Marketing Budgets: Spend Drops Relative to Revenue at Enterprises

Marketing Strategy — Wed., Jul. 28, 2021

According to research from Gartner, marketing budgets at large businesses have dropped significantly relative to revenue in 2021. The report was based on data from a survey of 430 CMOs, and found that the average marketing budget dropped to 6.4% of total company revenue in 2021, down from 11% in 2020 and 10.5% in 2019.

The researchers found that marketing spend relative to revenue dropped across all industries examined this year, with no sector achieving a double-digit marketing share of budget. Companies in the travel and hospitality, manufacturing, and technology-product industries experienced the biggest drops.

The survey was conducted between March and May 2021, among CMOs across North America and Europe who work for organizations with annual revenue of over $500 million. This data is reflected in the two graphs provided, showing the marketing budget percent of total revenue and the revenue percentage allocated to marketing for 2020 vs 2021.

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