--- title: Marketing's trust problem description: Marketer confidence in proving ROI jumped to 59% this year, but only 45% of finance leaders agree it holds up under real pressure. Here is the fastest fix. image: https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/Blog%20image-Aug-13-2026-01-21-01-4091-PM.jpg --- [![MA_Horizontal_RGB_4-19-19 copy](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hs-fs/hubfs/MA_Horizontal_RGB_4-19-19%20copy.png?width=147&height=32&name=MA_Horizontal_RGB_4-19-19%20copy.png "MA_Horizontal_RGB_4-19-19 copy")](http://www.marketingarchitects.com/) - platforms - [strategy](https://www.marketingarchitects.com/platforms/strategy) - [media](https://www.marketingarchitects.com/platforms/media) - [creative](https://www.marketingarchitects.com/platforms/creative) - [conversion](https://www.marketingarchitects.com/platforms/conversion) - [analytics](https://www.marketingarchitects.com/platforms/analytics) - [blog](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog) [contact us](https://www.marketingarchitects.com/contact-us) - [client login](http://www.mymainsight.com) - [Business Strategy (96)](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/topic/business-strategy) - [Conversion Tech (10)](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/topic/conversion-tech) - [Creative Strategy (13)](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/topic/creative-strategy) - [Media Buying (34)](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/topic/media-buying) - [News (51)](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/topic/news) - [Newsletter (177)](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/topic/newsletter) - [TV Attribution (11)](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/topic/tv-attribution) - [Newsletter](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/topic/newsletter) [Read More →](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/marketings-trust-problem) ## [Marketing's trust problem](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/marketings-trust-problem) This week, we're talking with Dagmara Szulce of the ANA and Daniel Sills of NewtonX about their new Confident B2B Marketer report. Marketer confidence jumped from 39% to 59% in a year, but f... - [![](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/FaceBook.png)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/marketings-trust-problem&title=Marketing's%20trust%20problem&picture=https://514871.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na2.net/hubfs/514871/Blog%20image-Aug-13-2026-01-21-01-4091-PM.jpg&description=Marketer%20confidence%20in%20proving%20ROI%20jumped%20to%2059%%20this%20year,%20but%20only%2045%%20of%20finance%20leaders%20agree%20it%20holds%20up%20under%20real%20pressure.%20Here%20is%20the%20fastest%20fix.) - [![](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/Twiiter.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?source=https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/marketings-trust-problem&text=Marketing's%20trust%20problem&url=https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/marketings-trust-problem&via=markarch) - [![](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/LinkedIn.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/marketings-trust-problem&title=Marketing's%20trust%20problem&summary=Marketer%20confidence%20in%20proving%20ROI%20jumped%20to%2059%%20this%20year,%20but%20only%2045%%20of%20finance%20leaders%20agree%20it%20holds%20up%20under%20real%20pressure.%20Here%20is%20the%20fastest%20fix.) - [![](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/email.png)](mailto:someone@example.com?Subject=Marketing's%20trust%20problem&body=Marketer%20confidence%20in%20proving%20ROI%20jumped%20to%2059%%20this%20year,%20but%20only%2045%%20of%20finance%20leaders%20agree%20it%20holds%20up%20under%20real%20pressure.%20Here%20is%20the%20fastest%20fix.%20https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog/marketings-trust-problem) [All Posts](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/blog) # Marketing's trust problem - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)  *This week, we're talking with Dagmara Szulce of the ANA and Daniel Sills of NewtonX about their new Confident B2B Marketer report. Marketer confidence jumped from 39% to 59% in a year, but finance leaders are nowhere near as sold. We look at why the gap exists and the fastest way to close it.* *—Elena* 59% of B2B marketers now say they can prove marketing's financial impact.  That's up from 39% a year ago. The ANA and NewtonX asked 150 finance and revenue leaders the same question. Only 45% agreed, and just 12% said that confidence holds up once budgets get tight.    Confidence and credibility aren't the same thing.    **What's driving the jump in marketer confidence?** Dagmara and Daniel point to discipline. Confident marketers built four things: clean data pulled together from scattered systems, real support for complex buying groups, tighter alignment with sales, and a clear line from marketing to revenue.   **Why doesn't finance agree?** Different vocabulary. Marketing might mark a deal as pipeline the moment someone fills out a form, while finance waits until the contract's signed. Match the two up and the numbers won't agree, and once they don't, nobody trusts the dashboard.   **How are confident marketers protecting brand budgets this year?** They bring the case to finance before the campaign launches. One SaaS CMO in the report stopped citing broad brand metrics and picked one number instead: people who already know the brand before they land on the site buy more often. That number was easy to defend, and it survived the budget cuts.   **What's the one fix worth making first?** Before your next budget conversation, agree with sales and finance on a few basic words: what counts as pipeline, what counts as a qualified lead, and how ROI gets calculated. Szulce called this the single most useful thing a CMO can do all year.   [Listen in on our discussion.](https://www.marketingarchitects.com/Podcast/TheMarketingArchitects/Episode177)   **“The Confident B2B Marketer 2026.”** This report from the ANA and NewtonX breaks down the 12 behaviors that separate confident B2B marketers from the rest, plus the first side-by-side survey of marketers and finance leaders. [Read the article.](https://www.newtonx.com/article/confident-b2b-marketer-2026/)   Confidence isn't proof.  “The confidence people have in their beliefs is not a measure of the quality of evidence but of the coherence of the story the mind has managed to construct.”  —  *Daniel Kahneman, psychologist and Nobel laureate*   This newsletter comes from the hosts of The Marketing Architects, a research-first show answering your biggest marketing questions. Find us on [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-marketing-architects/id1679048313) or wherever you listen to podcasts.  ![The Marketing Architects Team](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/MALogo-Mobius-Blue-RGB-1.png) ###### The Marketing Architects Team Curated by our leaders, creatives, analysts, designers, media buyers and more at Marketing Architects. ### Stay in the loop - get our content delivered to your inbox ## Related Posts 110 Cheshire Lane, Suite 200 Minneapolis, MN 55305 952-449-2500 info@markarch.com © 2020 Marketing Architects ![Marketing Architects](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/azure-site/MA-stacked-Logo2X.png "Marketing Architects") [![email us](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/footer-ermail.png "email us")](mailto:info@markarch.com) [![Facebook](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/footer-facebook.png "Facebook")](https://www.facebook.com/MarketingArchitects/) [![LinkedIn](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/footer-linkedin.png "LinkedIn")](https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketingarchitects) [![Twitter](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/footer-twitter.png "Twitter")](https://twitter.com/markarch) [![Instagram](https://blog.marketingarchitects.com/hubfs/footer-instagram.png "Instagram")](https://www.instagram.com/marketing_architects/) ![Marketing Architects, Inc. 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