Gartner finds awareness and conversion take 62.6% of media spend
Gartner’s 2026 CMO Spend Survey found that awareness and conversion now make up 62.6% of total media spend. That is a rise of more than 10% since 2024. Over the same period, spending on customer loyalty and retention fell 29%, to less than 15% of media spend. CMOs are pushing budget toward acquisition and digital channels to chase growth.
What the Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey shows
The survey maps how CMOs split their money, and the trend is clear. Digital media now takes more than two-thirds of total media spend. That share is up 18% since 2024. CMOs cite better personalization and the pull of channels that AI can optimize as key reasons for the move.
Labor is also taking a bigger slice. Its share of the marketing budget rose from 21.9% in 2025 to 24.5% in 2026. Gartner reads this as a sign that AI value depends on people and skills, not tools alone.
Readiness remains low. 70% of CMOs say their internal processes are not mature enough to scale AI. Only 30% report mature AI readiness. The top barrier is a lack of internal AI expertise, named by 38% of respondents.
One finding stands out. Gartner says the most AI-mature organizations put a larger share of budget into loyalty and retention, and a smaller share into digital. That suggests less mature teams may be over-indexing on short-term channels that are easy to measure and automate. The survey covered 401 CMOs and marketing leaders across North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Most work at companies with over $1 billion in revenue. It ran from January through March 2026.
Who ran the Gartner marketing survey
Gartner shared the data on June 8, 2026, during its Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo in Denver. The figures come from the broader 2026 CMO Spend Survey, which earlier reported that CMOs allocate 15.3% of budget to AI. Ewan McIntyre, a Gartner VP Analyst, warned that faster optimization can pull budget toward the channels that are easiest to tune, while underinvesting in the touchpoints that build long-term value.
How the spend shift fits B2B marketing trends
The acquisition tilt matches what other research shows. The 2026 ABM Benchmark found 56% of B2B marketers now prioritize new account acquisition. Growth is the goal, and budgets are following it.
Yet brand and trust still drive B2B results. Industry leaders are putting hard numbers on brand value, as seen when the ANA Masters of B2B opened with a $4 trillion Brand Finance ranking. And deals still stall when conviction is missing, a pattern SSS explored in why B2B buyers do not commit and the conviction gap. Cutting retention and brand spend to fund short-term wins works against both forces.
Talking Shift: short-term optimization is eating the brand
Here is the Start Some Shift read. The data shows budget moving toward the stages that are easiest to measure and automate. Retention and brand are getting starved. Gartner’s own numbers say the most AI-mature teams do the opposite and protect retention.
Start Some Shift’s view: when budgets chase the metrics that are easiest to prove, brands quietly trade tomorrow’s customers for this quarter’s clicks. The human buyer builds trust over time. Acquisition clicks do not create that trust on their own. Brands that want to see where short-term spend is hollowing out long-term preference can start with the Binary Buyer Audit.
What B2B marketers should do about media spend and retention
The survey gives leaders a clear prompt to rebalance. Use these moves:
- Protect a share of budget for loyalty and retention, not only acquisition.
- Audit how much of your spend chases easy-to-measure channels.
- Fund brand building that compounds, even when it is harder to track.
- Pair AI tools with the people and skills to use them well.
- Measure customer lifetime value, not only cost per lead.
- Pressure-test where short-term optimization is starving long-term growth.
- Bring finance into the case for brand and retention spend.
What to watch next in CMO budgets
Watch whether retention spend keeps falling into 2027 or finds a floor. Watch too whether AI maturity spreads, since Gartner links it to smarter budget balance. The teams that pair AI with retention discipline may pull ahead as the rest over-optimize.
