The first half of 2026 saw a lot of changes within the marketing industry. The tight budgets, the demands of investing more into artificial intelligence, the need to show results but spend less – these trends keep being the challenges CMOs face. Meanwhile, sports and social media continue to stay reliable options for brands’ marketing channels.
Let’s look at some of the key marketing statistics from the first half of 2026 and discuss what it means for marketers heading into the latter part of 2026.
The numbers presented below come from various research firms and industry associations – each one tracks a different slice of the industry. All of them taken together give an insight into how budgets are spent today, what is the current level of adoption of AI and which channels deliver results for brands.
Budgets Remain Tight While Expectations Rise
The growth of marketing budgets reached only 1.3% compared to 2025, according to Gartner. Even though the growth rate is not high, it’s worth noting this is the first increase since 2022. Marketing budgets of 2026 take an average of 7.8% of company revenue – compared to 11% in 2020. This is a considerable drop, as it was reported by Gartner.
However, despite the flat budgets, the increased costs are still putting pressure on marketers to spend more for less. The growth of paid media spending in the last two years was 12.5%, and media takes 31.4% of marketing budgets, according to Gartner. Labor costs also increased – the share of personnel spending now reaches 24.5%, compared to 21.9% in 2025, according to Gartner.
56% of marketers will spend more on consumption-based Martech models this year, even though that’s also what makes their budgets unpredictable. Despite the planned increase, Martech’s share of the budget actually fell from 22.4% in 2025 to 19.4% in 2026. Spending on agencies has fallen as well – it decreased from 20.7% in 2025 to 19.2% in 2026, as was shown by Gartner.
Pressure from leadership hasn’t eased either. According to the BCG survey, 94% of CMOs believe that expectations from their departments are much higher today than in the previous two years. Much of that comes from rising expectations around artificial intelligence.
All these factors put marketers in a tough spot: deliver better results with smaller budgets.
AI Investment Keeps Climbing, But Payoff Stays Murky
More money is being invested in AI despite some doubts about its efficiency. As reported by WARC, 63% of visibility in large language models in 2026 comes from long-term brand building, whereas marketing spend accounts for only 22% of that visibility.
At the same time, the work of marketers is significantly changing due to the development of artificial intelligence. Almost all CMOs, as reported by BCG, believe that AI transforms their job, and 42% of them use AI to handle tasks people used to do. Only 8% of respondents said they’re running campaigns using multiple autonomous AI agents.
On average, 15.3% of budgets are allocated to AI usage, and 70% of CMOs see this technology as the top priority for the back half of the year, according to Gartner. Martech is now leading AI spending compared to other departments.
The difference between the percentage of CMOs who consider AI as a priority and those who run campaigns with multiple autonomous AI agents shows that the industry is at the beginning stage of AI technology implementation.
Creators Continue to Drive Purchase Decisions
However, influencers continue to play a vital role in consumer discovery of products and services. For example, Sprout Social reveals that 67% of consumers say they have bought products based on an influencer recommendation in 2026. That number climbs even higher among millennials (73%) and Gen Z (81%).
Discovering products through creators isn’t rare — 33% of consumers say they discover new products this way at least once a month and 22% of consumers find new products through creators on a weekly basis.
When deciding who to follow on social media, people consider the subject matter of the page rather than its follower count. While 47% of users say subject matter is the most important factor in who they follow, 29% emphasize the importance of brand partnerships and only 17% consider the follower count before making a decision.
Small creators seem to have certain advantages in terms of product discovery. For example, Sprout Social reports that 36% of consumers follow small influencers because they look for product recommendations, while 32% say the same about high-profile influencers with many followers.
All in all, follower count alone is no longer a reliable indicator of purchasing influence. People put more value on relevance and credibility than the number of followers.
Sports Viewership Keeps Climbing
There was an increase in sports viewership in 2026 due to increased broadcast and digital viewing opportunities. As Nielsen reveals, there was a 44% increase in auto racing viewership, 27% growth in basketball, and 12% in golf this year.
