Growth on Hold As Marketing Budgets Stall

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Gartner’s latest CMO Spend Survey reveals that marketing outlays continue to represent just 7.7% of total company revenue—unchanged from 2024. While this suggests a halt to the post-pandemic erosion of marketing resources, it offers little relief to CMOs navigating economic headwinds and rising performance expectations.

The survey, conducted in Q1 2025 with 400 senior marketers across North America and Europe (primarily from firms generating over $1 billion in annual revenue), underscores a cautious optimism. Budget declines have ceased, but spending levels are still below pre-pandemic benchmarks. In a year already marked by volatility, Gartner warns that this may be the high-water mark for marketing investment.

“Marketing budgets may have stabilized, but they remain insufficient for many CMOs,” Gartner analysts noted. Cost-cutting measures are already in motion: 39% of CMOs plan to trim agency relationships—either by severing underperforming partnerships or renegotiating terms—and an equal percentage anticipate labor reductions.

Sectoral differences are stark. Consumer goods, manufacturing, and pharma lead in marketing investment relative to revenue, while healthcare, IT services, and travel lag far behind.

One notable shift is the increased focus on paid media. Accounting for 31% of budgets—up from 28% in 2024—paid media has overtaken labor, martech, and agency spending. CMOs are prioritizing visibility in a cluttered digital landscape, even as media costs rise and ROI remains elusive.

“Brands are fighting for attention in longer, more uncertain buying cycles,” Gartner notes. Yet with diminishing returns on ad spend, CMOs face a dual challenge: justify existing investments while operating within static or shrinking budgets. With macroeconomic uncertainty still casting a long shadow, the status quo may be the new normal. For marketers, the race isn’t to grow budgets—it’s to make stagnation work smarter.