(This month’s Research Round-Up focuses exclusively on the 2026 edition of “The CMO Survey.” This research has been conducted since 2008, and it consistently provides valuable information about marketing spending, practices, and trends.)
The findings of the 35th edition of “The CMO Survey” were published near the end of last month. “The CMO Survey” is directed by Dr. Christine Moorman and is sponsored by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Deloitte, and the American Marketing Association.
From 2008 through 2024, the survey was conducted semi-annually. In 2025, the research shifted to an annual survey.
The 2026 survey results are based on responses from 308 marketing leaders as U.S. for-profit companies. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents (65.0%) were affiliated with B2B companies, and 97% were VP-level or above. Respondents worked at companies operating in 15 industry sectors. The 2026 survey was conducted January 7 – January 29, 2026.
In addition to overall response data, “The CMO Survey” provides response data by four economic sectors (B2B product companies, B2B services companies, B2C product companies, and B2C services companies), 15 industry sectors, company size, and percentage of online sales.
The data discussed in this post is based on the responses of all survey participants unless otherwise indicated. The percentages and other numerical values in this post are the mean of applicable survey responses, also unless otherwise indicated.
A Tale of Economic Concern
Concerns about the health of the U.S. economy echo throughout the 2026 edition of “The CMO Survey.” In every edition of the survey, the researchers have asked participants to rate their optimism about the U.S. economy on a 100-point scale, with 100 being the most optimistic. The 2026 survey respondents put their level of optimism at 56.8.
To place this optimism rating in context, the rating given by respondents in the June 2020 edition of the survey (at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic) was 50.9. The lowest optimism rating ever given in the 18-year history of “The CMO Survey” was 47.7 in both the February 2009 survey (during the “Great Recession”) and the February 2013 survey.
There was little difference in the level of optimism expressed by marketers at B2B companies and those at B2C companies.
Economic concerns seem to have had a substantial impact on marketing budgets. The marketing leaders participating in the 2026 survey reported that marketing budgets represented 9.0% of total company revenue. That was down from 9.4% in the 2025 edition of the survey.
The 2026 survey respondents also reported that marketing spending increased by only 1.7% over the 12 months preceding the survey. That was the slowest growth of marketing spending since 2021.
Economic uncertainty also appears to have prompted changes in some marketing priorities. When participants in the 2026 survey were asked how they are changing their customer targeting strategies in response to recent changes in economic conditions, the most frequently selected change – chosen by 43.7% of survey respondents – was “increase our focus on building loyalty / retention of existing customers.”
The percentages of B2B marketers who indicated they were making this change were very similar – 43.3% of marketers in B2B product companies and 42.0% of those in B2B services companies.
It’s noteworthy, however, that about one-third of B2B survey respondents said they were making no change in their customer targeting strategies, compared to only 26.5% of all survey respondents.
Other Notable Findings
Here are a few other findings from the 2026 survey that I found notable and interesting.
Importance of Marketing Capabilities and Talent – Survey respondents viewed their marketing capabilities as critical to their company’s business success (5.9 on a 7-point scale), and 34.5% of the respondents said that “having the right talent” is the most important factor for driving future revenue growth. But . . .
Spending on Training & Development Is at a 9-Year Low – Survey respondents said they currently devote only 3.8% of their marketing budget to training and development. This is the lowest percentage seen in “The CMO Survey” since the February 2017 edition of the research.
Use of Generative AI – Survey respondents said their company is using generative AI technologies in 22.4% of its marketing activities, up from 15.1% in the 2025 edition of the survey.
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“The CMO Survey” does not claim that its survey panel is a representative sample of all marketers. So the survey findings cannot be “projected” to all marketers. Nevertheless, “The CMO Survey” provides valuable insights about the current state of marketing, and I recommend that you read the full survey report.
