UK&I Microsoft Partner Marketing Report 2026 - Press data

Research data

Q1.Which, if any, of the following marketing activities does your organisation currently run?

Currently doingPlanning within 12 monthsNot doing, no plans

SEO

65.2%28.4%6.4%

Paid search

41.6%50.0%8.4%

Paid social

56.0%35.2%8.8%

Organic social (company)

40.8%50.8%8.4%

Organic social (individual accounts)

51.2%37.6%11.2%

Email nurture campaigns

43.2%50.0%6.8%

Blogs and articles

45.2%44.0%10.8%

Gated content / longer-form assets

46.0%46.0%8.0%

PR and media relations

46.0%45.6%8.4%

Video

47.2%45.6%7.2%

Customer case studies

52.0%36.0%12.0%

Referral or advocacy

43.2%49.6%7.2%

ABM (account-based marketing)

49.6%41.6%8.8%

Outbound SDR or telemarketing

43.6%47.2%9.2%

Partner-to-partner co-marketing

54.0%40.0%6.0%

Microsoft marketplace listing and optimisation

47.6%42.4%10.0%

Sales enablement collateral

49.6%40.8%9.6%

Marketing automation

46.8%43.2%10.0%

Basic reporting

47.2%40.4%12.4%

Enhanced reporting with attribution

43.6%49.6%6.8%

Q2.Thinking about your marketing, please indicate whether each statement is true or false for your organisation.

TrueFalseDon't know

We have a documented marketing strategy covering the next 12 months

74.0%21.2%4.8%

Our marketing plan is directly aligned to our business goals

45.6%49.2%5.2%

We have a clearly defined proposition that sets us apart from other Microsoft partners

60.8%31.6%7.6%

We market our own proposition, not just Microsoft's products

46.0%46.0%8.0%

We have documented target personas or an ideal customer profile

54.8%36.8%8.4%

Our messaging is our own rather than adapted Microsoft campaign material

51.2%42.0%6.8%

We have a repeatable way of generating new business enquiries

50.4%41.6%8.0%

Our marketing consistently generates qualified leads

47.6%45.2%7.2%

We can measure marketing's contribution to pipeline and revenue

51.2%35.2%13.6%

Sales and marketing agree on which accounts we are targeting

48.4%44.0%7.6%

We could launch a new campaign within four weeks if we needed to

50.0%40.0%10.0%

We are confident we are getting good value from our marketing investment

56.8%35.2%8.0%

Q3.What, if anything, are your organisation's top 3 marketing priorities for the next 12 months?

(Select up to 3)

Building brand awareness in a crowded market27.2%

Better utilising Co-op funding25.2%

Winning net-new customers23.2%

Generating more qualified leads22.4%

Improving win rates22.4%

Strengthening the Microsoft relationship22.4%

Growing revenue from existing customers21.6%

Entering a new vertical or geography21.6%

Launching a new practice or service line19.6%

Aligning closer to funded engagements19.6%

Driving Azure or Copilot consumption18.8%

Q4.What, if anything, most limits your marketing today?

(Select up to 3)

The complexity of funding rules31.2%

Competing internal priorities30.8%

Difficulty standing out from other partners27.6%

Headcount or in-house skills27.2%

Over-reliance on vendor-supplied material25.2%

An inability to measure results24.0%

Not enough content20.0%

Leadership buy-in19.6%

Budget19.2%

No clear proposition12.0%

N/A - Nothing in particular0.8%

Q5.If you have won new business in the last 12 months, roughly what proportion came from each of the following sources?

22.1%

17.8%

17.3%

17.1%

14.9%

10.8%

Marketing you generated yourself22.1%
Distributor or vendor leads17.8%
Referrals passed to you by Microsoft17.3%
Customer referrals and word of mouth17.1%
Outbound sales with no marketing involved14.9%
Other10.8%

Q6.What, if anything, funds your marketing activity?

(Select all that apply)

Microsoft Co-op Funding46.0%

Distributor-funded activities44.4%

Microsoft MDF41.2%

Your own P&L37.2%

Other vendor funding30.4%

N/A - No dedicated funding0.4%

Other, please specify0.0%

Q7.What, if anything, would happen to your marketing if Microsoft funding were withdrawn entirely?

Stop/reduce (Net)60.6%

Stop almost completely14.9%

It would reduce significantly30.3%

It would reduce slightly15.4%

It would continue largely as is9.7%

It would increase slightly20.6%

It would increase significantly9.1%

Don't know0.0%

Continue/increase (Net)39.4%

Q8.What proportion of annual revenue, if any, does your organisation invest in marketing?

None0.4%

Under 1%0.0%

1-2%25.2%

3-5%62.0%

6-10%12.4%

More than 10%0.0%

Don't know0.0%

Mean: 3.85%

Q9.How, if at all, is marketing resourced in your organisation?

(Select all that apply)

A director or owner covering marketing alongside another role38.8%

A broad channel marketing agency34.8%

A dedicated in-house marketing team32.4%

A dedicated Microsoft Partner marketing agency30.8%

A single in-house marketer28.0%

A generalist marketing agency26.8%

Freelancers or contractors21.2%

Distributor20.8%

Q10.Microsoft incentives have shifted from rewarding retained licenses towards rewarding new license growth. How confident or unconfident are you in your organisation's ability to maintain or grow its incentive earnings over the next 12 months?

Unconfident (Net)30.8%

1 - Very unconfident12.4%

2 - Somewhat unconfident18.4%

3 - Neither confident nor unconfident4.4%

4 - Somewhat confident36.0%

5 - Very confident28.8%

Confident (Net)64.8%

Mean: 3.50

Q11.Which, if any, of these statements best explains your confidence level?

Our growth has come mainly from renewals34.0%

We have sufficient marketing budget to support new business growth30.4%

We have already adapted our approach29.6%

We have a strong pipeline of net-new business opportunities28.4%

Our team is well structured and resourced to drive new customer acquisition25.6%

We do not have a repeatable way to generate net-new business18.8%

We do not have the marketing budget to drive new growth16.8%

We do not fully understand how the new rules apply to us15.2%

Our team is not structured for acquisition14.4%

Microsoft Partner Marketing, Measured - UK&I edition 2026