The 7 Worst Ways to Spend End-of-Year B2B Marketing Budget and What to Do Instead

By Lee Odden

It’s that time of year again. I’m not talking about the holidays, it’s Q4 marketing budget season when B2B marketers are planning for the new year.

With 2025 marketing budgets steady at just 7.7% of overall company revenue, and 59% of CMOs saying they don’t have enough budget to fully execute their strategy (Gartner), many marketing leaders have spent the year playing it safe. For many B2B brands that conservative approach has resulted in unspent budget in Q4.

Of course, this isn’t unique to marketing. For many B2B brands, Q4 is the season of sudden opportunity. By now, decision-makers know exactly what’s left in their budgets, and a familiar rule kicks in: use it or lose it. That urgency can turn stalled deals into surprise wins, push procurement into overdrive, and motivate buyers to commit before the calendar resets.

So where do those leftover funds go? Things like prepaid campaigns, team training, and tech upgrades. There’s no shortage of advice online about how to spend a year-end surplus.

But in moments like these with pressure to both spend and perform quickly, even seasoned marketers can make questionable choices. Desperation can spark creativity, but it can also produce campaigns that make you cringe by Q1. To help you avoid that situation, we’ve rounded up some of the worst ways B2B brands can spend their year-end marketing budget.

These cringeworthy moments start innocently enough. Someone says, “We’ve got budget left, let’s get creative.” What follows can range from somewhat questionable to full-blown marketing madness. These are the ideas that probably made sense in a conference room somewhere and for your entertainment, are rich with satire.

The Unlucky 7: Worst Ways to Spend Your End-of-Year B2B Marketing Budget

1. Celebrity Insights Webinar Series

What better way to boost engagement than by adding a little star power? Instead of hiring industry subject matter experts and creators, let’s bring in celebrity impersonators! Think “Elon Musk,” “Oprah,” and “Einstein”, to discuss innovation, leadership, and the future of our industry. It’s unexpected, entertaining, and sure to trend on social media… though probably for the wrong reasons. Attendees will leave confused but definitely talking and our budget will vanish into wigs, props, and vocal coaches.

2. The Year-End Event Sponsorship Blitz

Let’s dominate the industry conversation by sponsoring every conference, expo, and virtual summit left on the calendar. We’ll grab booths, banners, and branded coffee sleeves across multiple events, ensuring our logo is impossible to miss, even if our target audience has checked out for the month. With no time for proper follow-up or lead qualification, we’ll have an impressive presence and an empty pipeline by January.

3. Executive Influencer Leadership Retreat

Imagine it: ten CFOs, CMOs, and COOs flown to Aspen for a “Financial Foresight Summit.” A luxury resort, inspirational speakers, morning yoga, and networking by the fire. What could go wrong? It’s the perfect blend of executive pampering and thought leadership theater, minus the part where we connect it to revenue. It’s exclusive, expensive, and entirely unmeasurable – the holy trinity of bad end-of-year spending.