Key Strategies for B2B Marketers
2024 was a year of challenges, change and opportunities in the B2B marketing space. Marketing strategies have become more diverse; technology has opened up new opportunities, and AI has reached a level of maturity to the extent that it dominates the conversation.
However, despite all this, the traditional stalwarts of marketing remain intact: personalisation, customer experience and face-to-face contact. In an era in which technology can promise the world, it’s easy for marketers to lose focus of the key lessons that have won them success in the past.
To help CMOs thrive in the increasingly demanding marketplace, the 2025 CMO handbook interviewed a selection of leading CMOs, each of whom has been successful in the B2B space.
They cover issues such as the growing influence of AI, changing digital marketing strategies, and ways to engage with existing and potential clients.
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We’ve collated insights from our panel of CMOs to give you practical advice on how you can make the most of B2B strategies over the coming year. They include insights such as:
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this handbook.
”Everything is becoming slightly more unpredictable, but the direction of travel is definitely towards hyper-personalisation.
Dipti Malaviya, TCSConsulting Partner
Table of contents
In this handbook, we’ll be covering…
What Changed in 2024?
Before we look ahead to 2025, it’s worth taking time to think back on the year we’ve just been through. It has been a challenging year for many in the B2B market. Companies have been struggling, investment for startups is hard to find, and scale-ups have been struggling both in new and existing markets.
Rapid Evolution
For Dipti Malaviya of TCS, the landscape is changing rapidly with new technologies forcing marketing leaders to move quickly and think on their feet. “The business landscape is changing big time,” she says.
”There are too many external forces at play, which are all powered by the economic landscape.
“Companies are reinventing themselves in the light of AI and GenAI. How the business leaders are marketing and being marketed to is also changing… There are multiple external forces at play, which are powered by the economic and technological landscape.”
Markets are becoming more diverse and new strategies have come to the fore. Keeping abreast of these changes can be extremely challenging for marketers, which means all marketers require a way to ensure continuous learning.
“My personal approach to continuous learning combines staying curious, being part of a supportive community, and carving out time for self-improvement,” says AccuraCast’s Radmila Blazhesk. “I’m inspired and encouraged by my CMO Circle community, where I exchange ideas and gain fresh perspectives from fellow marketing leaders. I also regularly take courses to sharpen my skills and stay ahead of the latest trends, ensuring I bring innovative strategies to my work.”
Continuous learning has always been at the heart of marketing, but in a rapidly changing world in which new tools are bursting onto the scene all the time, it’s more important than ever before.
Inbound versus Outbound
Another key theme is the question of traditional outbound push marketing and inbound pull marketing.
For Marina Pape, the biggest shift has been the importance of doing outbound. She argues that: “doing outbound and doing the older school of ABM is not so impactful anymore, especially with data privacy and the way you can track people encouraged us to focus on the top of the funnel.”
The B2B marketing space, Pape suggests, is becoming bolder and in some cases is taking lessons from the consumer marketing space by investing in the top of the funnel and creating more emotive marketing.
”Outbound and the older school of ABM is not so impactful anymore.
Recently, Pape has been “working with stakeholders to encourage confidence that investing in thought leadership and top-of-funnel activities consistently does keep feeding the funnel instead of overly focusing on the bottom of the funnel.”
Caution about investment, she believes, is giving way to a renewed belief in the importance at the top of the funnel.
The rise of AI
By far the biggest shift, and one that we will look at in more depth later in this handbook has been the rise of AI. 2024 was the year it truly burst onto the scene from a technology of the future to a key feature of the B2B marketers’ toolbox. Chatbots, content creation, predictive analytics, and personalisation engines are being embraced by marketers as they seek to save time, money and broaden their reach.
AI has the potential to accelerate the ability to manage the personalisation of content at scale through tools such as natural language processing, real-time data analytics, data segmentation, and automated content creation. Marketers see enormous potential in removing the trade-offs between the need to scale and maintain personalisation in content.
It can raise the level of quality and quantity at which companies work – especially those on limited budgets. In doing so it can contribute to better localisation of content facilitating more targeted marketing strategies in new territories.
Even so, AI and automation remain emerging technologies and marketers do not fully understand their capabilities or future potential.
”There are too many external forces at play, which are all powered by the economic landscape.
“I think at the moment people are getting to grips with AI,” says Michael Boaden of PlanPay. “It’s great for certain tasks and speeds up a lot of processes.”
Anne-Marie Lavollée agrees. “It’s never going to be the finished product,” she says, “and it shouldn’t be, because otherwise it’s going to look very generic and it will lack that personal touch.”
