If you’ve spent a day managing a marketing budget, you’ll understand this: nothing generates more boardroom discussion than how to allocate those dollars. Do we spend more on MarTech? Amplify paid media? Reduce agency retainers? Or is it time at last to wager heavily on AI? It’s not an intellectual exercise; it’s decisions that have immediate and direct consequences for pipeline, market share, and brand expansion in a hyper-digital, customer-centric world. And though everyone’s got an opinion, not many have the data to support it. That is why the Gartner CMO Spend Data Snapshot has become a must-read annual guide for marketing leaders.

The 2025 edition arrives at a pivotal time. CMOs are under growing pressure to deliver ROI as they deal with changing consumer behaviors, economic slowdowns, and increasing digital competition. Budgets are tighter than ever, and this isn’t another round of numbers; it’s definitive, actionable insight from 400+ North American and European marketing leaders.

In this article, we’ll break down what the 2025 Snapshot reveals, how CMOs are realigning priorities, and why this report should be your go-to strategic tool this year. I’ll also spotlight real-world examples of how data like this shapes C-suite decisions.

Spoiler: Budgets are tightening in some areas, but others are thriving. And one thing’s certain: CMOs who lead with data-backed confidence will outpace the rest.

Ready to compare how your numbers look? Let’s get started.

What Is the Gartner CMO Spend Data Snapshot?

So, before we dive into the cold, hard numbers, let’s take a moment and define exactly what the Gartner CMO Spend Data Snapshot is – and why it carries so much heft in the marketing community.

Gartner surveys Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and senior marketing leaders in key industries annually to gain insights into how marketing budgets are being allocated, modified, and prioritized. Its 2025 edition report is based on more than 400 respondents from businesses that operate in North America and Europe and cover industries such as technology, retail, financial services, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and manufacturing.

But this is more than a collection of pie charts and percentages. It’s an indication of how contemporary marketing leadership approaches thinking, planning, and operating in more complicated operating environments. It shows what CMOs are betting on, where they’re retreating, and what tools, tactics, and channels they view as essential for driving growth in the modern business environment.

So, What Does This Snapshot Consist Of?

It’s essentially a 360-degree view of the marketing financial landscape. Among the valuable insights you’ll find in this year’s report:

• Total marketing budget as a percentage of company revenue. This shows how much organizations are willing to invest in marketing relative to their overall size, a key indicator of marketing’s perceived strategic importance.

• In-depth analysis of marketing budget distribution across categories such as MarTech, staff, paid media, agencies, and offline activities such as events.

• New trends and investment changes, which areas are getting money, and which are losing ground in terms of investment compared to earlier years?

• Top CMO priorities for the coming year. These findings mirror CMOs’ reactions to forces outside the company, including economic stress, AI implementation, regulatory shifts (such as cookie deprecation), and changing customer expectations.

A HubSpot State of Marketing Report 2024 recently revealed that 82% of marketing leaders now revise their strategy at least once per quarter. Having access to credible, independent, real-world data is vital for navigating this pace and complexity.

What renders this specific data point most valuable is its timeliness and believability. In a world in which marketing leaders increasingly find themselves being asked to justify spend and prove fiscal responsibility, having the ability to ground decisions in a peer-researched, independent, and widely respected data point, such as Gartner, both gives strategic clarity as well as C-suite credibility.

It’s not a matter of going with the pack; it’s a matter of knowing where the market is headed, so you can drive confidently. If you need to justify raising MarTech spend, cutting agency expenses, or repurposing paid media spend, the Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Data Snapshot is your evidence-driven, boardroom-ready playbook.

Marketing Budgets Are Constricting, But There’s a Twist 

It’s the most-read headline in this year’s Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Data Snapshot and it may leave even the most experienced marketing executive taken aback:

Marketing’s share of total company revenue dropped to 7.7% in 2025, falling from 9.1% in 2024. 

On the surface, it may appear that marketing is losing its strategic anchor in the enterprise. But look closer, and the narrative is much more complex and even encouraging for marketing leaders who understand how to interpret the signs.

The Budget Decrease Isn’t a Crisis – It’s a Correction

Yes, budgets are contracting. But that’s not necessarily bad news. It’s a reflection of a larger trend occurring across industries: a shift away from growth-at-any-cost advertising to precision-driven, performance-based, technology-enabled programs.

In interviews I’ve conducted with marketing leaders this year, a recurring theme has emerged. CMOs aren’t just cutting budgets; they’re reallocating them. They’re focusing on spending on high-efficiency, high-accountability initiatives powered by AI, data analytics, and measurable customer engagement strategies.

