Marketing freelancers are reporting stalled rates, tighter budgets and a rise in ghosting and dead-end proposals, according to new research.
The findings by Leeds-based agency Perfect Storm widen the lens on a issue Prolific North has been tracking in recent weeks through its focus on the plight of Northern film and TV freelancers, many of whom said instability, low pay and long gaps between work are forcing difficult decisions about whether they can stay in the industry.
Published in the agency’s report The Freelance Landscape, the research found that 82% of marketing freelancers surveyed said their day rates had plateaued or declined compared with 2024, despite three quarters (76%) reporting they are working the same or more hours than last year.
READ MORE: Behind the camera: Northern TV freelancers sound the alarm on a “skills gap” and low pay
That pattern mirrors concerns raised by Northern TV freelancers, who told Prolific North that shrinking budgets and intensified competition are pushing experienced workers into lower-paid roles, longer hours and prolonged insecurity.
Agencies under pressure, freelancers feeling the knock-on effects
According to the research, four in ten marketing freelancers (42%) believe there has been less agency work available over the past year. Three in five (62%) say agencies are operating with tighter budgets, while 38% think overall volumes of agency work have fallen.
Those pressures are feeding directly into freelance working conditions. Eight out of ten respondents (81%) said they were dependent in some form on agencies for work, underlining how exposed freelancers are to shifts in agency spending and hiring behaviour.
One in three freelancers (36%) said 2025 had been a more difficult year than 2024, while just under a quarter (24%) reported an improvement. Several respondents felt that agency struggles were directly shaping their own prospects, a pattern also seen in television, where freelancers described being caught between broadcasters cutting commissions and indies struggling to absorb rising costs.
More work, less reward
While many marketing freelancers reported steady workloads, financial security remains elusive. Alongside stalled rates, late payment continues to be a major concern, ranking as the fourth hardest part of freelance life in the survey. One in five respondents (20%) said clients were attempting to underpay for experience.
The findings mirror concerns raised by Northern TV freelancers, who told Prolific North they were increasingly being asked to accept “appalling” rates or unpaid overtime in order to stay in work, particularly during long gaps between contracts.
Despite this, the marketing research suggests a degree of resilience with only 16% of respondents said they were worried about their new business pipeline for 2026, and a third (33%) felt agencies were relying more heavily on freelancers to plug skills gaps they previously would have filled with permanent hires.
Where the research draws a particularly stark picture is in the breakdown of trust between agencies and freelancers. Nearly half of respondents (45%) said they were being asked more frequently to provide proposals or quotes that went nowhere. All respondents said ghosting was either at the same level or worse than in 2024. One in eight (13%) said theft of ideas was becoming more common, while a quarter (25%) felt briefs were increasingly confusing or incomplete, with some attributing this to over-reliance on AI.
Only 11% believed there had been an improvement in understanding how the freelancer–agency relationship should work.
Those complaints reflect language used by TV freelancers in Prolific North’s earlier reporting, where the industry was repeatedly described as a “wild west”, with informal hiring, opaque rates and limited protection for those working outside permanent employment.
While flexibility remains one of freelancing’s biggest draws, the pressures are prompting some to rethink their futures. One in seven marketing freelancers surveyed (15%) said they were considering moving into a permanent role, citing concerns around financial security, securing new work and loneliness.
That sense of re-evaluation is already playing out in the screen industries. In previous interviews with Prolific North, Northern TV freelancers described retraining for roles in aviation, renewable energy and education, often after years of attempting to make freelance careers work in an increasingly volatile environment.
“There’s no excuse for passing those burdens on”
Perfect Storm commissioned the research to coincide with its 10th anniversary. Co-founder Dave Nutter said specialist freelancers were “the lifeblood” of the agency but warned that many agencies were failing to get the best from those relationships.
“In this world of tighter budgets, specialist freelancers aren’t a luxury, they’re how you stay sharp,” he said. “But our research shows that many agencies aren’t working with freelancers in such a way as to get the best out of them, which is frustrating not only for the freelancer themselves, but also in terms of the quality of work produced for clients.”
Fellow co-founder Adam Errington added that agencies had a responsibility to address some of the core concerns raised in the report.
“Agencies should be playing a role in alleviating some of the key concerns for freelancers – through fair pay (paid on time), clear, open and respectful communication, and by giving people the opportunity to work as part of a team,” he said.
“Trust is being eroded by increased ghosting, speculative work and even theft of ideas – and even though I suspect many agencies are experiencing more of these themselves, there’s no excuse for passing those burdens on.”
Perfect Storm’s research was conducted in December 2025 among more than 100 freelancers working across design, copywriting, PR, SEO, social media, data and analytics, web development, CRM strategy, media buying, videography and project management. Respondents had been freelancing for an average of almost seven years.
