The million-dollar question: answered.

But how do you compare yourself to the market?

That’s where benchmarks are useful. Gartner publishes the CMO Spend Survey every year, showing how much companies invest in marketing on average.

They survey around 400 CMOs in North America and Europe, across roughly 10 industries. These are mostly large organisations: more than 70% have revenues of €1B+ and the median sits above €5B.

Let’s be honest: not many entrepreneurs or marketers reading this fall into that category today. But many may aspire to be there someday. And it’s safe to assume that the decision-makers in those companies know exactly what they’re doing. They invest, because growth doesn’t come from hope. It comes from planning and budgeting.

In 2025, companies invested an average of 7.7% of total revenue into their marketing budget. That was the same percentage in 2024. In 2023 it was higher: 9.1%. And to be clear: this includes people, tech stack, and media. This is not just the amount for your internal team or agency.

The reaction I usually get is: “Wow, that’s a lot.” I get it. But marketing shouldn’t be seen only as a cost. It is a growth engine for brand, demand, and customer value.

Ian Whittaker put it sharply during a keynote at the Effie Awards in Belgium this year:

It is proven that marketing and advertising create value, and are a long-term investment, not a short-term cost. Therefore, at least a part of the marketing budget should be booked as capex, so it stays protected from budget cuts year after year.

So how is that marketing budget typically divided?

The same Gartner data shows the budget roughly falls into these categories:

People (internal teams, agencies, freelancers). In 2024 (no data found for the last research) this was around 45%
Media budget. In 2025, 30% of marketing budgets (2.3% of revenue) went to paid media. In the battle for reach, impressions or boardroom validation, this share is growing.
Technology & tools (CRM, automation, analytics, AI). In 2024, about 22%.

The exact mix again depends on your strategy: A performance-driven scale-up invests differently than a B2B corporate focused on brand trust.

So: how much should you invest?

Start with your objectives
Determine which channels, roles and resources are needed to reach them
Don’t fall into the trap of focusing only on reach while ignoring attention
Use benchmarks to check: am I aligned with my competitors and the market?
Unlock the power of compound creativity: consistent, recognisable creative work that builds across channels, formats, and campaigns

Marketing works when it follows a plan and not just a budget.

Need a sparring partner to help pitch your budget? Or do you have other insights or benchmarks to share? Feel free to reach out. I’d love to hear them.

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Time for a good talk – let’s find out what we can mean to each other.