Not long ago, a marketing executive leading a SaaS company on the global stage mentioned: 

“It’s not about accomplishing less. It’s about accomplishing what works, quicker. This year’s budget cut compelled us to ruthlessly prioritize tools and campaigns that move the needle.”

In other words, less budget doesn’t equate to less impact. It equates to sharper focus.

Related Insight: How CMOs Are Refocusing Budgets on Data-Driven Performance 

External Pressures Are Reshaping Spending Habits Through Gartner

Economic uncertainty, inflationary forces, and changing consumer habits that move with lightning speed are all contributing factors to the conservative financial climate under which CMOs today function. There’s another driver, though: the technology maturity curve.

Most companies invested the past 3–5 years heavily in MarTech, AI platforms, and customer data solutions. Now, as those systems have matured, the focus has switched from acquisition to optimization. Marketers are optimizing processes, tool rationalizing, and getting more value out of current platforms, decreasing the necessity for big batch, net-new technology spending.

A Strategic Opportunity for Smart CMOs By Gartner

For those marketing leaders who are willing to accept this new reality, the 7.7% budget figure offers a unique competitive opening. It means that CMOs can demonstrate they can deliver growth without overspending competitors, but by outthinking them.

How?

By leveraging analysis such as Gartner’s CMO Spend Data Snapshot to compare where the smartest investments are and where the budget is being cut, marketing organizations can aggressively re-allocate their budgets in advance, justify strategic shifts, and take the initiative to show data-driven financial stewardship.

Rhetorical question:

How many months ago did your CFO last request that you reduce spend and add pipeline contribution? This is the way to do it.

2025 Budget Breakdown – Where the Money’s Going

Having exposed the headline gimmick, more marketing budget, let’s get down to business. When CMOs are told to do more with less, where are those hard-won marketing pounds being invested in 2025?

Gartner’s 2025 CMO Spend Data Snapshot presents us with an insightful snapshot of what marketing leaders are spending their budget on this year. The numbers reveal more than allocation patterns; they’re revealing to us what parts of marketing are deemed mission-critical vs. what’s regarded as a disposable luxury in a world of scarce resources.

Here’s the split:

Category	% of Total Marketing Budget
MarTech	25.4
Labor (People)	24.1
Paid Media	0.9
Agencies	18.3
Events/Offline	11.3

Let’s discuss them one at a time.

MarTech: Staying Resilient as the Investment Leader Investment

At 25.4% of average marketing spend, MarTech is still the largest slice of spend. No surprise there either. Even though overall budgets are under pressure, marketing leaders aren’t prepared to make do with less for the systems and platforms that enable core data, personalization, and operational efficiency.

Why?

Because in a first-party data-dependent marketing ecosystem fueled by cookies’ depreciation and AI-driven analytics, the right tech stack is not an option anymore, it’s a foundation.

A CMO we recently spoke with described it thus:

“Our MarTech stack is no longer an add-on. It’s our engine room. It powers every decision we make and every campaign we run.”

CMOs are investing in customer data aggregation platforms, process automation, and real-time decision-making platforms. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), AI-powered insights platforms, and automated content management systems are the leading areas of spend.

Labor: In-House Expertise Takes Center Stage

Riding close behind MarTech, 24.1% is invested in labor costs. What’s notable here is the shift of power between in-house competence and external agencies.

More advertising heads are bringing more crucial skills in-house, namely, content planning, data science, and performance marketing, and cutting long-term agency retainers. Both financial efficiency and tighter operational management are the motivations.

Why the shift?

As marketing becomes more data-centric and responsive, having in-house talent that deeply understands the brand nuances, consumer habits, and business objectives is a clear advantage.

Paid Media: Bigger Piece, Smaller Scrutiny

20.9% the budget is going to paid media, digital ads, search, social, programmatic, and video placement.

Now here’s the twist, though: while media is a large spend category, CMOs are applying a performance microscope to every campaign. There’s an undeniable shift toward ROI-optimized performance media fueled by first-party data targeting and AI-powered optimization tools.

Those set-it-and-forget-it media days are behind us. In 2025, every impression, click, and conversion must be attributable and defendable.

Agencies: Leaning Out

Agency partnerships command 18.3% of marketing spend, down a precipitous slope from previous years. It’s not an all-out devaluation of agencies; rather, it’s a realignment of the way and when CMOs engage external partners.

Many are going towards retainers for project-based hyper-specialized services like programmatic buying, creative development, or influencer activations and retain strategy, data, and campaign execution in-house.

A senior retail marketing leader said it exactly right:

“Agencies used to be our architects. Now they’re our subcontractors, we own the blueprint.”

