Gartner's latest CMO Spend Survey points to two clear shifts in how marketing leaders allocate their budgets: more money going to consumption-based martech arrangements and more going to paid media.

The headline finding matters for anyone selling marketing technology. CMOs are moving away from flat, seat-based licensing toward pricing that scales with actual usage. For vendors, that changes revenue predictability. For buyers, it ties spend directly to campaign volume and platform activity.

What the survey covers

Gartner runs its CMO Spend Survey as a recurring check on where marketing dollars actually land. It polls chief marketing officers across industries and regions on budget allocation across martech, paid media, labor, and agencies. The results function as a benchmark: marketers compare their own mix against peers, and vendors use the data to size demand.

This year's edition shows the balance tipping toward paid media and consumption-linked technology at the expense of other line items.

Why consumption-based pricing is gaining ground

The shift to consumption-based martech is not surprising. Marketing teams have spent years accumulating tools under enterprise licenses, then discovering that utilization rates on many of them run low. Usage-based contracts let CMOs cut waste: if a platform handles fewer campaigns in a quarter, the bill drops with it.

The model also reflects how marketing work has changed. Email sends, API calls, data processing volumes, and event triggers now drive platform costs more than the number of logged-in users does. Consumption pricing matches that reality better than per-seat licenses designed for a different era of software.

For martech vendors, the trend carries real risk. Recurring license revenue becomes variable. Sales teams need to sell outcomes and adoption, not just contracts. Platforms with sticky, high-frequency use cases stand to benefit; those that sit idle between campaigns will feel the squeeze.

Paid media takes a larger slice

The second finding — rising paid media spend — signals where CMOs see near-term returns. Paid channels deliver measurable, attributable results on short cycles, which appeals to finance teams demanding accountability for every budget dollar.

That preference comes with its own pressures. Media costs across major platforms have climbed for years, and increased budgets partly reflect paying more for the same inventory rather than expanding reach. Marketers increasing paid media allocations should separate volume growth from price inflation when they read these numbers.

What it means for operators

Three practical takeaways emerge from the survey direction:

• Audit your martech contracts. If your vendors have not offered consumption-based options, ask. Usage-linked pricing is becoming the market norm, and procurement teams can use that leverage.
• Watch unit economics on paid media. A bigger budget line does not automatically mean better performance. Track cost per acquisition and incremental reach, not just total spend.
• Benchmark before you reorganize. The survey's value lies in comparison. Marketing ops teams should map their own allocation against the reported averages before committing to structural changes.

The bottom line

Budgets reveal priorities more honestly than strategy decks do. Gartner's data shows CMOs putting money behind measurable media and flexible, usage-linked technology — and implicitly pulling it from fixed commitments that no longer earn their keep.

The survey results are available through Gartner and summarized in coverage by Chief Marketer. Teams planning 2025 budgets should treat the findings as a market signal: consumption-based pricing and paid media are where the money is moving, and vendor negotiations this year will reflect that.