building.
Gartner's 2025 CMO Spend Survey shows the average marketing budget is 7.7% of company revenue, down from 11% pre-pandemic. UK SMEs typically spend £5,000-£9,000 monthly on PPC alone. The right budget depends on growth goals, competitive landscape, and current market position—a marketing audit can help determine appropriate investment levels.
Email marketing delivers the highest immediate ROI at £36-42 return per £1 spent. SEO delivers the highest long-term ROI at 825% over three years. PPC provides reliable returns of approximately £8 per £1 spent with faster results. The best approach combines multiple channels—research shows using 4+ channels delivers 300% better results than single-channel strategies.
Most businesses see measurable ranking improvements within 3-4 months and significant traffic growth by month six. SEO is a compounding investment—early gains build momentum for larger results over time. Factors affecting timeline include current domain authority, competitive landscape, content quality, and technical foundation.
Yes—SEO remains essential despite the rise of AI search. Google still processes billions of daily searches, and SEO delivers 825% ROI over three years. However, SEO strategy must evolve to include AEO optimisation. Content structured for AI citation performs well in both traditional search and AI platforms, making integrated SEO-AEO strategies the most effective approach.
Digital marketing in 2026 requires a dual approach: maintaining traditional SEO foundations whilst adapting to the AI-driven future. The businesses that will thrive are those that optimise for both Google and AI answer engines, create content designed for extraction and citation, and build authentic authority signals that both humans and machines trust.
Ready to adapt your marketing strategy for the AI era?
Whitehat SEO helps B2B companies navigate the shift from traditional SEO to integrated AI optimisation. As a HubSpot Diamond Partner with deep expertise in both technical SEO and emerging AI search platforms, we can help you capture visibility across all channels. Book a consultation to discuss your strategy.
About Whitehat SEO
Whitehat SEO is a London-based HubSpot Diamond Solutions Partner and full-service inbound marketing agency. Since 2011, we've helped B2B companies connect marketing investment to measurable revenue. We run the world's largest HubSpot User Group and specialise in SEO, AEO, HubSpot implementation, and demand generation for technology, professional services, and life sciences companies.