Salesforce advertising spend, FY2026

Salesforce (CRM) reported $800M of advertising expense for the fiscal year ended Jan 31, 2026. That is 1.9% of revenue of $41.5B. Down 20.0% from FY2025.

Ad spend, FY2026
$800M
year ended Jan 31, 2026
Change vs prior year
-20.0%
vs FY2025
Share of revenue
1.9%
of $41.5B revenue
Rank by ad spend
#87
of 336 companies

Key facts

  • Ad spend is 2.5x its FY2016 level ($316M), slower than revenue (6.2x).
  • The highest year on file is FY2024 at $1.1B; FY2026 is 27% below it.
  • Largest increase +55.0% in FY2016; largest cut -20.0% in FY2026.
  • Ad spend has fallen 2 years in a row.
  • Ad spend is 1.9% of revenue, down from 3.8% in FY2021.
  • Salesforce spends more on advertising than 74% of the 336 US-listed companies tracked. Its ad-to-revenue ratio is below the median of 5.2%.

Ad spend by fiscal year

$0 $500M $1B $1.5B FY2009 (ended 2009-01-31): $43.7M FY2010 (ended 2010-01-31): $50.8M FY2011 (ended 2011-01-31): $61.4M 2011 FY2012 (ended 2012-01-31): $80.3M FY2013 (ended 2013-01-31): $111M FY2014 (ended 2014-01-31): $156M 2014 FY2015 (ended 2015-01-31): $204M FY2016 (ended 2016-01-31): $316M FY2017 (ended 2017-01-31): $350M 2017 FY2018 (ended 2018-01-31): $373M FY2019 (ended 2019-01-31): $482M FY2020 (ended 2020-01-31): $700M 2020 FY2021 (ended 2021-01-31): $800M FY2022 (ended 2022-01-31): $1B FY2023 (ended 2023-01-31): $1B 2023 FY2024 (ended 2024-01-31): $1.1B FY2025 (ended 2025-01-31): $1B FY2026 (ended 2026-01-31): $800M 2026 $800M

Ad spend as % of revenue

0% 2% 4% 6% FY2009 (ended 2009-01-31): 4.1% FY2010 (ended 2010-01-31): 3.9% FY2011 (ended 2011-01-31): 3.7% 2011 FY2012 (ended 2012-01-31): 3.5% FY2013 (ended 2013-01-31): 3.6% FY2014 (ended 2014-01-31): 3.8% 2014 FY2015 (ended 2015-01-31): 3.8% FY2016 (ended 2016-01-31): 4.7% FY2017 (ended 2017-01-31): 4.1% 2017 FY2018 (ended 2018-01-31): 3.5% FY2019 (ended 2019-01-31): 3.6% FY2020 (ended 2020-01-31): 4.1% 2020 FY2021 (ended 2021-01-31): 3.8% FY2022 (ended 2022-01-31): 3.8% FY2023 (ended 2023-01-31): 3.2% 2023 FY2024 (ended 2024-01-31): 3.2% FY2025 (ended 2025-01-31): 2.6% FY2026 (ended 2026-01-31): 1.9% 2026 1.9%

History

Download CSV
Fiscal year Period end Ad spend YoY Revenue Ad / revenue Tag Filing
FY2026 Jan 31, 2026 $800M -20.0% $41.5B 1.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 2, 2026
FY2025 Jan 31, 2025 $1B -9.1% $37.9B 2.6% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 2, 2026
FY2024 Jan 31, 2024 $1.1B +10.0% $34.9B 3.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 2, 2026
FY2023 Jan 31, 2023 $1B 0.0% $31.4B 3.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 5, 2025
FY2022 Jan 31, 2022 $1B +25.0% $26.5B 3.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 6, 2024
FY2021 Jan 31, 2021 $800M +14.3% $21.3B 3.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 8, 2023
FY2020 Jan 31, 2020 $700M +45.2% $17.1B 4.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 11, 2022
FY2019 Jan 31, 2019 $482M +29.2% $13.3B 3.6% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 17, 2021
FY2018 Jan 31, 2018 $373M +6.6% $10.5B 3.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 5, 2020
FY2017 Jan 31, 2017 $350M +10.9% $8.4B 4.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 8, 2019
FY2016 Jan 31, 2016 $316M +55.0% $6.7B 4.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 9, 2018
FY2015 Jan 31, 2015 $204M +30.7% $5.4B 3.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 6, 2017
FY2014 Jan 31, 2014 $156M +40.7% $4.1B 3.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 7, 2016
FY2013 Jan 31, 2013 $111M +37.9% $3.1B 3.6% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 6, 2015
FY2012 Jan 31, 2012 $80.3M +30.8% $2.3B 3.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 5, 2014
FY2011 Jan 31, 2011 $61.4M +20.9% $1.7B 3.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 8, 2013
FY2010 Jan 31, 2010 $50.8M +16.2% $1.3B 3.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 9, 2012
FY2009 Jan 31, 2009 $43.7M n/a $1.1B 4.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 23, 2011

What the figure is

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Compared with similar spenders

The 6 companies closest to Salesforce in latest-year ad spend.

Rank Company Ad spend Ad / revenue YoY Fiscal year
85 Chewy $825M 6.5% +2.6% FY2026
86 W.W. Grainger $813M 4.5% +8.4% FY2025
87 Salesforce $800M 1.9% -20.0% FY2026
88 TripAdvisor $791M 41.8% +8.5% FY2025
89 Etsy $791M 27.4% +8.8% FY2025
90 Gap $778M 5.1% -0.3% FY2026
91 EchoStar $775M 5.2% +4.0% FY2025

Full ranking of 336 companies · Biggest cuts #13

Questions

How much does Salesforce spend on advertising?

Salesforce spent $800M on advertising in fiscal 2026, the year ended Jan 31, 2026, according to its 10-K filed Mar 2, 2026.

What percentage of revenue does Salesforce spend on advertising?

1.9% of revenue in fiscal 2026 ($800M of $41.5B). The median across the 336 companies tracked is 5.2%.

Is Salesforce spending more on advertising?

No. Ad spend fell 20.0% in fiscal 2026 from fiscal 2025. It has fallen 2 years in a row.

How does Salesforce rank by advertising spend?

#87 of 336 US-listed companies with $100M or more in ad spend, ranked on each company's latest fiscal year.

What does Salesforce's advertising figure include?

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Source

Filing
10-K for FY2026, filed Mar 2, 2026
Accession number
0001108524-26-000060
Company
Salesforce, Inc., CIK 1108524, SIC 7372 (Services-Prepackaged Software)
Data
SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, retrieved Nov 4, 2026. Methodology.
Cite
Salesforce advertising spend, FY2009-FY2026. Aleksei Trudov, io.trudov.com, from SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (latest: 10-K filed Mar 2, 2026), retrieved Nov 4, 2026. https://io.trudov.com/company/salesforce/advertising-spend/
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CSV, all years · CSV, all 336 companies