Crunching the Data Series: The value of marketing departments in European B2B SaaS companies

Marketing, even at its most basic level, is as important for companies as food is for humans. You can live without it, but only for a little while. Marketing is the difference between being a category leader and being the best-kept secret that no one cares about. Yet, too many B2B SaaS companies still treat marketing like a nice-to-have, shuffling it to the side in favor of… wishful thinking? Word of mouth?

Even with economic uncertainty, 72% of marketing leaders expect budgets to increase in 2025, with lead generation taking center stage (according to a LinkedIn report). Why? Because companies that invest in marketing grow. Companies that don’t, stall. It’s that simple.

To prove the point, we dug into fresh data on European B2B SaaS companies and their marketing teams. The results? If you’re not actively investing in marketing, your competitors sure are.

TL;DR – Too long; Didn’t read

1. Marketing = Growth. Companies that prioritize marketing are twice as likely to see >5% revenue growth (McKinsey).
2. Most B2B SaaS companies are playing it safe with lean teams. 2.5K+ companies run with just 1-5 marketers, while only 15 have gone all-in with 20+ marketers.
3. The top players invest and it pays off. SAP has 1.5K marketers in the EU, Dassault Systèmes has 382, and both are growing. SAP’s cloud business alone saw a 25% revenue jump in 2024. That’s what serious marketing investment looks like.

Now, let’s break down the data and see what it all means.

Why marketing matters for your B2B SaaS company

Growth is the core objective for most businesses. Given this priority, it’s important for CEOs to understand how their marketing departments and their Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) can drive and support this growth. Sadly, many CEOs fail to understand this, leading to significant misalignment between marketing strategies and business goals, which, in plain terms, means lost revenue.

Some CEOs still think of marketing as the department that “makes things look pretty.” You know, designing slides, tweeting company announcements, maybe sponsoring a tech webinar that 12 people watch.

Reality check: Marketing is a direct revenue driver.

According to McKinsey, “CEOs who place marketing at the core of their growth strategy are twice as likely to have greater than 5% annual growth compared with their peers.”

Specifically, organisations that see branding and advertising as one of their top two growth strategies are twice as likely to see revenue growth than those that don’t prioritize these areas.

Based on publicly available information from Fortune and Sales Navigator, we analyzed the executive suites of Fortune 500 European companies (2024) and found that top B2B SaaS companies have a dedicated marketing department: SAP (1.5K marketing professionals across EU) and Dassault Systèmes (382 marketing professionals).

SAP reported $34.5 billion in revenue for 2024, reflecting a 6.39% year-over-year increase. This aligns with SAP’s reported strong cloud performance, which saw a 25% revenue increase in 2024. While we can’t say that all of this success is due to marketing, we can certainly say that it played an important role.

To show the importance of marketing departments, we examined the Top 5 European Fortune 500 companies (2024) and their marketing team sizes. The results? All of them have dedicated marketing departments.

Top 5 Fortune 500 European Companies (2024)

What does it mean?

The numbers speak for themselves: SAP has 1.5K marketing professionals in the EU, and Dassault Systèmes has 382. These companies are not experimenting with marketing. They have built structured, well-funded teams to support long-term growth.

Across the Top 5 Fortune 500 European companies, marketing isn’t an afterthought. These organizations treat it as a core business function, essential for driving revenue, shaping strategy, and maintaining a competitive edge.

Why this matters in SaaS

• Branding isn’t optional. The SaaS market is overcrowded, so companies with strong branding stand out, attract customers, and build lasting trust. SAP and Dassault Systèmes are prime examples of how marketing strengthens positioning at the highest level.
• Branding strengthens market position. In a crowded SaaS landscape, strong branding attracts customers, builds trust, and creates differentiation. SAP and Dassault Systèmes use marketing to establish authority and remain industry leaders.
• Marketing leaders shape company direction. At the Fortune 500 level, 60% of CMOs sit on executive boards, ensuring that marketing influences high-level decisions on growth, revenue, and market expansion.
• Marketing impacts product development. Insights from marketing teams guide product positioning, customer experience strategies, and new market entry.

