Study finds nearly 90% of B2B companies above $100M in revenue operate with $1M+ marketing budgets to cover services and technology
10Fold, a leading B2B tech communications and content agency, today released the second part of their 2026 B2B Marketing Budget Blueprint, revealing that seven-figure annual marketing budgets are no longer exceptional in B2B technology. The data shows that 90% of B2B technology companies with $100M now operate with at least $1M in annual marketing spend (excluding salaries). Most impressively, nearly half (49%) of companies with $50M in revenue are also spending $1M on services and technology for marketing.
This survey of 400 senior marketing leaders across the U.S. and Europe finds that budget size increases with revenue. What’s clear is that marketing is a priority and $1M is the minimum required to support modern, omni-channel marketing programs for companies that are scaling for an exit or demonstrating growth as a public entity.
The study also shows that companies across disparate industries, geographies and revenue levels are unified in their budget priorities. They are consistently prioritizing (in order of priority) brand awareness, demand generation and product marketing with their marketing budgets.
“Marketing leaders are navigating increasingly complex data and higher-stakes tradeoffs as they set budgets,” said Susan Thomas, CEO of 10Fold. “That’s what makes the consistency in budget priorities across geographies, industries, and company sizes so striking. While lead generation has long dominated spend, the rise of AI-driven discovery is shifting the spotlight. Brand awareness is now central to being found, trusted, and chosen earlier in the buying journey.”
Budget Allocation Convergence – The Stats
Marketing budgets follow a strikingly consistent structure. Brand awareness ranks as the top investment priority across every segment, accounting for roughly 15–17% of total marketing spend.
Lead generation and product marketing consistently rank second and third, each receiving approximately 13–15% of budgets. The findings indicate a broad shift away from short-term, volume-driven demand generation toward foundational visibility and structured go-to-market execution, a trend accelerated by AI and large language models reshaping how buyers discover and evaluate vendors.
Regional Confidence Levels Diverge Sharply
While seven-figure budgets are common globally, marketer confidence heading into 2026 varies by region. U.S. marketers manage the largest budgets overall, with 27% operating at $10M+ (excluding salaries), but report the lowest confidence levels. Only 55% expect budget increases in 2026, and 37% anticipate modest cuts, reflecting heightened scrutiny and pressure to demonstrate efficiency.
In contrast, European marketers report significantly higher confidence. 84% of German marketers and 80% of UK marketers expect budgets to increase, the highest confidence levels globally. European respondents also report stronger alignment with senior leadership around the cost and impact of AI, while U.S. marketers report the largest perception gaps between marketing teams and the C-suite.
Industry Dynamics Shape Budget Scale and Strategy
Trust-driven industries command the largest baseline marketing investments. Cybersecurity leads all sectors, with 92% of companies operating at $1M+ budgets, driven by reliance on brand credibility, PR, and third-party validation like analyst and influencer relations and partner marketing.
AI companies report the largest budgets overall, with 46% operating at $10M+, but more than half expect budgets to decline in 2026, signaling a shift from aggressive expansion to ROI discipline. Enterprise technology and DevOps organizations report the broadest year-over-year increases across brand, lead generation, product marketing, customer marketing, and training, reflecting the complexity of their go-to-market motions.
Industries with longer sales cycles, including Energy and IoT, place greater emphasis on training, competitive intelligence, and customer marketing to support high-stakes purchasing decisions.
Revenue Scale Defines Priorities for Increases
Company size significantly influences where organizations prioritize program budget increases. While there is broad consistency in which programs receive the largest overall budgets, there is less alignment in where incremental spending is directed. Mid-sized enterprises (251–500 employees) concentrate their largest increases in training and product marketing, reflecting a discipline-driven investment shift that often emerges around $50M in annual revenue, even though many companies at this size exceed that level.
Larger enterprises, by contrast, increased their spend the most toward lead generation and customer marketing, positioning marketing as a revenue and retention engine.
