Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
Marketing budgets as a percentage of total revenue fell to 7.7% in 2024 down from 9.1% in 2023
75% of CMOs report being under pressure to do more with less regarding their marketing spend
Total global advertising spending is projected to grow by 5.3% in 2024 reaching $741 billion
Social media advertising spend is projected to reach $247 billion globally by 2027
Facebook ads reach 62.6% of all internet users making it a top spend priority
The average cost per click (CPC) for Facebook ads across all industries is $1.72
Content marketing generates over 3x as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
73% of B2B marketers and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall strategy
SEO professionals charge an average of $100-$150 per hour for services
MarTech claims 25.4% of the total marketing budget in 2024
Global spending on marketing technology is expected to reach $215 billion by 2027
63% of marketing leaders plan to increase their investment in generative AI tools
Email marketing returns an average of $36 for every $1 spent
B2B companies spend approximately 9% of their budget on in-person trade shows
37% of B2B brands are increasing their budget for Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
B2B & Email Marketing
- 1Email marketing returns an average of $36 for every $1 spent
- 2B2B companies spend approximately 9% of their budget on in-person trade shows
- 337% of B2B brands are increasing their budget for Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
- 477% of B2B marketers use email marketing newsletters as part of their content marketing
- 5The average cost per lead (CPL) for B2B companies is $198
- 659% of B2B marketers cite lead generation as their top budget priority
- 785% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for paid social promoting requiring higher CPMs than Facebook
- 8B2B marketing data spend increased by 3.5% in 2024 to support prospecting
- 9Automated email campaigns account for 21% of email marketing revenue
- 1067% of B2B organizations are increasing their spending on webinar hosting platforms
- 11Cold calling costs B2B firms roughly $1.72 per dial with high labor costs
- 1231% of B2B marketers say that organizing in-person events is their single largest expense
- 13Testing and optimization claim 12% of the email marketing budget
- 14B2B influencer marketing is growing with 48% of B2B marketers budgeting for it
- 15Direct mail still accounts for 6% of B2B marketing budgets due to high response rates
- 1650% of B2B marketers are investing in community building to lower acquisition costs
- 17The software industry has the highest average Cost Per Click in B2B search at $38
- 1840% of B2B marketers say budget constraints are their biggest barrier to ABM success
- 1920% of email marketing budget is spent on design and content creation
- 20Referral marketing programs in B2B have a 3-5x higher conversion rate lowering spend on cold leads
Interpretation
Taken together, these figures tell a clear but slightly ironic story: email remains the powerhouse, delivering about $36 for every $1 and fueled by design, testing and automation, even as B2B marketers pour money into pricier channels like LinkedIn, software search and in-person events, ramp up ABM, webinars, influencers and data to improve targeting, and lean on referrals and direct mail that punch above their weight to fight rising CPLs, high platform costs and the ever-present budget constraints.
Content & SEO
- 1Content marketing generates over 3x as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
- 273% of B2B marketers and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall strategy
- 3SEO professionals charge an average of $100-$150 per hour for services
- 448% of marketers say that content marketing gives the highest ROI of any digital channel
- 582% of marketers report that they actively invest in content marketing
- 6Video marketing budgets have increased by 25% year-over-year for 68% of businesses
- 753% of marketers prioritize blogging as their primary content marketing method
- 8The average cost to outsource a single blog post ranges between $200 and $500
- 946% of businesses plan to increase their spending on content creation in 2024
- 10Organic search drives 53% of all website traffic helping reduce paid acquisition costs
- 1191% of businesses use video as a marketing tool requiring significant production budget
- 12Companies that blog get 55% more web visitors reducing the cost per lead
- 1369% of marketers invested in SEO in 2023 to combat rising paid media costs
- 14Creating a high-quality white paper costs between $3000 and $5000 on average
- 15Podcasts are used by 41% of marketers requiring budget for audio equipment and hosting
- 1672% of marketers say that content creation is the most effective SEO tactic
- 17The top 3 results in Google search get 54.4% of all clicks impacting organic traffic value
- 18Interactive content requires 25% higher upfront investment but generates 2x more conversions
- 1942% of companies have a dedicated budget for content localization
- 20Updating old content improves traffic by 106% acting as a low-cost marketing strategy
Interpretation
Call it obvious: content marketing generates over three times as many leads at 62 percent lower cost, organic search and blogging drive the lion's share of traffic, and smart spending on SEO, video, localization and content refreshes, yes even paying for quality, delivers the sustainable ROI that rising paid-media costs cannot.
