Marketers complain of 'chaos, burn-out and fatigue'

The marketing industry is under unprecedented strain, with fragmentation across teams, processes and technology now directly impacting business performance, buyer trust and wellbeing.

So says a new damning report from global B2B marketing agency Tmp, which draws on insights from 1,000 marketers and tech buyers across the UK and US, and reveals a sector falling well short of its potential.

More than half (53%) of marketers describe their working environment as chaotic, while burnout, fatigue (34%) and heightened stress (34%) are widespread for over a third.

Nearly three quarters (72%) say they are not sleeping properly, with many working extra hours, skipping breaks and deprioritising long-term planning.

But the chaos is not limited to people. It is embedded in processes, with product (40%), partner (29%) and demand (28%) identified as the most disconnected areas of the marketing function. Fragmentation is creating stalled deals (29%), inconsistent quality of work (33%) and missed opportunities (32%), all reported as key challenges for marketers.

The findings paint a clear picture: marketing, sales and partners are not aligned, and buyers feel the effects. Deals now involve 11 or more stakeholders, while too much content (34%), unclear vendor messaging (31%) and lack of trust (33%) are major obstacles in the buying journey.

The report also includes perspectives from senior figures across the tech and marketing landscape, including Nathalie Dorricott (Palo Alto Networks), Tricia Stinton (Capgemini) and Claire Louise Green (Adobe), who reflect a sector wrestling with complexity but ready for change.

Tmp chief strategy officer Ali Hussain said: “CMOs and other revenue leaders need to stop playing whack-a-mole with surface-level symptoms and address the underlying challenges. Namely, that an increasingly chaotic environment is constantly pulling people, organisations, brands and customer journeys apart. As the research shows, marketers are losing sleep. Teams are misaligned. Brands are being diluted and buying groups are struggling to reach consensus.

“In 2026, marketing teams are being asked to do more with less, to use AI, to move faster. That’s exacerbating the problem – they’re scaling fragmentation.

“Instead, marketers need to focus on creating coherence across data, strategy, creative, media and sales, from reputation-building to revenue and on through retention. It’s better for brands, and 97% of buyers agree it’s better for them. Scale chaos, and you scale pain. Scale coherence, and you scale revenue.”