Heavy Equipment State of Marketing 2026

Nobody publishes what equipment marketing actually spends.

Not by channel, not by budget size, and not by what any of it returns. Most budgets get set from last year's number and a feel for what worked. This study builds something to check that against.

We'll tailor some of the questions to your role so the answers compare properly. 17 questions, about 5 minutes.

Who are you in the industry?

Equipment Dealer

You work at a dealership — selling, marketing, or running the business

OEM / Manufacturer

You work at an equipment manufacturer or brand — marketing the product line or supporting a dealer network

Marketing Agency

You work at an agency that serves equipment dealers or OEMs

Please select one to continue.

All those who contribute receive the full report free, before others. For those who don't contribute, the original insights and report from IronBenchmark are valued at .

US-based respondents only · Anonymous and aggregated · Independent research — no sponsors

Section 1 · About You

Your role and your organization

6 questions · about 90 seconds. All responses are anonymous and aggregated — your individual answers are never shared. IronBenchmark is independent research — not sponsored by any equipment manufacturer, dealer group, or vendor.

Question 1What best describes your role?

Please select an option to continue.

Question 2How many locations does your dealership operate?

Please select an option to continue.

Question 3What is your approximate annual marketing budget (all channels)?

Please select an option to continue.

Question 4How many people (FTE or equivalent) work on marketing at your company?

Just me 2–3 people 4–10 people More than 10

Please select an option to continue.

Question 5How is your marketing function structured?

Entirely in-house Primarily in-house, some agency support Mix of in-house and agency Primarily agency, small in-house team Just me — no agency

Please select an option to continue.

Question 6What brand line(s) do you represent or primarily work with? (optional)

e.g. Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere, AGCO, Kubota, Volvo CE, CNH, independent / multi-line

Section 4 · How You Operate

Your systems, and how leads get handled

4 questions · about 90 seconds. How sales and marketing run together, how the CRM actually gets used, and how fast inbound leads get answered.

Question 14Which best describes how your sales and marketing operation runs today?

Primarily relationship-driven — no formal CRM or digital lead tracking Leads come through referrals and direct relationships. Follow-up is managed by the rep. Spreadsheets, notes, and phone calls do most of the work. CRM and digital tools are in place — used for tracking and campaigns You have a CRM, run email campaigns, and track leads digitally. The team logs activity and follows up based on what's in the system. Connected systems — fleet data, service history, and buying signals inform outreach Your CRM connects to machine data or service records. You can identify which customers are likely approaching a purchase decision based on usage patterns — before they call.

Please select an option to continue.

Question 15How would you describe how your team actually uses your CRM?

Please select an option to continue.

Question 16When a new inbound lead comes in, how quickly does your team typically respond?

Excluding automated responses such as auto-reply emails. Inbound channels include web form, phone, email, and chat.

Please select an option to continue.

Question 17Can you identify prospects who are researching your equipment before they reach out to you?

Yes — we track website visitors or use tools that flag interested prospects Sometimes — we pick up some signals but it's not consistent No — we find out someone was interested only when they reach out No — and it's not something we have tools in place for yet

Please select an option to continue.

Last step — get the report.

As a contributor, you'll receive the full Heavy Equipment State of Marketing 2026 report free, delivered ahead of release.

Work email address

Please use your work email — we use this to verify you're an industry practitioner and to send you the report.

Please enter a valid work email address (no personal email domains).

What state are you in? (optional — helps us segment regional findings)

🔒 Your data is private. No individual responses are ever shared or used for sales targeting. All findings are anonymized and aggregated. Unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you.

Your responses have been recorded. You'll receive the full Heavy Equipment State of Marketing 2026 report free, ahead of release.

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Nobody publishes what equipment marketing actually spends.

Equipment Dealer

OEM / Manufacturer

Marketing Agency

Your role and your organization

Which channels you spend on

What returns, and what gets in the way

Your systems, and how leads get handled

Last step — get the report.