B2B marketers head into the new year with more to spend and a renewed focus on brand visibility, according to a report from 10Fold.
After several years of fluctuating spend and shifting priorities, marketers are redefining how they invest. Brand awareness has emerged as the top investment priority in 10Fold’s its 2026 Marketing Budget Blueprint, reflecting marketers’ heightened focus on building trust, recognition and differentiation in an increasingly artificial intelligence (AI)-influenced discovery landscape.
All told, 69% expect their budgets to increase, signaling renewed confidence and a stronger alignment between marketing investment and corporate growth goals.
10Fold’s Thomas on Expectations
Susan Thomas, CEO of 10Fold, noted marketing teams are entering the new year with more budget with equal pressure to allocate it where it matters.
“Brand awareness has become the new battleground,” said Thomas in a statement. “In an AI-filtered landscape, the organizations that invest in credibility, recognizability and consistent content performance will be the ones that win attention and accelerate growth.”
Marketing Leaders Spending with Purpose
With budgets expanding, marketers are prioritizing the programs that most directly support brand awareness with investments in corporate, executive social and social influencers at 21% and PR and PR agencies at 14%. Very few respondents plan to hold steady or decrease spending in brand-building or content marketing programs, reflecting a collective commitment to sustained visibility and authority.
Together, brand awareness and content marketing account for the largest share of projected spending at 16%, followed by lead generation at 14% and product marketing one percentage point behind as organizations work to articulate value and stand out in saturated categories.
The responses from 400 senior marketing executives across the U.S. and Europe to assess spending trends, priorities, and expectations uncovered a notable shift toward expansion: 57% of respondents report annual budgets between $1 million and $10 million, with the largest share (29%) in the $1 million –$5 million range. Additionally, 42% anticipate budget growth of 5–10% and another 10% expect increases of 11% or more.
What B2B Tech CMOs Will Measure in 2026
This renewed investment discipline is mirrored in evolving performance metrics. More than half of marketing leaders (56%) have KPIs for brand awareness and content marketing, closely followed by 55% of lead generation and performance marketing metrics and 50% customer marketing and retention KPIs.
When it comes to driving lead generation, the top three priorities are AI-powered personalization and predictive targeting (33%), website conversion rate optimization (25%), and SDR outreach (25%) that 10Fold officials see as underscoring a broad shift from volume-driven pipelines toward more intelligent, precision-oriented conversion strategies.
Marketers report record levels of alignment with executive teams— 89% of marketing leaders believe their budgets will support their 2026 revenue and growth goals, and 70% say the C-suite fully understands their objectives, which is a notable improvement from previous years.
To view the full findings of 2026 Marketing Budget Blueprint, click here.