Hockey has shown especially significant growth. Nielsen reports that NHL viewership of the regular season has risen by 25% year-over-year, averaging 540 thousand views per game. here was also an 83% increase in the NHL’s TikTok followers over the 2025 to 2026 season. The Professional Women’s Hockey League saw its first nationally televised game on March 28, attracting approximately 133 thousand viewers with 45% of them being women over the age of 18, according to Nielsen.
It seems that cultural momentum plays an essential role in the development of hockey. The national teams of both men and women won gold medals at the Olympics, and it helped to increase the popularity of the sport. There was significant viewership of popular hockey-themed shows, including HBO’s ‘Heated Rivalry’ and Prime Video’s ‘Off Campus’.
It shows that the increase in viewership is caused not only by one single factor but by several factors at the same time. Hockey seems to have a strong mix of on-ice success and pop-culture visibility that helps marketers attract potential customers.
CTV Leads the Way in Ad Spending
The first quarter of 2026 saw CTV claiming the lion’s share of ad spending. According to the ANA, CTV claimed 47.5%, while web received 42.3% and mobile 8.2%.
As Nielsen reports, ad-supported TV viewed by people aged from 18 to 49 accounted for 63.8% of total viewing time as people entered 2026. 66.7% of ad-supported TV time was streaming content. Ad-supported streaming TV time accounted for 81.1% of the total streaming time on platforms like YouTube, Amazon Prime, and Paramount Plus. 18.9% of the ad-supported TV time was devoted to ad-supported streaming on free ad-supported platforms such as Tubi.
Linear TV still has considerable share of the viewership among people aged 18 to 49 and accounts for 33.4% of the ad-supported TV time, as Nielsen revealed. The main attractions for linear TV are live sports and news programs, while cable dramas and movies also provide significant share of linear TV viewership.
What This Means for Marketers Going Forward
Put together, this points to an industry facing tight budget restrictions along with increased pressure to demonstrate the return on investment of their AI initiatives. At the same time, people still expect marketers to experiment with AI tools and agents more.
However, some fundamentals of marketing do not change and long-term brand building remains a crucial factor in AI-powered search and discovery; creators’ influence on consumer decisions hasn’t faded; and live sports remain an extremely reliable way to attract audiences.
For marketers who plan budgets and strategies for the upcoming months of 2026, these statistics show the need to balance investments in AI and continue with their traditional strategies that allow to reach consumers effectively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q 1: How much did marketing budgets grow in 2026?
Marketing budgets grew 1.3% from 2025, the first increase since 2022, according to Gartner.
Q 2: What percentage of company revenue do marketing budgets represent in 2026?
Marketing budgets make up an average of 7.8% of company revenue in 2026, down from 11% in 2020.
Q 3: How much of marketing budgets is being spent on AI?
Marketers are directing an average of 15.3% of their budgets toward AI, according to Gartner.
Q 4: How much LLM visibility comes from long-term brand building?
According to WARC, 63% of large language model visibility in 2026 comes from long-term brand building.
Q 5: How many consumers have purchased something based on an influencer’s recommendation?
Sprout Social found that 67% of consumers made a purchase based on an influencer’s recommendation in 2026, rising to 81% among Gen Z.
Q 6: Do most social media users check follower counts before following an account?
No. Only 17% of users check a profile’s follower count before deciding to follow, according to Sprout Social.
Q 7: How much has sports viewership grown in 2026?
Viewership is up 44% for auto racing, 27% for basketball, and 12% for golf, according to Nielsen.
Q 8: How much has NHL viewership grown this season?
NHL regular season viewership is up 25% year over year, averaging 540,000 viewers per game, per Nielsen.
Q 9: Which platform captured the largest share of ad spending in Q1 2026?
CTV captured the largest share at 47.5%, according to the ANA, followed by web at 42.3% and mobile at 8.2%.
Q 10: What percentage of CMOs say AI is transforming their jobs?
Nearly 100% of CMOs say AI is transforming their jobs, according to BCG
