The Customers You Have Are Getting Less Attention

Published on July 3, 2026

Acquisition is pulling hard on the budget these days for most companies. While the ratio of spend across the funnel is a pendulum in response to economic and market conditions, marketing teams now point 63% of media spend at conversion and awareness, up roughly 10% from two years previous. The pressure to prove that every dollar converts into new revenue is real, and it is steering money toward the top of the funnel and away from loyalty and retention.

It’s a pattern worth noticing whenever a whole category leans the same way at once because going along with the crowd means the investment gets more expensive, and the less contested may be a better opportunity for growth. The customers who already chose you are receiving a shrinking share of the attention. The reflection here is not to abandon acquisition which is far more cost effective than wooing net new customers in a cautious economy. Is your acquisition strategy the place where the better return is hiding right now?

Source: Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey, June 2026

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