By exploring where today’s CMOs are investing their budgets, our latest research reveals new marketing investment trends across industries and identifies strategies that are paying off in business growth.
Today’s chief marketing officers (CMOs) are tasked with meeting the ever-evolving expectations of their leaders and customers—all with budgets that aren’t keeping up with the rate of inflation. Our research explores the strategic and operational decisions made by 1,395 US marketing leaders, helping uncover the true impact that CMOs can make with the right investments in martech, strategy, and beyond.
Meet the moment, prepare for the future
When we began reviewing the priorities, budget allocations, key performance indicators, operational structures, responsibilities, technologies, teams, and external relationships of today’s CMOs, we unearthed several compelling trends and impacts. Some examples include:
1. Investing in marketing technology can pay off. Organizations that invest more in martech than working media (events, digital ads, sponsorships, etc.) see an 18% greater sales lift from marketing and 7% greater revenue growth overall than organizations that invest more in working media than martech.
2. There's a gap between expectations and budgets. While enterprise leaders increasingly recognize that marketing can be a powerful driver of growth, many still insist that CMOs do more with less. This reflects a disconnect between how marketing budgets are set and what enterprise leaders expect. In fact, at least 61% of marketing budgets are based on enterprise-level revenues and budgets, or prior spend. This leaves marketers with limited control over budget inputs—even when they can deliver measurable outputs such as marketing return on investment (MROI).
For more insights from our digital marketing trend research and to discover where CMOs are prioritizing resources in a time of rapid change, read our full report.
