Marketing budget growth remained subdued over the past year, but marketers expect an uptick in 2026. The challenge will be deciding where the additional dollars can do the most work, especially as near-term performance continues to compete with longer-term brand building.

This FAQ examines how quickly benchmarks are expected to grow, where marketers are directing their spending, and what those choices will mean.

How fast are marketing budgets growing?

Marketing spending grew just 1.7% during the prior 12 months, but marketers anticipate a 7.6% increase in budgets over the next 12 months, according to the 35th edition of The CMO Survey Topline Report.

The expected rebound will not be evenly distributed. B2C services companies expect an 8% growth, while B2B product companies anticipate a 0.2% decrease. The survey, fielded January 7–29, included 308 marketing leaders at US for-profit companies, 97% of whom were VP-level or above.

Where are the dollars concentrated?

Digital keeps outgrowing the total budget. Digital marketing spending rose 8.2%, with marketers predicting 10.4% growth over the next 12 months, per The CMO Survey, nearly 3 percentage points faster than projected overall budget growth.

The market context explains why: US digital advertising reached a record $294.6 billion in 2025, according to the latest full-year IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report. Digital channels also give marketers more immediate ways to measure and attribute results, which can make them easier to defend if and when budgets are under scrutiny.

How do marketers balance short-term and long-term priorities?

Pressure to demonstrate marketing’s value is pushing marketers toward more immediate results. Among marketers feeling the squeeze 70.6% say they prioritize short-term impact over long-term gains, while marketing leaders devote 68.2% of their time managing the present and just 31.8% of the time preparing for the future, per the 2026 CMO Survey.

Budget allocations reveal a separate tension between acquisition and retention. Marketers allocate 26% more to acquisition than retention, even though reported retention performance grew 12.8%, compared with 7.4% for acquisition. Taken together, the findings reveal a mismatch: 43.7% of marketers say they are increasing their focus on loyalty and retention. That increased attention has yet to produce a corresponding shift in spending.

Which channels and capabilities are gaining budget?

Retail media, measurement, and digital video are each attracting additional investment, although the available data reveals different kinds of spending:

• Retail media. 73% of advertisers plan to spend more on retail media networks in the future, with 38% of brands increasing spending, per an April 2026 UPS report cited by EMARKETER.
• Measurement capability. Almost half (46.9%) of US brand and agency marketers plan to invest more in marketing mix modeling over the next year, per a July 2025 EMARKETER and TransUnion survey cited by EMARKETER.
• Digital video. US digital video ad spending is projected to grow 11% in 2026, reaching $81.9 billion and accounting for 61% of total TV and video ad spending. Social video is expected to maintain its spending lead over connected TV, according to IAB data cited by EMARKETER.

The common thread is accountability: budget flows to channels that can prove outcomes and to the measurement tools that arbitrate the proof.

How should marketers benchmark their budgets?

No single benchmark will determine the right marketing budget. Industry, company size, margins, growth objectives, and business model all affect how much a company can spend are more useful as contexts as opposed to a direct map of where that money should go.

More durable comparisons include overall budget growth against the 1.7% actual and 7.6% projected rates, digital growth against the 8.2% actual and 10.4% projected rates, and acquisition-retention balance against the documented 26% acquisition skew, per The CMO Survey.

Because the survey does not provide a universal brand-performance ideal, companies should establish their own long-term brand floor and use marketing mix modeling and incrementality testing to determine whether their results justify departing from these external benchmarks.

How should marketing leaders allocate budgets in 2026?

Use incremental dollars to correct the imbalances already visible in marketing budgets:

• Protect long-term brand investment. With 70.6% of pressured marketers favoring short-term impact and brand-building budgets projected to grow 5.9% versus 10.4% for digital, establish a protected brand floor before allocating the remainder to performance, per The CMO Survey.
• Fund retention against the acquisition skew. Acquisition budgets remain 26% larger even though reported retention performance grew 12.8% versus 7.4% for acquisition, making loyalty and CRM strong candidates for reallocation.
• Let measurement arbitrate. MMM and incrementality testing, the fastest-growing capability investments, should set channel ceilings rather than last-click dashboards.
• Stage digital growth. Release the projected 10.4% increase as channels demonstrate incremental returns, using closed-loop signals in areas such as retail media to keep digital growth from crowding out brand and retention.
• Defend experiments. Reserve a fixed share for emerging channels like AI chat placements, where early learning compounds before pricing matures.

We prepared this article with the assistance of generative AI tools and stand behind its accuracy, quality, and originality.

EMARKETER forecast data was current at publication and may have changed. EMARKETER clients have access to up-to-date forecast data. To explore EMARKETER solutions, click here.