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According to research from one agency, U.S. CMOs are rethinking strategy as AI influences 82% of hiring decisions, signaling a shift toward smarter, tech-driven growth. The main message of the findings: “bigger budgets don’t translate to higher KPIs.”
10Fold, a business-to-business (B2B) communications and content agency, has released the “2025 U.S. Marketing Budgets Update: The CMO Wake-Up Call Report.” The findings reveal a shifting landscape for B2B marketers—where AI-fueled transformation is redefining how marketing leaders spend budget on programs, hire staff and agencies, and evaluate ROI.
The new data, based on research commissioned to Sapio Research, collects information from 125 U.S.-based B2B marketing executives. Based on the market changes, 10Fold updated U.S. data and expanded on concepts introduced in 10Fold’s 2024 Marketing Spend Strategy report.
While 56% of companies increased marketing budgets in 2025, most saw only modest growth—typically under 20%. At the same time, just 47% of marketers raised KPI goals, and a majority (52%) either kept expectations flat or lowered them. These shifts point to a marketing environment focused less on blanket growth and more on performance-based investments—particularly in emerging tools like AI and automation.
The full report includes industry breakouts, including insights from cybersecurity, AI, enterprise software, and health tech sectors. To access the report to understand how your marketing plan compares to this year’s trends, visit 10fold.com.
Additional findings from the report include:
- LinkedIn dominates B2B marketing: 83% of respondents named LinkedIn their top platform, while only 17% favored X (formerly Twitter).
- Smaller companies take bigger risks: 59% of businesses under $10 million in revenue increased marketing spend.
- Regional events are rising: Smaller, more targeted events such as user groups and regional conferences (58%) are now prioritized over large-scale trade shows (48%).
“The 2025 findings reveal a more cautious, disciplined approach to growth,” said Susan Thomas, CEO of 10Fold. “We’re seeing organizations invest in AI and automation—with the understanding that building new systems takes time to deliver accelerated KPIs. CMOs are now balancing the urgency to grow with a disciplined approach to replacing old systems with new technology.”
10Fold describes itself as a “Deep Tech integrated PR and digital communications agency” supporting B2B technology companies across industries such as cybersecurity, AI, big data, and enterprise software.
According to 10Fold, AI continues to reshape the marketing workforce and agency partnerships—but CMOs don’t always agree on a correct course of action with AI-enabled systems. According to the report, AI was cited as a reason for both increased (46%) and decreased (30%) marketing budgets, underscoring its dual role as a growth enabler and a driver of cost-cutting.
Among companies leveraging AI, 42% expanded internal teams, while 27% reduced internal headcount due to efficiency gains. Agency relationships were similarly impacted, with 42% reporting increased agency spend attributed to AI.
Enterprise software companies led in both hiring and agency investment, with 65% increasing internal staff and 61% raising agency budgets. In the cybersecurity sector, 50% of executives said AI directly influenced 2025 marketing decisions. These findings reflect a broader trend: CMOs are betting on AI to optimize operations, but results vary widely depending on implementation and expectations.
Sales enablement tools were ranked the top investment priority by 77% of respondents, especially in companies with over 500 employees (84%). However, only 7% of respondents said those tools delivered high ROI, pointing to a clear disconnect between budget allocation and business impact.
In contrast, more targeted and often underfunded tactics were assessed to have a stronger bang for the buck: website predictive tools (20%), social influencer programs (17%), and content development (16%) were more cited as high-ROI activities. While sales pressures still drive much of the spend, influencer strategies and content personalization for the ideal customer profile (ICP) are quietly producing the best results.
Another notable trend: marketers are pulling back from traditional brand awareness strategies. Nearly half of marketers (46%) reported zero spend on analyst programs, and 42% said the same for thought leadership programs. Instead, CMOs are doubling down on measurable, ROI-driven activities such as regional events (58%), automation tools (56%), and organic social (56%).
These shifts suggest a rebalancing of marketing strategies—away from traditional awareness plays and toward programs that drive immediate, quantifiable engagement.