Most UK Businesses Think Their Own Marketing Is Just Okay, or Worse

LOCALiQ's 2026 survey of UK businesses found that most of them can't honestly say their own marketing is working, and this includes practices like yours.

Whole-practice growth for wellness practices. Rooted in Wiltshire, UK, working worldwide.

Practices convinced that everyone else has marketing sorted except them can relax slightly, because most businesses report the same quiet dissatisfaction.

Original ResearchThree in four UK businesses rate their own marketing performance as average or worse
Sourcehttps://localiq.co.uk/blog/uk-digital-marketing-statistics
OverviewThe report draws on a survey of more than 500 UK businesses about their marketing satisfaction, budgets, strategy and use of AI, carried out by LOCALiQ.
Year2026
PublisherBrand, LOCALiQ
Relevance to WellbeingThe finding isn't wellness-specific, but the dissatisfaction it describes applies just as much to coaches, therapists and clinics running their own marketing as to any other small business.
Our VerdictToo early to tell the sample size is decent, but the figures come from businesses in general rather than practices in particular.
Our Summary
  • Over 500 businesses surveyed, so it's not just three people in a pub.
  • No wellbeing-specific breakdown, so the number is borrowed, not proven, for your sector.
  • Methodology beyond "we asked them" isn't spelled out in much detail.
  • Confirms something most owners suspect privately, which is oddly reassuring.
Our Geo ViewUK-specific survey; treat the numbers as indicative rather than exact if you're marketing outside the UK.
Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow
Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

  • Coaching: this matters because coaches often blame themselves personally for slow enquiries, when the truth is most businesses feel exactly the same.
  • Therapy: this matters because therapists rarely have time to audit their own marketing, so knowing everyone else is also muddling through takes some pressure off.
  • Training: this matters because training providers competing for visibility can stop assuming their competitors have some secret system nobody else has.
  • Alternative Healing: this matters because healers who feel awkward about self-promotion can stop treating that discomfort as a personal failing unique to them.
  • Clinical: this matters because clinics with limited marketing budgets can stop assuming a bigger spend elsewhere automatically means better results.
  • Retreat/Centre: this matters because centres juggling several audiences at once aren't alone in finding it hard to tell if any of it is landing.

Where this came from

LOCALiQ asked over 500 UK businesses to grade their own marketing, and most gave themselves a shrug rather than a gold star.

LOCALiQ, UK State of Digital Marketing Report 2026, published 2026.

Credibility flags: survey-based methodology, sample size over 500 UK businesses, published directly by LOCALiQ, an industry brand with a commercial interest in marketing services.

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

55%
Practice fit, 25How new, 100How solid, 50

Marked down a touch on how solid the method is, since detail beyond the headline numbers is thin, though it scores well on recency and holds up reasonably on practice fit despite not being wellness-specific.

Faces of satisfied clients
It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

  • Put this stat on your about page: even the businesses who complain about marketing are, statistically, everyone.
  • Say out loud in your next team meeting that most competitors feel just as unsure, so nobody panics over a quiet month.
  • Brief your team to stop comparing your enquiry numbers to some imagined perfect competitor.
  • Use the 77% figure in a newsletter to normalise slow periods for anyone nervous about their own results.
  • Skip any pitch promising to make you outperform "most businesses", when most businesses openly admit they're stuck too.

Who this is most useful for

Practice typeRelevanceRecommended action
CoachingMediumMention it when reassuring clients, or yourself, that patchy results are the industry norm, not a personal failing.
TherapyLowUse quietly in internal planning rather than client-facing copy.
TrainingMediumReference it when discussing marketing training or course content.
Alternative HealingLowKeep as background reassurance, not a selling point.
ClinicalMediumUse to justify a proper marketing review rather than another ad hoc post.
Retreat/CentreMediumCite it when discussing marketing budgets with stakeholders or trustees.

Best before

Best before: revisit when LOCALiQ publishes its next annual report, or sooner if you want to check the underlying survey methodology yourself.

What next?

If you've ever stared at your own analytics and quietly wondered whether it's just you, this research suggests it almost certainly isn't.

Talk to us about Whole-practice Marketing

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