The results of the most recent CMO survey have been released, providing new insights into the state of marketing strategies. A key theme that emerged from the survey was the increasing pressure on CMOs to demonstrate value and ROI in an evolving marketing landscape.
Since this fall 2024 survey does not ask the exact same questions as the spring edition, this analysis will not be able to make a direct question-by-question comparison between the two. Instead, I will focus on the martech section of the survey and reference other sections to provide context and assumptions about the results.
Budget trends and challenges
Despite the increase in CMO budgets, marketing budgets as a percentage of the total company budget have declined, falling to 10.1% in fall 2024, from a three-year high of 13.8% in September 2022.
Marketing budgets as a percentage of company revenue also declined, from 10.1% in spring 2024 to 7.7% in fall 2024, the lowest level in more than three years.
When companies cut costs to drive revenue growth, marketing budgets take the biggest hit, with executives cutting them 44.6% of the time, more than any other area.
Dig Deeper: How to Align Processes to Drive Martech Usage
Martech investment and usage models
At the same time, CMOs slightly reduced their martech spending as a share of the total marketing budget, down 0.9% from spring 2024.
However, martech usage increased 1.4% during the same period, suggesting possible stack consolidation or platform replacement to reduce costs.
The impact of Martech on performance and expectations
Marketing technology continues to be rated as having an above-average impact on business performance, with a rating of 4.8 on a scale of one (not important) to seven (significant impact), unchanged since spring 2024.
However, it still fell short of expectations, with 54.9% of respondents saying they were disappointed with its results, an increase of more than 6% compared to the spring.
Dig Deeper: The impact of martech on company value
The survey results also reveal how CMOs are using martech platforms:
Martech tools support 55% of marketing activities, leaving 45% not using these tools. Only 50% of martech tools are used in operations, compared to 56% in the spring, despite the close link between martech and marketing functions. Fewer CMOs are focusing on strengthening data strategies and reducing data silos, falling from 51% to 48%. Marketing experimentation also decreased slightly, from 35.6% to 32.7%.
Overall, the increase in martech disappointment may be linked to the decline in the use of martech in marketing activities and company operations.
Recommendations for Marketers: Maximizing Martech ROI
Marketers face many challenges beyond the tech stack, but they can play a key role in maximizing martech value and ROI.
Reconsider the impact of martech on MOps
Marketers should evaluate each martech platform (e.g. CRM, MAP, CDP) by asking the questions:
Can this platform reduce dependence on external suppliers? For example, drag-and-drop platforms allow internal teams to create and deploy assets such as social posts, email and SMS templates without third-party intervention. Can my team achieve better results using this platform? Could tools with easy-to-edit templates help increase the frequency of email communications?
Improve customer data collection
Since marketers are closest to collecting data (e.g., website forms and in-app surveys) and using it in customer activation (e.g., creating and deployment of campaigns), they can influence the quality of the data. Clean data is easier to process and unify across platforms (CDP, CRM, data warehouse), reducing the need for extensive operational/IT involvement and enabling faster use.
Key questions to consider:
Do we have processes to collect customer data in the cleanest way possible? Is there data governance accessible to marketers and stakeholders?
Balancing martech investment with performance expectations
While the CMO fall survey offers valuable insights, it raises further questions about how companies are allocating their martech budgets and using these tools effectively. What remains clear is that the use of martech continues to grow in importance. While not all the answers are available, marketers can drive martech value by focusing on process improvement and data quality, as discussed above.
Dig Deeper: How Marketers Can Help Drive Martech Usage
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