Cmo Trends

B2B marketing budgets are rising in 2026, but benchmarks vary by business model

Forrester and 10Fold data points to budget growth in 2026. CMO Survey benchmarks show the real planning mistake is using one % of revenue.

Gartner’s 2026 digital marketing Hype Cycle frames AI spend as a governance problem, not a tooling race

Gartner’s 2026 Hype Cycle says CMOs face flat budgets, “answer engines,” and a shift toward autonomous marketing. Operators should treat AI as governed spend.

Companies are still shunning internal candidates for CMO roles, and the July data shows it

External CMO hires continue to dominate in 2026, with nearly half of June's appointments going to first-timers, per Ad Age's monthly tracking data.

Creator-executives are rewriting what a CMO looks like in 2026

Nadya Okamoto's appointment as CMO of Pie signals a broader shift: brands are trading boardroom experience for built-in audience fluency.

CMO tenure hits a 4.1-year floor at S&P 500 companies as marketing chiefs trade titles for broader mandates

Spencer Stuart data shows CMO tenure at S&P 500 firms now averages just 4.1 years, the shortest among core C-suite roles, as top marketers increasingly exit the

Marketing budgets are flat at 7.7% of revenue, but AI-mature companies are spending 11%

Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey finds marketing budgets holding steady at 7.7% of revenue overall, while organizations with fully optimized AI processes average

Brand trust, short-term pressure, and the ROI of creativity: what's reshaping the B2B CMO mandate in 2026

New research reveals B2B CMOs are trading long-term brand investment for internal credibility, even as data shows creativity drives measurable commercial growth