Marketing budgets in the security sector are at an all-time high. According to 10Fold’s latest marketing survey, 92% of cybersecurity marketers operate with $1M+ budgets and 52% run budgets of $5M or more. Both of these budget numbers exclude salaries. That’s significantly higher than what we’re seeing across other B2B technology verticals.
The growth trajectory is even more striking. Three-quarters of CMOs in this category expect their budgets to increase in 2026, with nearly one in five anticipating double-digit growth of 11% or more.
Yet confidence is lagging. Despite all this financial firepower and continued investment, cybersecurity CMOs are 8 percentage points less confident in meeting their KPIs compared to the overall average (81% vs. 89%).
This gap reveals a critical truth about cybersecurity marketing strategy. More money doesn’t automatically translate to greater confidence or stronger performance outcomes.
Why Are Cybersecurity Marketing Budgets So High?
Vendors in this market operate in a trust-driven market. Unlike other technology categories that rely primarily on product features or ROI calculators, cybersecurity companies sell risk reduction, resilience, and credibility.
When a single breach can damage brand reputation overnight, buyers demand evidence, validation, and third-party proof the offering is solid. Building that level of trust requires sustained investment in brand awareness that focuses on credibility, including programs for executive visibility, public relations, analyst relations, and partner ecosystems.
This is the trust tax.
Where Cybersecurity Marketing Budgets Are Being Invested
The data shows that cybersecurity companies prioritize brand visibility over demand generation more than any other sector. PR, social media, executive visibility and influencer programs collectively represent 32% of planned 2026 marketing spend on brand. That’s the highest concentration of brand-building investment across all technology verticals.
Within that brand investment mix:
- PR and PR agency investment account for 11% of brand awareness budgets, compared to the 8.5% global average — the highest PR concentration of any sector surveyed.
- Influencer social media (8.2%), corporate social media (7.2%), and SEO (7.6%) round out the brand investment mix — underscoring the multi-channel nature of building trust at scale.
These allocations reflect how enterprise buyers evaluate vendors. Credibility has to be earned across multiple channels before trust can be established.
It should be noted that national events such as RSA Conference and Black Hat continue to play an outsized role in cybersecurity buying decisions because face-to-face credibility accelerates trust in high-risk purchasing environments.
The Cybersecurity CMO Confidence Gap
If budgets are increasing, why are CMOs less confident in hitting KPIs?
The data points to three structural realities shaping performance:
- The credibility-building cycle is long
Marketing programs rely heavily on earned media, thought leadership, and partner validation. These programs build durable brand equity over time, but don’t always deliver instant pipeline gratification. Adding to this complexity, LLMs have fundamentally disrupted SEO and traditional top-of-funnel measurement. Cybersecurity content must now be built for authority and credibility within trusted sources — the publications, analyst firms, and industry voices that AI discovery engines draw from when buyers search for solutions. Being present and credible in those sources has become a prerequisite for appearing in AI-generated responses that now influence the earliest stages of the buying journey.
Quarterly revenue pressure often conflicts with long sales cycles. That tension reduces confidence even when strategy is sound.
- The competitive landscape is intensifying
With 92% of cybersecurity companies operating at $1M+ budgets and more than half at $5M+, the market is saturated with well-funded competitors all fighting for the same buyer attention.
Spending more is no longer the differentiator. Strategic allocation, differentiated positioning, and sustained share of voice now determine visibility.
As budgets scale, the complexity of deploying them effectively increases.
- Expectations are rising faster than budgets
Three-quarters of cybersecurity marketers expect budget increases in 2026. However, executive scrutiny around measurable business impact continues to intensify.
Higher investment brings higher accountability and measurement on brand programs is typically lack-luster.
This creates the cybersecurity CMO paradox: More financial resources coexists with heightened performance pressure and lower confidence levels.
2026 Cybersecurity Marketing Strategy Trends
Despite the confidence gap, cybersecurity marketers are making strategic shifts that reflect a more mature go-to-market model.
Brand Awareness as Strategic Infrastructure
With 32% of spend allocated to PR, executive visibility, social media and influencer programs, organizations are prioritizing being found and trusted over traditional lead generation tactics.
In a trust-driven category, you need to establish credibility before you can effectively capture demand.
Partner-Led Growth Models
Partner marketing is a meaningful and growing line item in cybersecurity budgets. Security buyers increasingly require confidence that a solution integrates within their existing stack, and vendors that can demonstrate a validated ecosystem of technology alliances and channel partners carry a significant credibility advantage over those that cannot.
This makes channel partnerships and technology alliances central to revenue growth.
Events as Credibility Accelerators
Event marketing sits in its own budget category — separate from brand — and while it scores lower overall than brand and lead generation, it remains a meaningful investment for cybersecurity marketers. National trade shows such as RSA Conference and Black Hat continue to play an outsized role in cybersecurity buying decisions.
While digital channels scale reach, enterprise buyers often require direct interaction before making high-risk purchasing decisions.
Events remain conversion catalysts in complex sales cycles.
The Path Forward for Cybersecurity CMOs
The cybersecurity CMO paradox isn’t really about insufficient budget. It reflects the complexity of marketing in a high-stakes industry defined by risk, trust and long decision cycles.
To close the confidence gap, three priorities emerge:
- Position Brand Investment as Revenue Infrastructure
PR, analyst relations, executive visibility, and event strategy should be framed as revenue enablers rather than awareness initiatives.
The 32% allocation to brand-building activities isn’t excessive. It’s the cost of competing in a trust-first market.
- Expand KPIs Beyond Short-Term Pipeline
Measure leading indicators that support business outcomes. Things like traffic patterns correlated with programs and prospect behavior with social and digital programs and even page pathway patterns will help gauge more than the traditional “volume” metrics.
These metrics predict long-term pipeline health even when immediate conversion metrics fluctuate.
- Invest for Compounding Returns
With three-quarters of cybersecurity CMOs expecting budget increases and nearly one in five anticipating double-digit growth, the opportunity isn’t simply to invest spend. It’s to invest strategically toward initiatives that compound over time.
Executive thought leadership, media authority, ecosystem expansion, and sustained brand equity produce durable competitive advantage.
Cybersecurity marketers have the financial resources to win. Budgets are large, and they’re growing. The challenge now is deploying capital with patience, precision, and strategic clarity. Confidence doesn’t come from funding alone. It comes from understanding where investment creates lasting competitive advantage.
Want to dive deeper into the data? Download the complete 2026 Marketing Blueprint Part 2 survey report.
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Research Methodology:
10Fold engaged Sapio Research to deploy an online survey to marketing executives with decision-making and budget authority within B2B technology companies in the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. In all, 400 marketing executives completed the survey and the results are accurate to a +/- of 4.9% at a 95% in 100% confidence limit, assuming a result of .05%.