Optimism Fills Budget Discussions, but Expectations Should Be Tempered

Although 83 percent of B2B marketing decision makers expect marketing investments to rise over the next 12 months, the reality is that they must turn to scenario planning and prepare for both deeper budget cuts and unexpected investment opportunities amid persistent volatility, Forrester Research suggests in its latest Budget Planning Guides.

As planning season begins, Forrester recommends that chief marketing officers temper budget growth expectations and prioritize safer segments, adapt faster to evolving buyer behaviors, and upskill their teams to boost productivity. Experimentation, it said further, will also be important to unlocking future growth by adopting a layered measurement strategy, enhancing AI search visibility, and pursuing product-led growth strategies.

When looking at 2026 budget planning, Forrester recommends that B2B leaders do the following:

Eliminate excessive tech and cut nonstrategic operational costs. Many organizations buy marketing technology in silos, creating redundant and disconnected systems. Reduce spend by assessing whether the tech serves a critical business need and cut those that don’t. Consolidate tech that duplicates functionality with other vendors and stop supporting low-value operational tasks, random tactical requests, and items that don’t drive business priorities.

Adapt buyer messaging for a zero-click and prompt-driven world. AI-powered search will serve as a filter that obscures mediocre messaging and rewards unique perspectives.

Reallocate 15 percent or more of content and/or digital spend to improve discoverability in AI searches. AI-powered search rewards clarity, structure, and authority. B2B marketing leaders must position their brands to be found by buyers and AI. Start with modular content restructuring and schema markup improvements to help AI understand, extract, and surface content more effectively.

Experiment with AI agents for audience engagement and program adaptation. With 75 percent of B2B decision-makers saying their companies are adopting and another 13 percent saying they plan to adopt technology for AI agents, organizations should use their new AI agents to assist their demand/frontline marketers with personalization, process automation, and problem-solving.

Test newer, bolder digital sales techniques. B2B sales leaders report that 36 percent of revenue now comes from digital sales channels—a figure that is expected to grow. Buyers want the convenience of digital, self-service buying resources but still value and rely on salespeople, particularly for complex, high-value purchases. Accordingly, sales leaders should add more self-service resources, digital buying tools, and e-commerce capabilities to their sales budgets.