Vendor reportGartner, 2026

Only 15% of CMOs plan beyond three years

Strategy review & optimization

15%

of CMOs plan beyond three years

Reader Note:: This is a Gartner-reported share of CMOs who plan beyond three years. The report does not disclose the sample size, market coverage, survey field dates, or how 'plan beyond three years' was measured.
Evidence:: Self-reported behaviour
Vendor interest:: High — This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
Sample:: Not disclosed

Good for

Getting a rough orientation, and deciding what to check yourself.

Not for

Exact numbers, or saying that one thing caused another.
The source never says how big its sample was or what went into it.
The source never says when this data was collected. It could be considerably older than the publication date suggests.
This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
The source never says how this number was measured.

More than half of brands said economic volatility pushed them to focus harder on ROI

How Economic Volatility Has Affected Marketing Strategy, Overall vs Enterprise Brands
Response	Brands overall (%)	Enterprise brands (%)
Increased focus on ROI	51%	56%
Seeking cost saving measures	46%	49%
Budget restrictions	44%	43%
Reallocation of resources to proven channels	38%	43%
Job or role uncertainty	29%	39%

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Planning questions suggested by Gartner: objectives and goals, primary strategies and execution, direction of product lines or services, success measures, long-term success factors, and major obstacles

Template: Strategic Alignment Discussion Guide for Business Partner Conversations
Questions about that business partner's domain	Notes of your business partner's answer
What are your key business objectives and resultant goals for the next two to five years?	—
What are your primary strategies? How do you plan to execute on these strategies?	—
What is the direction of the key product line, supply chain, service offerings, etc.?	—
How will you know if your unit is successful? What will you measure?	—
What are the key success factors that will make or break your unit's success in the long term?	—

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48% of B2B SaaS leaders say aligning affiliate partnerships with sales and marketing shortens sales cycles

Revenue impacts reported from strong alignment between partnerships and other go-to-market teams
Revenue impact	Share of respondents (%)
Shortens sales cycles	48%
Partnerships open doors to customers	31%
Land bigger deals	23%
Drive pipeline growth	12%
Help lower churn	10%

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Lead quality and MQLs are the top KPI marketers track overall

Top KPIs marketers prioritize overall (2026)
KPI	Share of marketers prioritizing it (%)
Lead quality and MQLs	39%
Lead-to-customer conversion rates	34%
Return on marketing investment	31%
Customer acquisition cost	30%
Lead generation volume	29%

34%

of CEOs and CFOs are aligned with their CMOs about how marketing supports growth

1.5x

more likely CMOs who plan 18 months or more ahead are to report high marketing and business performance than those who do not

Only 15% of CMOs plan beyond three years

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