New industry research shows a sharp rise in budget optimism as B2B marketers head into the new year with more to spend and a renewed focus on brand visibility. The new 2026 Marketing Budget Blueprint from B2B tech communications and content agency 10Fold finds that 69% of 400 senior marketing executives surveyed expect their budgets to increase, signaling renewed confidence and a stronger alignment between marketing investment and corporate growth goals.
After several years of fluctuating spend and shifting priorities, marketers are redefining how they invest. Brand awareness has emerged as the top investment priority for 2026, reflecting marketers’ heightened focus on building trust, recognition and differentiation in an increasingly AI-influenced discovery landscape. Together, brand awareness and content marketing account for the largest share of projected spending at 16%, signaling a shift for teams that historically placed lead generation first. Lead generation now follows at 13.7%, with product marketing close behind at 13.3% as organizations work to articulate value and stand out in saturated categories.
The findings point to a notable shift toward expansion: 57% of respondents report annual budgets between $1M and $10M, with the largest share (29%) in the $1M–$5M range. Nearly half (42%) anticipate budget growth of 5–10%, and another 10% expect increases of 11% or more.
“Marketing teams are entering 2026 with more budget, but also with more pressure to allocate it where it matters,” said Susan Thomas, CEO of 10Fold, in a news release. “Brand awareness has become the new battleground. In an AI-filtered landscape, the organizations that invest in credibility, recognizability and consistent content performance will be the ones that win attention and accelerate growth.”
Marketing Leaders Are Spending Again With Purpose
With budgets expanding, marketers are prioritizing the programs that most directly support brand awareness. To elevate awareness and improve content performance, organizations are prioritizing investments in advertising at 10.3%, towards PR and PR agencies at 14.4%, and corporate, executive social and social influencers at 20.7%. Very few respondents plan to hold steady or decrease spending in brand-building or content marketing programs, reflecting a collective commitment to sustained visibility and authority.
What B2B Tech CMOs Will Measure in 2026
This renewed investment discipline is mirrored in evolving performance metrics. More than half of marketing leaders (56%) have KPIs for brand awareness and content marketing, closely followed by lead generation and performance marketing metrics (55%) and customer marketing and retention KPIs (50%).
When it comes to driving lead generation, AI-powered personalization and predictive targeting (33%), website conversion rate optimization (25%), and SDR outreach (25%) rank among the top priorities, underscoring a broad shift from volume-driven pipelines toward more intelligent, precision-oriented conversion strategies.
C-Suite Alignment and Budget Confidence Reach New Highs
Marketers report record levels of alignment with executive teams. A striking 89% of marketing leaders believe their budgets will support their 2026 revenue and growth goals, and 70% say the C-suite fully understands their objectives, which is a notable improvement from previous years. Only 4% feel misunderstood, primarily related to the complexity and cost of lead-generation programs.
In this report detailed spend across the full marketing stack is included. Download the full report here.
Methodology
10Fold engaged Sapio Research to deploy an online survey to marketing executives with decision-making and budget authority within B2B technology companies in the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. In all, 400 marketing executives completed the survey and the results are accurate to a +/- of 4.9% at a 95% in 100% confidence limit, assuming a result of .05%.