Companies that invest in marketing grow faster

According to McKinsey, businesses that prioritize marketing and branding as top growth strategies consistently see higher revenue growth than those that don’t. If your company is looking to scale, the data is clear: strong marketing teams drive strong business outcomes.

If you’re ready to strengthen your marketing approach, we’re here to help with custom strategies tailored for SaaS companies that need results, not guesswork.

Key factors for B2B SaaS companies looking to invest in digital marketing

• Marketing drives revenue growth. B2B SaaS companies that invest in marketing are more than twice as likely to achieve over 5% annual revenue growth.
• A marketing leader at the executive level improves performance. Companies with a CMO or growth-focused role in the C-suite consistently outperform those without one.
• Marketing leadership goes beyond branding. A strong marketing leader should be seen as a key business strategist, not just a brand manager.
• Marketing creates demand and fuels sales. The role of marketing in B2B SaaS is to generate leads, nurture prospects, and support sales teams with high-quality demand generation strategies.

B2B SaaS companies in Europe and the size of their marketing department, as of 4 February 2025

Distribution of marketing department sizes in B2B SaaS EU companies (2025)

To understand how marketing departments are structured in European SaaS companies, we focused on companies with 50-250 employees.

Why this matters

Marketing plays a big role in the growth of software companies. Yet, many B2B SaaS businesses still struggle to define how much to invest in marketing and what kind of team they need. Understanding the landscape helps companies make better strategic decisions, whether they’re looking to grow their own marketing team or sell marketing-related software and services to these businesses.

Why focus on mid-sized companies (50-250 employees)?

• These companies have enough resources to invest in sophisticated marketing tools that go beyond the basics.
• Their marketing needs are more complex than those of smaller startups, often requiring a mix of branding, lead generation, and automation.
• They face a unique challenge: competing against both large enterprises and lean, fast-moving startups.

The marketing challenges for mid-sized B2B SaaS companies

Unlike small startups that rely on scrappy, low-cost marketing or large enterprises with vast in-house teams, mid-sized B2B SaaS companies are in a transition phase. They need to scale marketing but often lack the structure, tools, or personnel to do it efficiently.

These companies must:

• Develop more advanced marketing strategies to stand out in a competitive SaaS market.
• Invest in technology and specialized talent to streamline demand generation and lead nurturing.
• Balance resources across multiple marketing functions, including content, performance marketing, and sales enablement.
• Compete on both ends, against well-funded enterprises and agile, disruptive startups.

If your business provides solutions for B2B SaaS marketing teams, these companies are your prime customers. Understanding where they are and how they allocate marketing resources is key to breaking into the market.

Key Insights

• There are 4,000+ B2B SaaS companies in Europe with 50-250 employees (excluding their marketing departments).
• Most of these companies (2,500+) operate with small marketing teams of just 1-5 people.
• 15 B2B SaaS companies in Europe employ 20+ marketing professionals. These businesses are making serious marketing investments, signaling an aggressive focus on growth, brand-building, and customer acquisition.
• Interestingly, 924 larger companies (3,500+ employees) have just one marketing professional. This role is typically a CMO or Head of Marketing, meaning some enterprises still rely on a single strategic leader rather than a full team.

Some SaaS companies aim for efficiency over headcount, relying on automation, outsourcing, or fractional marketing teams instead of hiring in-house specialists. For many companies, outsourcing marketing functions provides specialized expertise without the cost of hiring full-time employees. It offers scalability to adjust marketing efforts as needed, and grants access to advanced tools and strategies without the overhead of building everything in-house. At Milk & Cookies Studio, we take a quality-first approach to outsourced marketing. Our focus is on personalization and manual implementation to ensure each campaign aligns with a company’s brand identity, minimizing reliance on AI-generated content that can dilute differentiation, and using technology as a tool for efficiency rather than a replacement for creative, strategic thinking.

Marketing team distribution across European tech hubs: What the numbers reveal

For this analysis, we examined B2B tech companies with 50-250 employees that have 5-10 marketing professionals. According to our research, companies in this size range typically have around eight marketers, making this a representative sample of how mid-sized SaaS businesses structure their marketing teams.