For now, at least, the human element remains an essential component, with AI facilitating and enhancing the capabilities of human content creators rather than simply replacing them.
That said, AI technology has come on in leaps and bounds over the past 12 months. Marketers will be watching closely to see what new technologies and tools make their way onto the market over the course of 2025.
Hyper personalisation
The rise of AI and the proliferation of digital technologies has also turbocharged the drive towards hyper-personalisation.
Bella Jasani believes there will be a “shift towards content personalisation at scale”. Digital technology will encourage more data-driven hyper-personalisation content on a much larger scale than ever before.
“Content marketing in the B2B sector is evolving to focus on personalisation, full-funnel engagement, and measurable ROI,” says Radmila Blazheska. “It’s shifting from broad lead generation to more targeted strategies, such as account-based marketing, data-driven storytelling, and interactive content, to better meet buyer expectations.”
”There will be a shift towards content personalisation at scale
Brands now have access to huge amounts of data across multiple channels enabling them to create highly nuanced and complex profiles about each of their customers. Even when interactions with a company are entirely digital, they will increasingly become different for each person.
The use of advanced analytics, AI, and real-time information empowers brands to provide uniquely personalised and tailored experiences. Every person, business, and brand can receive unique experiences based on their data profiles.
Competition is intense and with the proliferation of devices and platforms, brands must deliver a consistent, personalised experience across multiple channels (mobile, web, email, social media, in-store, etc.). Hyper-personalisation helps create this integrated experience by tailoring messaging and offers across every touchpoint.
”The success of any marketing strategy is forged by precise analytics, creative innovation, and dedicated customer focus.
Nick Bottai - NovAlexandria, ex IBM, eBayCMO
Politics and the culture wars
Last but not least, 2024 was a year of growing political and economic turbulence. We’ve seen the return of Donald Trump and the rise of right-wing parties across Europe. As we write this, Reform is currently polling just one point behind Labour in the UK.
The marketing sector has seen a backlash against what some term ‘woke’ marketing. Message marketing aligned with Pride Month and inclusivity created mockery, and in some cases anger among some customers.
Google and Jaguar are among the latest brands to find themselves in the firing line for supposedly ‘woke’ marketing campaigns.
Budweiser, meanwhile, still scarred from a customer boycott in 2023 after its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, announced an abrupt about-turn in February by partnering with ‘anti-woke’ comedian Shane Gillis who had been fired from Saturday Night Live for gay slurs.
Policies are also changing. As Donald Trump returns to office, he does so with a promise to crack down on woke company practices such as diversity and inclusion plans. Meta, Amazon and McDonald’s have already ditched their diversity programs in anticipation of the new policy direction.
The catchphrase of “Go Woke Go Broke” has been haunting businesses fearful of a backlash, but the real picture is more nuanced.
Authentic Inclusivity
A study from Unstereotype Alliance – a group convened by UN Women – found that marketing strategies that highlighted a positive and inclusive message has a positive impact on sales. The research drew on data from a range of brands including Diageo, Kantar and Unilever, and showed an average 3.5% boost in the short term rising to 16% in the long term.
The key question of success, according to the report, is for brands to be authentic in portraying diversity. Clunky marketing schemes in which messaging feels contrived, on the other hand, can spark a backlash.
Brands may also have to consider their own customer demographics. Budweiser struggled because its main demographic – at least in the short term – was unlikely to be Dylan Mulvaney followers. They were more likely to be white men who could potentially be receptive to anti-woke rage.
Brands also have to consider impacts from political activists of all kinds ranging across issues such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and climate change. McDonald’s admitted that its sales took a hit from a boycott over what its boss called misinformation about the firm’s links to Israel. Mondelez had to revamp its European operations after boycotts against its decision to continue selling in Russia.
Adidas, meanwhile, managed to simultaneously draw ire from all sides when it pulled advertising campaigns featuring Palestinian model Bella Hadid after complaints from the Israeli government. They then had to apologise to Hadid who felt the decision conflated her Palestinian heritage with terrorism.
In an increasingly fractious climate, it’s becoming difficult for brands to be apolitical. Messaging of all kinds risks sparking backlashes from vocal activists and political interests. For brands understanding the difference between noise made by a highly vocal minority and real long-term metrics or campaigns will be complex.
One thing’s for sure, as businesses push into 2025, navigating the culture wars is likely to be increasingly challenging.
Challenges for 2025
In terms of this year, many of the traditional challenges remain; such as finding talent, gaining local market knowledge, and adapting to evolving political landscapes.
