Survey results presented at the recent Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo showed that digital channels now account for 61% of total marketing spend,
The annual Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey of 402 CMOs and other marketing leaders in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe between February and March 2025 found that paid online channels lead the digital mix, accounting for 69% of total digital spend.
As a result, B2B marketers are reshaping strategies across industries that is seeing seven out of 10 sectors dedicating more than 60% of their budget to online channels.
Strategic Pivot
Ewan McIntyre, VP Analyst and Chief of Research in Gartner Marketing Practice, offered the increasing allocation towards digital channels reflects a “strategic pivot” as CMOs have recognized the need to adapt to rapidly changing consumer behaviors and technological advancements such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).
“With Google’s postponement of cookie deprecation, the rise of GenAI, and uncertainties surrounding TikTok’s future, marketers are navigating a dynamic digital landscape to keep their strategies effective and impactful,” said Ewan McIntyre is a statement released with the survey.
Email Endures
The annual CMO survey uncovered that paid search is the leading digital channel, increasing its share year-over-year 13.9% of total digital spend. Digital display advertising has overtaken social advertising for the second spot, growing by 17% year-over-year (YoY) to 12.5%. Social advertising maintains its budget share at 12.2%.
Despite the growth in digital channels, budget allocations to owned and earned channels decreased 9.0% YoY. The exception was email marketing experiencing a marginal increase and accounting for 7.4% of total digital spend for 2025. It ranks as ranked as the fifth most impactful channel overall and the top channel for customer loyalty.
Prioritizing Advertising Channels
CMOs recognize the importance of evaluating channel impact alongside spend. The survey pointed out the search advertising stands out as a high spend/high impact channel, particularly for conversion and pre-purchase touchpoints, while video and streaming have slipped in impact rankings due to platform saturation and targeting challenges.
Retail media networks have emerged as a significant player in the digital advertising landscape, surpassing video and streaming to become a key channel for marketers seeking targeted reach and engagement. As platforms grow, retail media networks is seen as offering a focused approach that addresses audience choice overload and enhances advertising effectiveness.
While attracting mid-high spend Linear TV ranks lower in perceived impact. But industries with significant allocations to linear TV view it as an effective awareness generator.
“As CMOs maneuver the evolving channel landscape, strategic implications of multichannel plans become paramount,” said McIntyre. “Budget challenges and channel volatility will continue to shape priorities, emphasizing the need for performance-driven strategies
Gartner clients can read more in Insights From the 2025 CMO Spend Survey.
