Marketing leaders are putting more money into digital channels and customer acquisition as they look for growth in an AI-driven market, underscoring how AI is reshaping budget priorities.
According to Gartner’s 2026 CMO Spend Survey, awareness and conversion activities now account for 62.6% of media spending, while digital media represents more than two-thirds of total media investment. Spending on customer acquisition continues to rise, while investment in loyalty and retention has fallen 29% since 2024 and now accounts for less than 15% of total media spend.
The findings, presented this week at Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo in Denver, show that AI is influencing channel strategy and budget allocation. Gartner says enhanced personalization capabilities and the ability to optimize digital channels with AI are among the factors driving the shift.
However, Gartner analysts cautioned that the most AI-mature organizations are often taking a different approach. By contrast, those companies tend to devote a larger share of their budgets to customer retention and a smaller share to digital channels than less mature organizations.
“AI can help marketers optimize faster, but optimization is not the same as strategy,” said Ewan McIntyre, vice president, analyst, and chief of research at Gartner.
AI investment still depends on people
The research also challenges the assumption that AI automatically reduces labor costs.
Labor’s share of marketing budgets increased from 21.9% in 2025 to 24.5% in 2026, suggesting organizations are investing more heavily in talent and operational capabilities as they adopt AI. At the same time, 70% of CMOs said their marketing processes are not mature enough to effectively implement and scale AI, while only 30% reported mature or fully developed AI readiness capabilities.
Lack of internal AI expertise remains the biggest barrier to achieving AI-driven efficiency, cited by 38% of marketing leaders.
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Consumers are more skeptical of AI content
While marketers continue to invest in AI, consumers are increasingly wary of its impact on content quality.
A separate Gartner survey found that 49% of U.S. consumers believe generative AI has made content quality worse. Among Gen Z and millennial consumers, that figure rises to 57%. That points to a more skeptical media environment in which brands must work harder to establish credibility and trust.
“AI-generated content is increasing the volume of media that consumers encounter, but not necessarily the value,” said Kate Muhl, vice president analyst at Gartner.
The challenge is compounded by changing media habits. Nearly six in 10 consumers surveyed said they prefer engaging with multiple media or technologies simultaneously rather than focusing on a single activity. For marketers, that means competing for increasingly fragmented attention while also addressing growing skepticism about AI-generated content.
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