Events & Offline Marketing: A Cautious Return

Finally, 11.3% of budgets go to events and offline experiences. In-person marketing, following years of pandemic-related cutbacks, is returning but with restraint. CMOs are betting strategically on anchor events, hybrid activations, and experiences that have proven pipeline and brand equity.

Humorous aside:

Who will ever forget those early years when online conferences were the new forever normal? It seems even introverts did not miss badge scanners and drink tickets.

MarTech Investment Priorities for 2025 – What’s Hot and What’s Not 

And with MarTech remaining the only single largest line item in the 2025 marketing budget at 25.4% of overall spend, it’s worth paying close attention to exactly where those dollars are going. Because while overall marketing budgets may be headed in, CMOs are doubling down on specific technologies that they believe will drive measurable, scalable growth.

So, what’s hot in MarTech for 2025? Which planned investment is no longer commanding attention?

The Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Data Snapshot gives us some insight.

Hot: Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

If any MarTech category is getting its time in the spotlight, it’s Customer Data Platforms (CDPs). With brands preparing for the inevitable demise of third-party cookies and an ever-more privacy-first world, being able to connect, manage, and activate first-party customer data is mission-critical.

CDPs enable marketers to build rich, 360-degree profiles by consolidating data from CRM systems, transaction history, web behavior, and offline sources into a unified, accessible place. As a result, real-time segmentation, hyper-personalized campaigns, and improved customer journey orchestration become possible, all while remaining privacy-compliant.

We just spoke with one CMO who works in financial services.

“Our CDP isn’t a database, it’s our personalization engine. Without it, every campaign would be a shot in the dark.”

CDPs, therefore, now squarely reside as core infrastructure, with many CMOs reallocating budgets from paid media into CDP implementations and additions.

Hot: AI-Powered Analytics and Insights

Another investment category that is evolving rapidly is AI-based predictive insights and analytics platforms. With the growing volumes of marketing data, customer journeys becoming increasingly complex, AI technology gives CMOs the tools to predict in advance, discover trends, and optimize in real time.

Whether they’re defining high-value audience segments, predicting customer churn, or optimizing media mix spend, AI-driven analytics platforms not only empower marketing leaders to move away from reactive reporting but also enable them to embrace proactive, data-driven decision-making.

According to Gartner research, marketing analytics powered by AI is one of the fastest-growing budget line items in MarTech budgets, and for good reason. When budgets in marketing become tight, being able to prove what is succeeding (and divest from what isn’t) is invaluable.

Hottest: Marketing Workflow Automation

As in-house teams take on more and more responsibility as agency spend recedes, marketing workflow automation platforms are becoming table stakes in the quest to maintain operational efficiency.

From content approvals to campaign management, asset distribution to reporting, these solutions help marketing teams manage growing workloads without adding headcount. Solutions commonly applied include marketing resource management (MRM) solutions, digital asset management (DAM) solutions, and artificial intelligence (AI) content scheduling solutions. 

A tech CMO explained:

“We didn’t cut our deliverables when budgets cut we cut bottlenecks.”

Cooling: Legacy Ad Tech and Standalone Point Solutions

Interestingly, with AI, CDPs, and workflow technologies taking hold, old-school ad tech and point solutions are losing favor.

CMOs are simplifying their tech stacks, opting for connected, scalable platforms rather than isolated, one-off niche technologies that build data silos and create operational friction.

This is reflected in heightened interest in tech stack effectiveness and ROI responsibility. Every bit of tech in the stack needs to be able to justify its cost and contribute to demonstrable business outcomes.

Rhetorical question: Is your tech stack growing the business, or piling up more bills?

Use Cases – Smart CMOs: How Are They Leveraging This Data Through Gartner

Reading a report full of data is helpful, but the most progressive CMOs make those insights actionable. The Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Data Snapshot isn’t an exercise in passive reading; it’s a playbook for making wiser, quicker, more defendable decisions.

Here’s how leading marketing leaders are averaging this data:

Benchmarking Budgets and Strategy

One of the easiest things CMOs do with this report is to compare their marketing budgets to peers.

For instance, if you’re spending 30% of your budget on MarTech and Gartner’s figures indicate a 25.4% average, it gives you solid fact-based ammo to defend or vary that stance.

A SaaS CMO we interviewed recently was getting grilled by their CFO on MarTech expense. The answer?

“I pulled the Gartner numbers halfway through the meeting, demonstrated that we were on par with peers, and the discussion changed immediately.”

This mirrors broader findings from Deloitte’s 2024 CMO Survey, which states that “82% of CMOs now regularly compare their spending allocations to peer benchmarks before making strategic adjustments.”