Moving into 2025, therefore, the outlook is complex. The economic outlook is volatile, competition is intense, and customer demands are changing. Technology promises dramatic change, but exactly what sort of change that will be, may be hard to determine. To thrive in a fluctuating environment marketers are looking to be agile, adaptable, and flexible to capitalize on new technologies and opportunities as they arise.
Rise of AI and Automation
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation have dominated discussions throughout 2024. It was by far the most common answer to the question of the biggest developments in B2B marketing over the past year. Love it or hate it, there is no avoiding it.
However, there were wide variations in the level of adoption among CMOs. Some had embedded AI into every part of their marketing operations while others still relied on human-driven and manual operations. Most were exploring it to some degree with the most common use cases including:
- Automated lead generation
- Automated content generation
- Conversational AI applications
”The adoption of AI has been astounding!
Kevin Ryan - AccuraCastAmericas Market Lead
ChatGPT reached 1 million active users in a fraction of the time it took TikTok and YouTube to reach that milestone. It's mind-boggling then to think we've just seen the tip of this iceberg.
Lead Generation
AI’s ability to sort and analyse vast quantities of customer data enables it to uncover leads that might previously be inaccessible and also identify which are most likely to convert. It can conduct deep analytics on customer engagement, identifying opportunities to increase revenue per customer and improve conversion and retention.
For example, tools such as predictive lead scoring can rank all leads based on their likelihood to convert as well as provide more information on what strategies might be more likely to trigger conversions.
Success story: WTW
WTW is a leader in the risk management industry. In a constantly evolving business landscape, insurance renewals stand as pivotal moments for companies to reassess their coverage and ensure continued protection.
Reaching the right audience close to the time of renewal, and engaging those leads with optimal ad content helped WTW boost lead form completions and drastically reduce the cost per lead, compared to industry averages.
Content marketing
A key area of debate surrounds the use of AI in generating content. The sophistication and realism of AI content have improved dramatically over the last 12 months which has seen many companies seek to automate the role of content writers.
For most respondents, automated content generation remains a long way from replacing content marketing teams.
“I’ve been using ChatGPT to overcome writer’s block,” says Anne-Marie Lavollée. “It helps you produce a first draft, and assists with shaping ideas and finding the right direction to take.”
It is, therefore, a useful starting point from which to further develop content ideas.
“It’s never going to be the finished product”, she adds, “and it shouldn’t be, because otherwise it’s going to look very generic and it will like that personal touch. But it’s a good way to get started.”
Automated translation tools are also popular, but once again the human touch remains vital.
”We've now shifted to a sort of AI-first approach
“We’ve now shifted to doing a sort of AI-first approach,” says Marina Pape. “We’ll translate everything first with ChatGPT and then we do still have a sort of a human check… that has helped us and we’ve seen a really meaningful cost saving there.”
She does, however, acknowledge that the quality of the translation can vary which means human checks remain vital.
The same is true of image generation. While her team has been using AI to generate marketing images, the quality and realism of those images can vary immensely.
The personal touch
Concerns about the potential for AI to replace jobs remain common across the marketing sector. Although automation has been used to save time and money its effect has been more as an assist to marketing teams, enabling them to complete tasks more quickly and shift towards a more strategic approach.
To make AI work, marketers have to upskill and develop new competencies to get the best results. Skills such as prompt engineering help marketers understand the best prompts and inputs to gain better results. AI relies on the information being fed into it.
AI, therefore, is a lot like any other technology – it’s either a benefit or a hazard. Get it right and you can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and focus your team on more profitable strategic tasks.
Get it wrong and businesses can erect barriers and disconnect themselves from their customers.
For Dipti Malaviya, technology can cause saturation, which can lead to a lot of impersonalisation in some ways.
“The human connection is going away,” Malaviya warns. “If you’re using technology to target and to engage on the digital… how are you going to bring them in and drive that human connection? It’s also that conviction and credibility that goes with the human on the other end, which kind of is at stake.”
Human and personal connections remain important, especially in the B2B sector where the emphasis on building trust, and ongoing relationships is key.
”The human connection is going away
AI can be enormously beneficial in that but like any tool understanding its uses, potential, and drawbacks can take time.
One thing’s for sure. AI is not going away anytime soon. Businesses of all sizes are looking into it and identifying ways to build it into their tech stack. AI is everywhere. Salesforce has its Einstein model, Google has Bard, and Adobe is using generative AI to aid personalisation.
