People, programs or platforms: how to split the 2027 marketing budget by type
Split the 2027 marketing budget by type in three parts: people (salaries, contractors and embedded agency teams), programs (media, content, events and usage-based tools that create pipeline) and platforms (martech, data and AI seats). There is no universal ratio; Gartner’s 2026 survey found labor alone at 24.5% of marketing budgets, up from 21.9%. Set people and platforms by the capabilities the plan needs, set programs by the opportunities the target needs, and keep enough in programs that the budget can move within a quarter.
Key takeaways
What counts as people, programs and platforms?
People are the costs of the team: salaries and benefits, contractors, and agencies or embedded teams paid for capacity rather than media. Programs are the costs that buy pipeline directly: paid media, content production, events, sponsorships, intent data used in campaigns and usage-based AI. Platforms are the systems the team runs on: marketing automation, CRM costs carried by marketing, analytics, ABM platforms, and AI seats.
Write the definitions down with finance before you compare years. The same agency retainer can be people in one company and programs in another, and a change of definition can look like a change of strategy.
| Type | Includes | How fast it can change | Sized by |
|---|---|---|---|
| People | Salaries, benefits, contractors, agencies and embedded teams paid for capacity | Months; hires and notice periods | The capabilities the plan needs |
| Programs | Paid media, content, events, sponsorships, campaign data, usage-based AI | Weeks | The opportunities the target needs times cost per opportunity |
| Platforms | Marketing automation, analytics, ABM and intent platforms, AI seats | At renewal, usually 12 months or more | The workflows the team runs |
What do the 2026 surveys say about the split?
Public figures are scarce, and none of the large surveys publishes a full people, programs and platforms split in its press release. What is published:
| Finding | Source | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Labor at 24.5% of the marketing budget in 2026, up from 21.9% in 2025 | Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey, 401 marketing leaders, most at companies above $1B revenue | June 8, 2026 |
| 15.3% of marketing budgets going to AI on average, 21.3% at AI-ready organizations | Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey | May 11, 2026 |
| Total marketing budgets at 7.8% of company revenue | Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey | May 11, 2026 |
| Boards ask how much goes to people, programs and infrastructure, and how that mix has changed over time | Dave Kellogg, Kellblog, board-level questions on the marketing budget | December 2, 2024 |
Gartner’s sample is mostly large companies, where media is a big share of spend, so its labor figure is lower than many mid-market B2B teams will see. Use it to frame the trend, not as a target.
Bring your 2027 target. In 30 minutes we map the pipeline gap, the first 90 days and what to fix before January.
How should you set each part for 2027?
- Programs first: opportunities marketing must create, times cost per qualified opportunity by channel. This is the part tied to the target.
- People next: the capabilities those programs need (paid media, ABM, content, marketing operations, analytics) and whether each is best in-house, contracted or embedded from a partner.
- Platforms last: the workflows the team will run, the renewals due in 2027, and usage for each tool. Cut what no workflow uses.
- Check the flexible share: programs plus any people cost you can stop within a quarter. If it is small, a mid-year cut will land on pipeline.
- Compare with 2025 and 2026 and explain every shift. The board will ask why the mix moved.
Worked example: an $8.7M budget split by type
This is a worked example with stated assumptions, not a benchmark or a client result. It continues the $150M company in the marketing budget as a percentage of revenue article, which needed $3.0M of programs for 750 qualified opportunities.
| Type | Lines (assumptions) | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programs | Media, content, events and campaign data for 750 opportunities at $4,000 each | $3.0M | 34% |
| People, in-house | 18 people, salaries and benefits | $3.4M | 39% |
| People, partners | Embedded paid media and ABM team, paid for capacity | $0.9M | 10% |
| Platforms | Automation, analytics, ABM platform, AI seats | $1.4M | 16% |
| Total | $8.7M | 100% |
The flexible share here is programs ($3.0M) plus the partner team, if its contract can scale within a quarter ($0.9M): about 45% of the budget. If the board cuts 10 percent mid-year, that is where the $870K comes from, and the pipeline cost is visible. If the partner work were three more hires instead, the flexible share would drop to about 34%, and the same cut would take more from programs.
Where do AI costs go?
Split them by how they behave, not by the word AI. Seats behave like platforms: fixed per user, renewed yearly. Usage for agents and API calls behaves like programs: it scales with volume and can be capped or stopped in a month. Training and outside help behave like people. Keeping AI in one line labelled AI hides all three. The AI adoption budget calculator builds the line in these parts.
When should program money become people, or the reverse?
- Move program money to people when a capability is the bottleneck, not media: for example when conversion tracking or campaign operations limit what more spend can buy.
- Move people money to programs when channels are proven and can absorb spend at a known cost per opportunity.
- Use partners or embedded teams when you need a capability for a year or two, or need it to scale up and down with the budget.
- Audit platforms before renewal. Tools with no named workflow are the easiest cut in the plan.
For the partner or hire decision, the embedded agency team vs in-house hire article compares cost, speed and flexibility.
For the platform and program lines, the marketing spend audit gives four tests per line before the 2027 split.
The 2027 B2B marketing planning hub puts this split in sequence with the target, the channel split and the board presentation.
Frequently asked questions
How much of the marketing budget should go to headcount?
There is no single right share. Gartner’s 2026 survey of large companies found labor at 24.5% of marketing budgets, up from 21.9% in 2025; many mid-market B2B teams run a much higher people share because media is a smaller part of their spend. Size the team from the capabilities the plan needs, and keep enough in programs to move money within a quarter.
What is the difference between programs and platforms?
Programs buy pipeline directly and can change within weeks: media, content, events and usage-based tools. Platforms are the systems the team runs on and usually renew yearly: automation, analytics, ABM platforms and AI seats.
Should agency fees count as people or programs?
Count fees paid for capacity, such as an embedded team or a retainer, as people, and media passed through an agency as programs. Agree the rule with finance and keep it the same every year.
Why does the board care about this split?
Because it shows how fixed the budget is. Kellogg lists the people, programs and infrastructure mix, and how it has changed, among the board-level questions on the marketing budget. A budget that is mostly fixed cannot respond to a bad quarter without cutting pipeline.
Sources
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