Changing Spend to MarTech and AI

CMOs are also leveraging this information to make the case for spending more on AI-driven analytics and customer data platforms.

One CMO of a consumer products company made the argument to cut paid media budgets by 15% and use that to fund a new AI insights platform, basing this argument on Gartner’s data showing this was part of a broader industry trend. The board approved after observing how peers were making similar shifts.

For example, a consumer goods CMO recently convinced their leadership team to cut 15% from paid media and redirect it to AI insights tools, using Gartner’s numbers and McKinsey’s research as supporting evidence.

Negotiating Better Agency Deals

The report’s finding that agency spend dropped to 18.3% has given CMOs leverage to renegotiate terms and shift toward project-based work.

A retail CMO told me she presented this data in her annual agency review, resulting in reduced retainer fees and performance-linked incentives.

“It wasn’t a threat, it was just smart business.”

This aligns with Forrester’s 2024 marketing outlook, which predicts a continuing trend toward project-based, specialized agency contracts as CMOs consolidate capabilities in-house.

Defending In-Person Events

Physical events can seem like a hard sell in a post-pandemic environment, but with 11.3% of budgets remaining here, savvy CMOs are using that number to make the case for targeted investments.

One B2B tech CMO was able to win budget for two flagship events and subsequently close enterprise deals that webinar-only channels couldn’t deliver.

Salesforce’s State of Marketing Report 2024 echoes this shift, noting that 58% of marketers say in-person events are regaining importance in driving enterprise pipeline opportunities.

As he said, “You still can’t close a $3M contract in a webinar chat.”

Recommended: New Study: CMOs Embrace GenAI Despite Knowledge Gaps

Conclusion: Lead with Data, Budget with Confidence Through Gartner

If there is one message that rings loud and clear in the Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Data Snapshot, it is this:

Marketing is not becoming less relevant; it’s changing.

Yes, the budgets have come in tight. However, instead of cutting indiscriminately, today’s leading CMOs are optimizing their spend with finesse. For starters, they’re doubling down on MarTech platforms that deliver control, data, and operational efficiency. In parallel, they’re investing in AI analytics tools that anticipate audience behavior rather than simply respond to it. Additionally, many are bringing critical skills in-house, while at the same time renegotiating smarter, performance-based agency partnerships. In short, it’s not about spending less, it’s about spending with purpose.

Most importantly, they’re using industry benchmark data to validate every major decision, whether it’s a new AI tool, a reduction in media spend, or a cautious return to in-person events.

If you’re a marketing leader preparing for quarterly reviews, annual planning, or budget defense conversations, this report isn’t just a nice-to-have.

It’s your evidence. Your negotiation tool. Your competitive advantage.

So don’t leave it in your inbox or bookmark folder.

Download the full Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Data Snapshot today, benchmark your budget, and use those insights to drive actions that count.

In a reality where every dollar has to earn its keep, data-driven leadership is no longer a choice, it’s marketing’s new normal.

FAQs

Q1.What insights does the Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Data Snapshot reveal? 

This annual publication from Gartner draws insights directly from over 400 marketing leaders and CMOs across North America and Europe. It uncovers how marketing budgets are distributed, what categories are added or subtracted, and which areas CMOs are concentrating on this year.

Q2. What have been the shifts in total marketing budgets in 2025 versus 2024?

According to the report, the proportion of company revenue allocated to marketing has declined, dropping from 9.1% in 2024 to 7.7% in 2025. But not a drop in the value assigned to marketing, rather an increasing shift towards improved, data-driven, and AI-powered approaches. 

Q3. What are CMOs focusing on for marketing in 2025?

Among top spending areas, marketing technology leads with 25.4% of the total allocation, with labor costs at 24.1%, paid advertising taking 20.9%, agency partnerships at 18.3%, and offline promotions and events rounding out at 11.3%. In the MarTech segment, Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), analytics using artificial intelligence, and marketing workflow automation platforms are in the highest demand.

Q4. How can CMOs leverage this report to make an impact on internal budget debates?

CMOs can use the industry benchmark figures in the report to rationalize budget spends, defend a reduction or a spike in spending, negotiate better agency contracts, and shift investments to leading-growth categories. It comes in particularly handy for board and CFO presentations where facts must be fact-based.

Q5. Do you know where the 2025 Gartner overview of CMO spend data can be accessed?

Get the full report from Gartner’s official website here:

https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/research/annual-cmo-spend-data-snapshots-ec

Discover the trends shaping tomorrow’s marketing – join the leaders at MarTech Insights today.

For media inquiries, you can write to our MarTech Newsroom at news@intentamplify.com