It’s a learning process and collaboration will be key between all sides to see how it evolves:
At a recent community gathering of AI professionals at Google’s London HQ, the search giant brought together people involved with AI and those using AI in different ways to roll out Google’s own AI solutions. AccuraCast’s Farhad Divecha, who is also founder of Unyte AI, says, “We were talking to people about businesses that use AI to automate outreach, others who automate recruiting, and some that automate the job application process candidates!”
Everyone across B2B is still learning how to use AI. “People are getting to grips with it. It’s great for certain tasks and speeds up a lot of processes”, says Michael Boaden, “I think 2025 will be a mix blend as we learn more about AI, but I still think personal relationships and customer experience are going to be really key.”
”AI tools are not a panacea, they are extremely useful to help automate tasks that were previously impossible or would take too much time. They can also bring you better insights than ever before. They can save you a lot of money too. But like any tool, it's not an automatic solution, it's a tactical tool that can help you achieve a particular strategy. Working out the strategy is the hardest part.
Nick Knupffer - Surf SecurityHead of Marketing
Conversational AI applications
Conversational AI can be transformational for marketing teams by allowing customers to engage in personal and real-time conversations, around the clock. At the same time, getting to grips with the new technology can be difficult with its impact being hard to predict.
Channels include chatbots, virtual assistants, voice assistants and AI-powered live chats. Harnessing the power of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, they can handle much more complex conversations than was previously possible and understand the nuances of human language and intent. This gives them much more human-like characteristics and enables them to engage with customers on a whole new level, even when there isn’t a human present to handle the conversation.
Siri, Alexa and Google all provide potent examples of how sophisticated the technology is becoming. While early iterations became the focus of ridicule, outputs have become more realistic as the technology improves. Indeed, in a recent study, ChatGPT was rated as having a better bedside manner than human doctors.
The technology has enormous potential in providing more personalised 24/7 support and deeper customer engagement leading to potentially higher ROI. However, it does not come without its challenges.
Ensuring high-quality outputs depends on the accuracy of NLP technologies. Although these have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, they still depend heavily on the quality of data inputs and can struggle to understand colloquial speech patterns, slang, or other languages.
Configuring NLPs to be sufficiently agile to work across territories and third countries will be a major headache for content marketing teams.
Generative AI Engine Optimisation (GEO)
One of the most important new developments coming from the rise of AI is the need to optimise brand presence for generative AI. Few, if any marketers have given this much consideration to date. However, being cited on conversational AI tools is likely to become a key growth area in the very near future, considering that ChatGPT was one of the top 10 information search platforms in the UK in Q4 2024, and also featured among the top 10 traffic referring sources for many websites.
GEO
GEO – the science of improving visibility and relevance on AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, voice assistants, search generative experience (SGE) and other conversational AI tools – should be on every marketeer’s radar in 2025.
Unlike traditional search, conversational AI typically only offers 3-5 results for informational queries. The race to be one of those results is about to heat up, and early adopters are likely to win big.
AI, then, is unavoidable. It dominated the conversation in 2024 and will have a major impact on the marketing sector in 2025. Exactly what shape that influence will be is uncertain. AI is evolving at such a pace, and its impact is growing so fast that marketing teams can struggle to keep pace. Keeping abreast of AI and its impact will stand marketers in good stead to adapt to the shifting challenges and opportunities AI might bring.
Content Marketing in 2025
As AI is on the march in 2025 one of the biggest areas affected will be content marketing. Demand for volume and growing pressure on budgets has seen AI content generation become increasingly prevalent. As the technology powering ChatGPT refines itself, AI-generated content is becoming more convincing than ever.
Automated text and image generation is on the rise prompting questions about the role of human content producers. However, while AI can be a cheaper and faster option, it may be too early to write off the human element just yet.
”I see content being hyper-personalised using data and AI to deliver business outcomes.
Dipti Malaviya – TCSConsulting Partner
“Content is king in industries with complex buying cycles, where building trust and nurturing long-term relationships with customers and decision makers is essential to growth,” says Anne-Marie Lavollée. “I can’t see AI replacing experienced content marketing teams but rather help them turn ideas into prototypes more quickly and save time on repetitive tasks.”
“Even with the increase of AI being used to create B2B content, there is still a need (in companies with vision) for consistency and storytelling.” says Alan Hill.
Indeed, the rise of AI and new technologies will, according to many, put content generation right to the front and centre. Some argue that Content will be even more important than before, with a focus on bringing truly useful information. Content must not be seen as written by AI, though, it must be natural and human (or at least seem like it).
