The most common approach senior marketers use to setting their marketing budgets is to create an annual budget based on previous year’s spending, according to a recent study by The CMO Survey.
The report is based on data from a survey conducted among 2,791 senior marketers in August 2021 (94% of respondents are VP levels or above).
Around 41% of those surveyed state that their marketing budget is set annually on the basis of the previous year’s expenditure and, if necessary, adjusted over the course of the year.
Other common approaches include building the budget from scratch each year based on new needs and goals (28% of senior marketers say they take this approach), setting the budget as a percentage of projected sales (21%), and the review and, if necessary, the budget being re-determined every month or every quarter, depending on what is necessary to achieve the objectives (10%).
Seasoned marketers estimate that their marketing budgets will increase by an average of 13% over the next 12 months.
Senior marketers at B2B service companies expect their marketing budgets to increase by an average of 17% over the next 12 months, and senior marketers at B2B product companies expect their budgets to increase by 11%.
About research: The report is based on data from a survey conducted among 2,791 senior marketers in August 2021 (94% of respondents are VP levels or above).
