Get set for 2026

As we head into the final stretch of 2025, many teams are juggling leftover budget and thinking; what’s the smartest way to spend it?

There are plenty of options. Marketing campaigns, events, software subscriptions, but one of the most strategic, high-return investments you can make is market research. Why? Because research doesn’t just spend your budget, it turns it into insight, guidance, and future-proofing. Every pound invested can:

• Deliver immediate answers to pressing business questions and problems
• Equip your team to make smarter decisions in 2026
• Reduce the risk of wasted spend on initiatives that might miss the mark

Whether you’ve secured last-minute funding or have leftover resources, investing in research is a low-risk, high-value way to close out the year. It gives you tangible outputs and actionable insights that will continue to pay off long into the next year.

So, here are three suggestions to turn leftover budget into lasting value.

1. Access the niche audiences others can’t

Reaching niche audiences, whether it’s Gen Z, high-net-worth individuals (HNWI), or senior business decision-makers, doesn’t have to be costly or complex. Savanta offers access to hard-to-reach audiences through cost-efficient, high-quality omnibus and tracking solutions that will help you to:

• Measure campaign impact and brand awareness
• Identify which social media influencers resonate most with your audience
• Benchmark brand experiences against competitors
• Generate headlines for PR and media coverage
• Understand what matters most to your key audiences as they see out 2025
• Or perhaps, what concerns them most as they think about 2026

B2B audiences

Our UK Business Tracker monitors resilience, recovery, and sentiment among UK businesses in an ever-evolving economic climate. Add your questions to our monthly survey and gain real-time insights tailored to your needs and budget.

HNWIs

Our quarterly millionaire omnibus, MillVue, connects you with affluent audiences across the UK, USA, and China helping you to understand the habits, preferences and attitudes of the world’s wealthiest individuals. You have pay-per-question flexibility, expert consultancy on survey design, plus quarterly delivery for timely insights.

The deadline for this wave closes on 31st October so submit your questions by then if you’d like to gain insights by the end of the year.

If you’re unsure what to ask your audience or would benefit from an in-depth conversation about your challenges – that’s totally fine too – you can speak to our wealth team to gain expert advice.

Consumer audiences

Our weekly Consumer Omnibus surveys of 2,000 UK adults enables you to engage with and understand consumer opinion and behaviour. It’s a simple way to keep your finger on the pulse of the consumer landscape as it allows you to;

• Track public perceptions and behaviours
• Message testing and campaign evaluation
• Generate PR and media coverage
• Respond quickly to unexpected events or crisis situations

Learn more about the Consumer Omnibus here.

2. Smarter, always-on intelligence with BrandVue

Bespoke projects will always have their place, but if you’re looking for long-term value, an always-on market intelligence platform is a strategic win.

Savanta’s BrandVue platform captures ongoing data across brand, marketing, and performance metrics – helping you to make informed decisions all year round.

With BrandVue, you can:

• Track 50+ key metrics across brand health and marketing performance
• Access sector-specific platforms analysing 120+ brands
• Understand audience behaviour with granular crossbreaks
• See how your brand compares (and competes) in real time
• Delve into consumer profiles to see the nuance beneath the surface

New for 2025/26

This year we relaunched Brand Momentum – a metric that tracks how consumers view a brand’s future trajectory.

Brand Momentum is one of those quietly powerful metrics. It captures not just how people feel about a brand, but where they think it’s heading. And because it taps into perceived trajectory, it’s a great way to sense shifts in sentiment early – even before they show up in harder metrics like Consideration or Image Associations.

Ultimately, it helps marketers identify early signs of decline and measure the longer-term impact of campaigns, product launches, or price changes.

3. Get deeper insights with our bespoke AI-enabled platform

Qual research will always play a role, but if you simply do not have the time or the budget for those classic techniques, then how about using AI probing to go more in-depth in an online survey?

Savanta’s bespoke online platform tool now enables you to probe respondents for more detailed responses, tailored to open-ended questions.

You get scale and video ‘voxpop’ output all analysed by one of our qualitative experts. It brings the customer closer to you and your stakeholders, giving you those cherished anecdotes to bring data to life, which can provide the enhanced insights needed to answer those key business questions.

With our platform you can:

• Access c.200 respondents
• Ask 5-10 questions
• Use AI thematic analysis
• Turnaround answers in c. 1 week
• Answer those priority questions / get inspiration for your stakeholders

Ultimately, it helps you access that rich content that can only be done by hearing firsthand what a customer really thinks. Stakeholders can then be confident they have all the detail needed to drive informed and inspired decision making.

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Budget decisions made in a rush can easily lead to missed opportunities. Instead, think of this as your chance to invest strategically in data, technology, and insight tools.

No matter your remaining budget, our team can help you find the right mix of quick wins and long-term value to deliver the strongest ROI on your spend.

Get in touch today to discuss how Savanta can help you make your budget go further.