# 42% of marketers in StackAdapt's survey say silos waste over 20% of programmatic budget

By MarketScale Newsroom · Published 2026-10-31 · Marketing Tech on MarketScale
Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/marketing-tech/42-of-marketers-in-stackadapts-survey-say-silos-waste-over-20-of-programmatic-budget

> StackAdapt's 2027 report finds 83% of marketers added channels, but only 10% almost always run them as one campaign. That gap is where the money goes.

## Key points

- Adding channels is the easy part: 83% of marketers did it in the past two to three years, while 10% almost always run those channels as one coordinated campaign.
- At budgets above $10 million, advertisers are more likely to use measurement capabilities (69% vs. 56%) and are more likely to cite technology limits (23% vs. 17%). StackAdapt’s conclusion is that operating models—not investment levels—are the next lever for performance at scale.
- Before counting on AI optimization, ask whether customer data is connected across acquisition, conversion and retention. Only 45% of marketers say theirs is, and 79% of that group credit AI with better cross-channel coordination.

Eighty-three percent of marketers have added channels to their marketing mix over the past two to three years. Ten percent say they almost always run truly omnichannel campaigns. Both numbers come from StackAdapt's annual State of Programmatic Advertising 2027 report. The gap between them comes with a cost estimate attached.

That estimate: 42% of respondents believe more than a fifth of their programmatic budget is wasted through siloed or fragmented channel execution. They put the blame on how the channels are run.

For the person who owns a demand gen budget or a marketing ops roadmap, the findings suggest a narrower and more useful reading. Most teams already have the reach. The open question is whether their data, measurement and org chart can make those channels act like one program.

## The top-performer gap, by the numbers

StackAdapt defines top performers as respondents who report significantly stronger year-over-year performance. In the Business Wire release, that group is compared with everyone else on four measures. The size of the channel-mix gap stands out most: top performers are more than twice as likely to run three or more channels.

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The last two lines carry the argument. The group running the most channels is also the group least likely to report waste from fragmentation. Ryan Nelsen, StackAdapt's CMO, said in the release that channels, data and AI widen what marketers can do while making the work more complex, and that the strongest performers get those parts working together.

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The strongest objection sits in the definition. Top performance is self-reported, and every comparison in the report is a correlation. Teams that are already well funded and well run may be more likely to have connected data and attribution in place, and also more likely to describe their year as strong. The report shows that these traits travel together. It doesn't show which one comes first.

## Where the $10 million budgets get stuck

The most practical finding concerns the biggest spenders. According to StackAdapt's platform data, advertisers whose annual spend tops $10 million are more likely to put measurement capabilities to use (69% vs. 56%), and they take up a wider range of platform features. At that tier, then, access to tools doesn't seem to be the problem.

Technology limits follow the same pattern, at 23% versus 17%. StackAdapt concludes that operating models, more than investment levels, are the next lever for performance at scale.

## Measurement and data decide what AI is worth

Just 7% of marketers report having a fully unified measurement strategy. Most rely on several methods at the same time. That matters because the report links two capabilities to noticeably better self-reported results.

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The two gaps are almost the same size, about 15 points each by simple subtraction from the report's figures. Cross-channel attribution users also report more confidence linking ad spend to results, 66% against 47%.

Connected data is still the exception. Only 45% of marketers describe the first-party data they hold on customers and prospects as mostly or fully linked across the acquisition, conversion and retention stages. Within that group, 79% say AI has improved cross-channel coordination.

## Pricing the connected stack

Improvado, in a guide for marketing analysts, says that in 2026, 90% of B2B display budgets flow through programmatic platforms.

Whether running channels through one platform actually closes the 83%-to-10% gap depends less on how much inventory the platform can reach and more on whether CRM data, intent signals and measurement flow through it.

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## Four priorities, two numbers to watch

For 2027, the report names four priorities: connect customer data across the lifecycle, coordinate execution across channels, set up trusted measurement practices, and align teams and workflows. EMARKETER technology analyst Jacob Bourne, commenting in the release, said the hard part has moved past getting access to channels, data and AI and toward fitting them into systems that improve decisions. He called coordination an essential capability for marketers heading into 2027.

Since the report is annual, the next edition will show whether the advice has taken hold. Two figures are worth tracking: the 10% who almost always run truly omnichannel campaigns and the 7% with fully unified measurement.

## Sources

- [How Top-Performing B2B Marketers Manage Programmatic Complexity: StackAdapt](https://www.demandgenreport.com/industry-news/news-brief/how-top-performing-b2b-marketers-manage-programmatic-complexity-stackadapt/55098/) (Demand Gen Report)
- [StackAdapt's 2027 Programmatic Advertising Report Finds Top ...](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261019740544/en/StackAdapts-2027-Programmatic-Advertising-Report-Finds-Top-Performers-Are-Twice-as-Likely-to-Expand-Their-Channel-Mix) (Business Wire)
- [B2B Lead Gen: Why Programmatic Beats Traditional Advertising](https://www.stackadapt.com/resources/blog/programmatic-b2b-lead-gen)
- [B2B Programmatic Advertising Strategies 2026 | Platform Guide](https://improvado.io/blog/b2b-programmatic-advertising-strategies)

Tags: StackAdapt, programmatic advertising, B2B marketing, marketing operations, first-party data, marketing measurement, cross-channel attribution, omnichannel, AI in advertising, martech procurement, demand generation

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