Observed Signal · Feb 18, 2026 · Research/Report · Source: CMSWire · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
CMO Survey Shows Marketer Optimism and Digital Spending Growth
In this episode of CX Decoded, CMSWire hosts discuss the latest CMO Survey findings with Christine Moorman, a professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. The survey of 356 top marketers reveals rebounding optimism, with the optimism index rising to 66.3 (up from 50.9 in mid-pandemic). Overall marketing spending decreased 3.9% last year but is expected to grow 10.1% in the next year, while digital marketing spend increased 11.5% during the pandemic year and is expected to rise another 10%. Customer experience is rated as the top strategic priority by about a third of marketers. The discussion also covers shifts from retention to acquisition, increased investment in data integration (from 25% to 43% of marketers), and challenges in proving marketing ROI. The episode highlights growing confidence and a continued digital transformation despite privacy and measurement concerns.
Provides key industry sentiment and budget forecasts from the authoritative CMO Survey, indicating a recovery phase with increased digital spending and marketing importance, which is highly relevant to the AdTech/MarTech ecosystem.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- CMO Survey's 26th edition polled 356 top marketers from US for-profit companies, with 94.5% at VP level or higher.
- Marketer optimism for the economy rose to 66.3 on a 100-point scale, above pre-pandemic levels.
- Marketing spending fell 3.9% over the past year but is projected to grow 10.1% in the next year.
- Digital marketing spending increased 11.5% during the pandemic year and is expected to grow by 10% next year.
- Customer experience was ranked as the top strategic priority by approximately one-third of marketers.
Connected Companies & Entities
2 Entities mapped“The article mentions Philips as an example of a company using a shared metric (NPS-style) across different sectors to align marketing ROI....”
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Ontology Mapping & Concepts
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