Digital Advertising & Social Media
- 1Social media advertising spend is projected to reach $247 billion globally by 2027
- 2Facebook ads reach 62.6% of all internet users making it a top spend priority
- 3The average cost per click (CPC) for Facebook ads across all industries is $1.72
- 456% of professionals say they will increase their TikTok marketing investment in 2024
- 5Google Ads average cost per lead across all industries is $19.29 for search
- 6Instagram accounts for 29% of worldwide social media ad spend
- 7LinkedIn advertising revenue increased by over 10% year-over-year in the latest fiscal report
- 8Display advertising spending is expected to grow by 5% annually through 2025
- 9Mobile advertising spending will surpass $400 billion globally in 2024
- 1026% of marketers plan to invest the most in short-form video content on social platforms
- 11The average click-through rate (CTR) in Google Ads across all industries is 3.17%
- 12Connected TV (CTV) ad spend is projected to grow by 22% in 2024
- 13Programmatic advertising accounts for over 90% of digital display ad spending in the US
- 14Influencer marketing spend was expected to hit $21.1 billion globally in 2023
- 15Retail media ad spend is expected to grow fast reaching over $150 billion by 2026
- 1659% of marketers say that pay-per-click (PPC) is a huge driver for their business revenue
- 17X (formerly Twitter) ad revenue dropped by approx 50% according to 2023 reports
- 18Digital audio ad spending is expected to exceed $10 billion in the US by 2025
- 19Ads on YouTube have the potential to reach 2.5 billion users
- 20The cost per thousand impressions (CPM) on Facebook increased by 17% year-over-year in Q1 2024
Interpretation
As ad budgets surge toward mobile, programmatic and short-form video, marketers must balance the seductive reach of billion-user platforms with rising CPCs and CPMs, platform volatility and fast-growing channels like CTV and retail media that demand smarter, more measurable spending.
General Budgets & Strategy
- 1Marketing budgets as a percentage of total revenue fell to 7.7% in 2024 down from 9.1% in 2023
- 275% of CMOs report being under pressure to do more with less regarding their marketing spend
- 3Total global advertising spending is projected to grow by 5.3% in 2024 reaching $741 billion
- 4In 2024 digital advertising is expected to account for 70% of total media ad trends
- 588% of marketers say their marketing budget has increased or stayed the same this year compared to last year
- 6North America remains the largest advertising market with spend reaching nearly $363 billion
- 740% of CFOs view marketing spend as a primary driver of company growth rather than just a cost center
- 8Companies with high alignment between sales and marketing teams see 27% faster profit growth during budget cycles
- 9Healthcare marketing spend has increased by 7% year-over-year globally
- 10Traditional advertising spend was predicted to decrease by 0.4% in 2024 globally
- 1161% of marketing decision makers expect their budget to increase in the next three years
- 1224% of marketing budgets are lost to operational inefficiencies according to enterprise marketers
- 13During economic downturns 60% of brands that increased media spend saw ROI improvements
- 14B2C product companies allocate approximately 14% of their revenue to marketing budgets
- 15B2B service companies allocate approximately 8% of their revenue to marketing budgets
- 1629% of marketing leaders report that proving the value of marketing to the CEO is their biggest internal challenge
- 17Asia-Pacific ad spend is forecasted to grow by 6.2% in 2024
- 1858% of CMOs say they lack the in-house capabilities to deliver on their strategy despite available budget
- 19Small businesses spend an average of 1% of their gross revenue on advertising
- 2064% of businesses identify customer acquisition as the primary goal of their marketing spend
Interpretation
Despite global ad spend climbing to $741 billion and digital grabbing 70% of the market, marketing is paradoxically being squeezed: budgets fell to 7.7% of revenue, 75% of CMOs are under pressure to do more with less, 24% of funds leak to inefficiency, 58% lack in-house capabilities, nearly a third struggle to prove value to the CEO, small businesses only spend about 1% of revenue, and yet CFOs and well-aligned firms increasingly see marketing as a genuine growth engine.
MarTech & Data Analytics
- 1MarTech claims 25.4% of the total marketing budget in 2024
- 2Global spending on marketing technology is expected to reach $215 billion by 2027
- 363% of marketing leaders plan to increase their investment in generative AI tools
- 4Utilization of the MarTech stack fell to 42% in 2023 indicating wasted spend
- 532% of total MarTech budget is spent on CRM and automation platforms
- 656% of marketers use AI for data analysis to optimize spend
- 7Spending on customer data platforms (CDP) exceeded $2.3 billion in 2023
- 844% of companies plan to increase spend on marketing analytics software
- 9Data privacy compliance costs now account for 5% of digital marketing budgets
- 1060% of marketers have replaced a marketing technology vendor in the past 12 months for cost efficiency
- 11Chatbot marketing spend is expected to reach $142 billion by 2024
- 1272% of marketers believe their MarTech stack is too complex thereby increasing management costs
- 13Predictive analytics investment is growing by 18% annually in marketing departments
- 1428% of marketing budget is allocated to external agencies for tech implementation
- 15Email marketing software accounts for approximately 10% of MarTech spend for heavy users
- 1687% of marketers report that AI tools have reduced their operational spend on content production
- 17Conversion rate optimization (CRO) tools market size is growing at 10.6% CAGR
- 1840% of enterprises are increasing their budget for cloud-based marketing solutions
- 19Virtual events technology spend has stabilized but remains 15% higher than pre-pandemic levels
- 20Personalization engines consume 14% of digital marketing technology budgets
Interpretation
Marketers are funneling roughly a quarter of their budgets into a fast‑growing MarTech universe that could reach $215 billion by 2027, pouring money into CRM, CDPs, chatbots, personalization and AI to squeeze better analytics and cheaper content, yet with just 42 percent stack utilization, rampant complexity, rising privacy and cloud costs and frequent vendor churn, a lot of that spend risks being expensive clutter instead of a strategic growth engine.
