Who Outsources Marketing? 2026 Statistics

The companies that outsource marketing most are B2C companies, online sellers and the largest firms. The CMO Survey's 2026 report (Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, Deloitte, and the American Marketing Association) asked marketing leaders how much of their digital marketing outside providers perform. The average answer is 33.6%, and the share has barely moved since 2022. Half of the companies estimate 25% or less.

The average hides a clear split. B2C companies outsource close to half of their digital marketing and B2B companies about a quarter, and the share rises with online sales and with company size. Building skills in-house still comes first at most companies, and the capability gap leaders name most often is capacity: people, time and money.

Who Outsources Marketing: B2C Companies, Online Sellers and the Largest Firms

Companies outsource 33.6% of their digital marketing on average, as marketing leaders estimate it. Half of the companies sit at 25% or less, so a minority of heavy outsourcers lifts the average. Leaders expect 34.3% by 2028, which leaves the picture flat. The survey measures digital marketing as a whole and gives no split by activity.

Source: The CMO Survey 2026. B2C Services is a small group in the survey.

The gap between B2C and B2B is about 20 points. B2C Product leaders expect to outsource a little less by 2028 while B2B Product leaders expect a little more, so the two groups edge toward each other.

Online selling moves the number as much as the business model. Companies with no online sales report 26%, and companies with 1-99% of their sales online report 38% to 44%. The few companies that sell only online are left out for lack of responses.

Size adds a third pattern. The smallest companies in the survey, under $10M in revenue, report 28%, companies up to $499M report 25% to 29%, and the share climbs to 39% at $500M-$999M and 44% at $1B-$9.9B.

Source: The CMO Survey 2026.

By industry, Consumer Packaged Goods, a small group in the survey, reports 55%, and Technology, Software and Platform companies report 28%, close to B2B Product.

In-House vs Outsourced Marketing: Building Skills Still Comes First

The survey also asked how companies develop new marketing capabilities, with leaders dividing 100 points of emphasis between building in-house, partnering and buying companies. Building through training and hiring takes 59.5%, partnering takes 38.5% and buying other companies takes 1.9%.

Source: The CMO Survey 2026.

The split barely changed since 2020, when building stood at 57.9%, even though analytics, AI and technology skills moved to the center of marketing work. The survey's authors point out that these shifts might have pushed more companies toward partners. Within partnering, agencies lead at 15.5% and consultancies come last at 10.4%.

Why Companies Outsource Marketing: Hypotheses That Fit the Data

The survey measures how much is outsourced and says little about why. 4 hypotheses fit the pattern, and each points to a decision a marketing leader controls.

Hypothesis 1: Capacity Drives Partnering

Asked which marketing capability is most lacking, 22.3% of leaders name resourcing: the people, time and money behind the capabilities they already have. That answer comes ahead of any specific skill. AI skills follow, with 14.3% naming analytics and data science and 14.3% naming the adoption of AI into processes. The same strain shows in technology. Lack of budget is the biggest barrier to getting more from marketing technology (20.1%), and bandwidth, time and focus ranks third (14.1%).

Resources are tightening at the same time. Marketing headcount growth fell to 2.5% in 2026 from 5.4% in 2025. Training budgets stand at 3.8% of marketing spend. Marketing job postings in the US and the UK remain below their February 2020 level. A build plan with no budget behind it tends to end as a decision to buy outside help.

Hypothesis 2: Digital Channels Need Specialists

Companies that sell online, ecommerce brands included, run more digital channels, from paid media to marketplaces. Each channel has its own specialists and tools. That fits the climb from 26% at companies with no online sales to 38% to 44% at companies with some. B2C Product companies, which reach consumers through those channels, sit highest at 48%. The more channels a company runs, the more of the work goes outside.

Hypothesis 3: Scale Buys Specialists

Large companies have the budget for retainers and enough volume to justify specialist partners. Companies under $500M in revenue report 25% to 29%, a range with no visible slope. The share then climbs to 39% at $500M-$999M and 44% at $1B-$9.9B. Outsourcing grows with scale, and smaller teams carry most of the work themselves.

Hypothesis 4: AI Pulls Execution Back In-House

In B2B, outside spending is losing momentum. Forrester's 2026 B2B Brand and Communications Survey, reported in July 2026, finds that 93% of B2B marketers still use agencies. The share expecting higher agency budgets fell 13 points in a year, though, and nearly half expect flat spending. The sharpest drops came where execution dominates. The share planning to raise digital marketing agency spend fell from 51% to 31%, and for content creation from 41% to 26%. The survey's analyst links the shift to AI, which lets teams bring more work in-house.

Leaders in the CMO Survey expect the outsourced share to stay near a third by 2028, so the likely change is in what goes outside. In the same B2B survey, more than half of marketing leaders rate data strategy and AI readiness as important when choosing an agency. Only a small share are satisfied with agencies' ability to deliver on them. Execution work moves in, and partners are asked for AI expertise.

How to Decide Whether to Outsource Marketing

Each hypothesis points to a decision the marketing leader controls.

• Start from the base rate of the segment. B2B Services leaders estimate 25% and B2C Product leaders 48%, so a share that looks high in one segment is ordinary in another. Compare the share with companies of the same business model, online mix and size before judging it.
• Name the gap before choosing the partner. A capacity gap, a skill gap and a leadership gap need different help. Capacity gaps fit agencies and freelancers on defined deliverables. Skill gaps in analytics or AI fit specialists or training. A leadership gap fits a standing advisor who stays accountable for outcomes.
• Fund the build or choose the partner on purpose. With headcount growth at 2.5% and training at 3.8% of spend, an in-house plan without budget drifts into outsourcing by default. A plan that names the roles to hire, the training budget and the work to buy keeps the choice deliberate.
• Ask partners for AI proof. More than half of B2B leaders rate AI readiness as a selection criterion, and few are satisfied with what agencies deliver. Ask each agency which AI-enabled work it delivers today and what that work costs against doing it in-house.

What to Watch in the Next Survey

The next CMO Survey fields in January 2027. 2 numbers show whether outsourcing is shifting: the share of digital marketing done externally, 33.6% in 2026, and the emphasis on building skills in-house, 59.5%.

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About the Author

Ruslan Abdrakhmanov is an Executive Marketing Advisor and CMO with 13+ years leading international marketing teams across EMEA, SEA, and Americas. Expert in data-driven growth strategies with the track record growing B2B and B2C businesses.

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