- CMOs are no longer investing the majority of their budgets to customer acquisition, instead spreading their spending more evenly across the six stages of the customer journey
- The survey of 100 CMOs with annual marketing budgets of at least $1 million found 57% predicting an increase in overall budgets over the next 2-3 years, with spending growth expected across all stages of the customer journey.
Currently, average budget allocations break down as follows:
- Discover: 20% share;
- Learn: 16%;
- Try: 16%;
- Buy: 21%;
- Use: 13%; and
- Advocate: 14%.
The fairly even spread in spending is interesting in light of research contained in a MarketingCharts report suggesting that among B2B marketers (at least those at mid-size companies), there is a greater focus on lead generation and acquisition than on retention and up-sell revenue.