The story behind the numbers

London, Paris, and Berlin are the dominant tech hubs in Europe, each with a unique marketing landscape.

London leads the pack with 394 companies (50-1250 employees) employing at least one marketing professional. Of these, 118 companies have 5-10 marketing professionals, reinforcing London’s position as Europe’s largest tech hub, particularly in fintech, AI, and cybersecurity.

Paris ranks second, with 196 companies employing at least one marketing professional, and 50 companies falling within the 5-10 marketer range. While Paris has a well-established tech ecosystem, many companies are expanding their marketing operations beyond the capital, creating new opportunities in cities like Lyon and Marseille.

Berlin, a powerhouse for startups and blockchain innovation, has 89 companies with at least one marketing professional, and 22 companies with 5-10 marketing professionals. The city’s emphasis on emerging technologies makes it a hotspot for companies looking to scale.

Understanding where companies are investing in marketing helps B2B SaaS businesses identify competitive landscapes, hiring trends, and potential markets for expansion.

• If you’re looking to sell marketing solutions or software, London’s heavy investment in marketing teams makes it a prime target.
• If you’re a growing B2B SaaS company, hiring marketing talent in Paris or Berlin could provide access to strong ecosystems without the intense competition of London.
• Mid-sized SaaS businesses in these regions are actively investing in marketing, signaling that digital marketing, demand generation, and brand positioning are critical growth priorities.

Thoughts for B2B SaaS companies in Europe looking to invest in digital marketing

Your competitors are already investing in digital marketing.

Our research shows that among European B2B SaaS companies with 50-250 employees, over 2,500 have dedicated marketing teams. They are actively creating content, optimizing their digital presence, and building relationships with prospects across multiple channels. The question isn’t whether to invest in digital marketing, it’s how to invest strategically to get the best return.

If you need proof, look at the industry leaders. SAP and Dassault Systèmes employ 1,500 and 382 marketing professionals in the EU, respectively. These companies don’t maintain large marketing teams for appearances. They do it because digital marketing delivers measurable business outcomes: more leads, stronger brand positioning, and higher revenue.

Yet, many growing B2B SaaS companies still hesitate, treating digital marketing as an optional expense rather than a growth investment. This mindset leads to missed opportunities, slower sales cycles, and weaker brand visibility. If decision-makers in your target market never hear about you, how do you expect to compete?

Companies with 5-10 marketing professionals tend to have specialized roles, allowing them to execute more sophisticated, targeted campaigns. This level of investment results in higher efficiency, better-qualified leads, and ultimately, more revenue.

If your competitors are already investing in digital marketing and seeing results, what’s your next move?

Looking ahead

For B2B SaaS companies, strong digital marketing is a valuation booster. Investors and potential acquirers prioritize companies with a proven ability to generate and convert leads efficiently. A well-executed digital marketing strategy signals market demand, competitive positioning, and scalability. These are all key factors that influence a company’s worth.

But building a successful digital marketing engine requires more than just ad spend and content creation. It demands a strategic approach tailored to your audience, product, and growth goals. Understanding how digital marketing can drive your company forward is the first step. Executing it effectively is what separates the leaders from the laggards.

Next steps: where do you go from here?

The most successful B2B SaaS companies in Europe are already investing in digital marketing. They’ve seen the returns, and they know that staying competitive means committing to a strong marketing strategy, not just dabbling in it. The opportunity is clear: build your digital marketing capabilities now, or risk being overshadowed by competitors who already have.

At Milk & Cookies Studio, we help B2B tech companies scale with data-driven digital marketing and sales strategies. Our approach is built on clarity, expertise, and transparency. No fluff, no vague promises, just real, measurable growth. We believe in delivering value before selling services. Our deep understanding of the tech ecosystem and engineering-driven mindset allows us to develop highly effective, tailored marketing strategies.

If you’re ready to take your digital marketing to the next level, let’s talk.

Other articles in the Crunching the Data Series:

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