Figure 1 Supplemental Material Related Research Introducing The B2B Marketing Purpose Model Research Methodology Forrester’s B2B Marketing Online Community Q2 Marketing Sentiment Survey, April 2026 was fielded to 89 B2B marketing leaders and marketing budget decision-makers.

B2B Marketers Invest The Most In Programs On average, B2B marketing budget decision-makers said they spend 37% of their budget on programs, 32% on personnel, and 32% on technology. Base: 624 B2B marketing budget decision-makers. Source: Forrester’s Marketing Survey, 2026.

Figure 4 Supplemental Material Survey Methodology Forrester’s B2B Marketing Online Community Budgets Survey, April 2026 was fielded to 41 B2B marketing decision-makers. The focus of this survey is to understand how budgets in marketing are allocated. This survey was fielded in April. Forrester’s B2B Marketing Online Community is a mixed methodology research program of B2B marketing leaders.

B2B Organizations Invest 9% Of Revenue In Marketing, On Average Forrester’s Marketing Survey, 2026 surveyed 624 B2B marketing budget decision-makers. While the average marketing investment in 2025 was 9% of annual revenue, investment levels varied by both annual revenue and industry.

Apply Two Perspectives To Define Your Total B2B Marketing Budget B2B marketing leaders typically allocate their marketing budgets across some combination of marketing programs, outsourced or third-party services, personnel (including T&E), and/or technology. They may also apply a further lens based on whether the marketing budget is allocated centrally or in a distributed fashion.

Figure 5 AI Overconfidence And Missing Context Or Details Top B2B Marketing Leader Challenges This graphic shows the primary challenges B2B marketing leaders and marketing decision-makers have personally experienced from using AI for work purposes.

About three-quarters of B2B marketing decision-makers in France, Germany, and the UK said they plan to increase the marketing budget for content development in 2025; 82% of French respondents expected a budget increase in this area. European B2B Marketers Prioritize Growth Through New Markets This table-style chart compares planned primary growth strategies 2025 vs. 2026 across Europe and non‑European B2B marketing decision-makers.

The Four Marketing Purpose Zones The B2B Marketing Purpose Model presents four purpose zones that define how marketing can operate and contribute to growth. Each zone shapes how marketing works, what it delivers, and how its impact is measured (see Figure 1). The Forrester B2B Marketing Purpose Model A two-by-two matrix showing four marketing purpose zones: supporting (bottom left), promoting (top left), driving (upper right), and partnering (bottom right).

Event Budget Allocation In B2B Marketing Programs The 654 marketing budget decision-makers canvased in Forrester’s Marketing Budgets Survey, 2025 reported that their organization invested an average of 28% of their total programs budget in events. However, this spend varied widely across enterprises based on their size, industry, and region. Together, these distributions illustrate how event investment varies while remaining a consistent and significant part of B2B marketing programs.

The Layers Of B2B Marketing Planning This graphic shows the following layers of B2B marketing planning in hierarchical order: corporate strategy, product offering roadmap, revenue planning; then functional planning, campaign planning, and program family mix planning for marketing, sales, and product; then program and tactic mix planning for marketing subfunctions. Figure 2 Planning Becomes Intelligence Driven Faster alignment is the key to better planning.