B2B marketing budgets stalled out in 2022

Very little growth in B2B marketing budgets this year, with 57% of marketers saying their budget was the same as or less than 2021, according to a new report. One in five reported being hit with mid-year marketing budget cuts.

Only 12% reported a significantly bigger budget, according to the 2022 State of B2B Marketing Budgets report. Marketers are optimists, which explains why 75% say their budget will stay the same or grow in 2023.

Dig deeper: B2B marketing confidence survives budget pressures

To no one’s surprise, 79% of marketers report they are expected to achieve the same or better results this year regardless of budget and staffing. One-fourth of those expected to achieve more next year say they will have to do it with fewer people.

Martech stacks have room for improvement

B2B firms may see their martech stack as something they can improve to get those results. Some 52% of marketers said their current stack isn’t serving them well. 

Those who do say their stack is serving them well are almost twice as likely (31%) to be constantly evaluating solutions to improve their stack. By comparison, only 17% of those who feel their stack provides poor or very poor support do this. 

Only 5% said their stack didn’t contain redundant or never-used solutions, tools or technologies.

Content remains king when it comes to marketing budgets, with 42% saying that’s where they spend their existing budget. Customer marketing and digital were second at 37% and marketing ops third at 29%.

The survey, from Demand Metric, a global research and advisory firm, and marketing metrics solution provider Integrate, is based on 539 responses collected in September of this year. 

Why we care. Early this year the reports were all rosy for both B2B and B2C marketing budgets, so it’s interesting to see what actually happened. This isn’t a knock on those predictions. 2022 is at least the third year in a row where no one could’ve predicted what was coming. As far as the 75% of B2B marketers who expect their budgets will at worst stay the same, who knows? Probably the only safe prediction for next year is that whatever happens is likely to be unpredictable.

About The Author

Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.