LONDON, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- FindGood, the London-based Marketing Agency Search and Selection company, has conducted a survey of over 4,300 marketers -- the largest ever of its kind.

"The purpose of the survey was to predict marketing spend trends for the year and to determine how client-side marketers currently make agency selection decisions," says Kimberly Mears, FindGood's Managing Director.

"Of particular note is that marketers are still saying very clearly they prefer to work with smaller agencies -- in an entrepreneurial sector that's good news indeed.

"It's very reassuring to see that budgets are once more on the march, suggesting that marketers see investment in marketing activity as the best way of growing sales whilst the economy remains becalmed."

The survey, highlights some keys trends:

•  58% of respondents were optimistic about their businesses' prospects in 2012
•  48% also felt that their profitability would improve

Marketing budgets will increase across all disciplines -- with advertising leading the way, and surprisingly, digital expected to show the least growth.

There is also particularly good news for small, independent marketing agencies in the UK, as a majority of respondents (64%) would prefer to work with owner-managed firms.

Likewise, a majority of respondents (74%) would prefer to work with small communication agencies with 0-35 employees.

The role of marketing procurement is likely to increase -- 34% use marketing procurement already, and a further 8% will do so this year.

FindGood is a marketing agency selection firm that was created to help client-side marketers to select the best marketing agencies for their needs.

You can download the full report for free here: http://findgood.co.uk/reports/2012-uk-marketing-trends-report/

Previous research shows smaller UK integrated communications, advertising, design and digital marketing agencies are turning out excellent work, but are often overlooked by clients. Likewise, when selecting a marketing agency, client-side marketers often rely upon agency recommendations from others within their networks whose needs may be very different to their own.

SOURCE FindGood