{"id":10718,"date":"2026-01-20T18:39:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T00:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/?p=10718"},"modified":"2026-01-20T18:39:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T00:39:50","slug":"ai-is-paying-off-for-b2b-marketing-for-b2b-marketers-not-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/?p=10718","title":{"rendered":"AI is paying off for B2B marketing. For B2B marketers? Not so much."},"content":{"rendered":"
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AI is doing wonders for B2B marketing by cutting costs and improving productivity. But, as has been the case for the past 56 years<\/a>, these gains aren\u2019t reflected in people\u2019s paychecks.<\/p>\n

According to the \u201c2025 B2B Tech Marketing Salary & AI Career Impact Survey\u201d from Metadata.io and VPMarketing.com, 90% of tech marketers are using AI in their daily work. Yet only 4.7% say those skills have led to a raise or promotion. For a transformation billed as the biggest shift since digital, that\u2019s a striking disconnect.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re investing heavily in learning how to use AI, but it\u2019s not showing up in our comp plans,\u201d said one respondent. And they\u2019re not alone. Nearly 83% of marketers say their AI skills haven\u2019t translated into financial reward.<\/p>\n

As writer William Gibson<\/a> noted, \u201cThe future\u2019s already here \u2014 it\u2019s just not evenly distributed.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI proficiency is rising \u2014 without employer support<\/h2>\n

Not only are companies reaping the rewards of AI, they also haven\u2019t had to pay for the training that\u2019s making it happen. Workers are upskilling on their personal time and personal dime. Seventy percent of respondents are either self-funding their learning or relying solely on free resources. Only 22% say their employer is footing the bill.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper: Why AI is the most unpredictable cost in the martech stack<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marketers are generally an optimistic bunch, and most believe AI skills will eventually pay off. Over half expect AI proficiency to command a 5% or more salary premium within the next 1-2 years. In fact, 23% believe that strong AI skills will command a premium of 10% or higher.<\/p>\n

When? Not now, that\u2019s for certain. Just under 13% say their AI skills have indirectly<\/em> contributed to better pay or bigger opportunities, such as being chosen for strategic projects. Tough to pay the bills with an opportunity, though.<\/p>\n

So what skills are employers rewarding? Strategic application of AI, according to the survey. The top-cited AI proficiency is the ability to use AI tools to improve productivity and reduce costs (76%). That\u2019s followed by using AI for analytics and customer insights (45%) and leading AI integration initiatives (38%).<\/p>\n

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In other words, marketers who pair AI skills with business impact are seen as most valuable, and 17% are being rewarded for that value! However, AI on its own isn\u2019t enough \u2014 it has to be in service of solving problems, saving time or moving the business forward.<\/p>\n

Cautious optimism with underlying anxiety<\/h2>\n

The AI era isn\u2019t exactly filling marketers with long-term career confidence. While 22% say they\u2019re \u201cvery confident\u201d about the opportunities AI will create, nearly 40% feel less secure than they did a year ago.<\/p>\n

The most secure segment? Those who are using AI to offload executional work so they can focus more on strategy, creativity, and brand building. They\u2019re not just proficient with AI\u2014they\u2019re using it to elevate their role.<\/p>\n

But the largest portion of marketers remains stuck in the middle: adapting quickly, but waiting for recognition \u2014 and compensation \u2014 to arrive.<\/p>\n

The bottom line<\/h2>\n

The theory is that more skilled workers earn more. However, the theory doesn\u2019t account for a stagnating jobs market, economic headwinds caused by people who don\u2019t understand economics, the inescapable cry of \u201cMaximize shareholder value!\u201d and AI replacing many entry-level white collar workers. All of which is taking place under the Damoclean Sword<\/a> of an ever-growing AI investment bubble.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper: Your AI is not helping if it makes me do the work<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On the bright side, no one really knows what the future holds, not even those of us who expect the worst.<\/p>\n

The \u201c2025 B2B Tech Marketing Salary & AI Career Impact Survey\u201d from Metadata.io can be found here<\/a>. Registration required.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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The post AI is paying off for B2B marketing. For B2B marketers? Not so much.<\/a> appeared first on MarTech<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AI is doing wonders for B2B marketing by cutting costs and improving productivity. But, as has been the case for the past 56 years, these gains aren\u2019t reflected in people\u2019s paychecks. According to the \u201c2025 B2B Tech Marketing Salary & AI Career Impact Survey\u201d from Metadata.io and VPMarketing.com, 90% of tech marketers are using AI … <\/p>\n

Read more “AI is paying off for B2B marketing. For B2B marketers? Not so much.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"medium":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"large":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"inspiro-featured-image":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"inspiro-loop":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"inspiro-loop@2x":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail@2x":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"portfolio_item-masonry":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"portfolio_item-masonry@2x":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_cinema":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_portrait":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_portrait@2x":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_square":["https:\/\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-19-at-3.21.11-PM.png",0,0,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}