Chief Marketing Officers are increasingly directing marketing budgets toward customer acquisition and digital channels as artificial intelligence transforms campaign execution, measurement, and optimization. According to new research from Gartner, awareness and conversion activities now account for 62.6% of total media spending, highlighting a growing focus on growth-oriented marketing strategies. However, the findings also reveal that successful AI adoption depends as much on talent and operational maturity as it does on technology investment.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how marketing organizations allocate resources, measure performance, and engage customers. As companies seek new growth opportunities in increasingly competitive markets, many marketing leaders are reallocating budgets toward digital channels and customer acquisition initiatives that can be optimized using AI-driven tools and analytics.

New findings from Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey illustrate the scale of this transformation.

The survey, conducted between January and March 2026 among 401 chief marketing officers and senior marketing executives across North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, found that awareness and conversion activities now account for 62.6% of total media spending. The figure represents a significant increase from 2024 and reflects a broader industry shift toward measurable growth initiatives.

At the same time, investment in customer loyalty and retention programs has declined substantially. Spending on retention-focused marketing has fallen by nearly 29% since 2024 and now represents less than 15% of total media budgets.

The data suggests that many organizations are prioritizing customer acquisition over long-term relationship building as they seek immediate growth opportunities.

This trend coincides with a broader migration toward digital channels.

According to the survey, digital media now represents more than two-thirds of total marketing media investments, marking an 18% increase since 2024. AI is playing a major role in this shift, with marketing leaders citing enhanced personalization capabilities, automation opportunities, and optimization efficiency as key drivers behind channel selection decisions.

As AI-powered tools become more integrated into advertising platforms, marketing teams are increasingly favoring channels where performance can be measured, optimized, and scaled through automated processes.

The trend is evident across major digital ecosystems, including platforms operated by Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, all of which continue expanding AI-powered campaign management capabilities.

However, Gartner's findings also raise important questions about whether organizations may be over-optimizing for short-term performance.

Interestingly, the research indicates that the most AI-mature marketing organizations allocate a larger portion of their budgets to customer loyalty and retention than their less mature counterparts. These organizations also spend relatively less on digital channels, suggesting a more balanced approach to customer lifecycle management.

This distinction highlights a growing concern among marketing leaders: the risk that AI may unintentionally encourage investment in activities that are easiest to automate and measure while undervaluing initiatives that build long-term customer relationships.

Performance marketing channels often provide immediate visibility into return on investment, making them attractive targets for AI optimization. In contrast, brand-building, loyalty programs, and customer experience initiatives typically generate results over longer time horizons and can be more difficult to quantify.

As a result, organizations that focus exclusively on short-term optimization may risk sacrificing future customer value for near-term efficiency gains.

The survey also challenges a common assumption about AI's impact on workforce costs.

Despite widespread expectations that AI would reduce staffing requirements, labor costs are actually consuming a larger share of marketing budgets.

Labor represented 24.5% of total marketing spending in 2026, up from 21.9% in 2025. Rather than replacing employees, many organizations appear to be investing in new capabilities, specialized expertise, and operational resources needed to effectively deploy AI technologies.

This reflects a broader reality emerging across enterprise AI adoption initiatives.

Technology alone does not create business value. Organizations must also develop the processes, governance structures, and workforce capabilities required to integrate AI into day-to-day operations.

The survey reveals that many marketing departments are still struggling with this transition.

Seventy percent of respondents reported that their internal marketing processes lack the maturity needed to effectively scale AI initiatives. Additionally, only 30% of surveyed organizations described their AI readiness capabilities as mature or fully developed.

Talent shortages remain another significant obstacle.

Nearly four in ten marketing leaders identified a lack of AI expertise and internal skills as the primary barrier preventing them from achieving greater efficiency through AI adoption.

These findings suggest that AI implementation challenges are increasingly organizational rather than technological.

While AI platforms continue advancing rapidly, many enterprises are discovering that successful adoption requires workforce development, operational transformation, and leadership alignment alongside technology investments.

The implications extend beyond marketing departments.

As AI becomes embedded across customer acquisition, analytics, personalization, content creation, and campaign optimization, organizations will need to rethink how teams are structured, how decisions are made, and how performance is measured.

For CMOs, the challenge is no longer whether to invest in AI. The more pressing question is how to balance short-term efficiency gains with long-term customer value while building the capabilities required to sustain competitive advantage.

The organizations that succeed may ultimately be those that view AI not as a replacement for marketing expertise but as a force multiplier for well-developed people, processes, and strategic execution.

Market Landscape

The Gartner findings reflect several major trends reshaping modern marketing organizations:

• Rapid adoption of AI-powered marketing technologies.
• Increased investment in digital advertising and acquisition channels.
• Growing emphasis on measurable marketing performance.
• Rising demand for AI-related marketing skills and expertise.
• Renewed focus on balancing acquisition efficiency with customer lifetime value.

Industry analysts increasingly view operational readiness, governance, and workforce capabilities as critical success factors for enterprise AI adoption.

Top Insights

• Awareness and conversion activities now account for 62.6% of total media spending among surveyed CMOs.
• Digital media represents more than two-thirds of marketing investments, rising 18% since 2024.
• Spending on customer loyalty and retention has declined by 29% since 2024.
• Labor's share of marketing budgets increased from 21.9% in 2025 to 24.5% in 2026.
• Seventy percent of marketing leaders report their organizations are not mature enough to effectively scale AI initiatives.
• Lack of AI expertise remains the leading barrier to achieving AI-driven efficiency gains.

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