AI is best used as a tool to extend the reach and improve the performance of content marketing. One way it does this can be by doing much of the legwork for content generation, providing ideas and early draft frameworks.
Beyond that, though, AI’s ability to generate more detailed and personalised data insights is helping contribute towards an era of hyper-personalisation in which content can be tailored more closely to the recipients.
”B2B content marketing is shifting away from generic, one-size-fits-all messaging and moving toward a more personalised, data-driven approach that prioritises authenticity and relevance. The goal is to genuinely deliver real value to customers – not just output without outcomes.
Evelyn Truter - Connectd, ex XeroxFractional CMO
Others see content as having to adapt its tone and output to carry a more distinctive impact on customers. John Lyons says B2B content “is having to follow where B2C has already been, being distinctive, memorable and less po-faced.”
The line between B2B and B2C is blurring with content marketing shifting gears toward a strategy of engagement, value and personalisation.
Marina Pape suggests there will be more top-of-funnel content designed to increase or maintain awareness and keep a steady cadence of mindshare amongst the ideal customer profile. She adds that “with the deprecation of cookies, more trust on the positive role of content will be required as direct attribution to short-term results is increasingly harder.”
”We'll see greater focus on repurposing content
Content will also have to be more adaptable, with Bella Jasani predicting a “greater focus on repurposing content across multiple formats and channels.”
Businesses increasingly adopt omnichannel marketing strategies. Customers expect the same level of customer experience across all digital and in-person platforms be that online, mobile, in-person, or via social media. Omnichannel marketing requires consistent omnichannel content strategies. Content marketing teams will not just be producing content for a web page, for example, they will need to know how to adapt and adjust that content to work across all channels.
The result should be a clear and consistent messaging approach regardless of where or how companies are engaging.
Measuring success
Technology, therefore, is changing strategies, but it’s also affecting how companies measure success. In a world in which everything must have an ROI against it, developing clear and actionable metrics is becoming more difficult than ever.
“The move away from Lead-Gen to Demand-Gen is making the use of direct metrics more abstract, the danger is the demand for these precise metrics might make advertising less effective,” says Nick Knupffer.
“People forget that marketing is part art and part science. Part brand marketing, and part sales campaigns. (The long and the short of it). The art part and brand components are less easy to precisely measure, and this often leads to a preference for short-term thinking rather than long-term brand growth. There’s no room in such companies for what Ogilvy’s Rory Sutherland calls ‘Alchemy’.”
”People forget that marketing is part art and part science
Assessing the impact of content is becoming more difficult, but at the same time growing volumes, tightening budgets and the increasingly fraught battle for customer attention spans all weigh on how marketers view metrics.
”I’d like to see a renewed focus on content that drives brand identity, rather than an exclusive emphasis on metrics. However, with the growing volume of content and decreasing attention spans, I anticipate an even greater shift toward metric-driven content marketing.
Mark Bishop - NuvisoCMO
When shaping content marketing strategies, companies need to be clear-eyed about their goals, expectations, and the potential and limitations of various technologies..
Key Marketing Formats and Channels for 2025
2024 has seen plenty of movement in terms of the most popular marketing channels and formats. New technologies, changes in consumer behaviour, and expansion into new markets are seeing businesses re-evaluate their most effective channels and develop new, more creative engagement strategies.
Social trends
Social media marketing continues to flourish and transform from a way to build personal connections to a powerful marketing tool. However, how businesses approach social media is changing.
While LinkedIn was once the dominant platform for the B2B space, marketing activities are becoming much more nuanced. LinkedIn is expensive and crowded, prompting businesses to look at different channels.
Alan Hill, though, remains bullish on the platform. “LinkedIn remains the go-to platform for addressing a business audience. X (Twitter) is still solid for reaching a technical audience. But for decision-makers, LinkedIn is still the number 1 platform.”
Michael Boaden agrees, especially when it comes to reaching decision markers, but he argues that much depends on the way in which companies approach it.
For James Hamlin, the relationships built up through social platforms can help build up one thing that he sees as crucial to supporting marketing efforts. “Communities,” he says when asked what formats and channels he uses. “I lean on the community to crowd-source problems.”
Social networks such as LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Reddit can help you build a strong community among consumer and B2B contacts. They can serve as brand ambassadors to amplify your messaging. They can also provide support and help to crowd-source advice and challenges related to your business. It can help you refine your marketing strategy and adapt your product to evolving demands.
”It is crucial to conduct trend analysis to identify the true beginnings of a trend, rather than chase them after the trend has already begun.
Rosanna Badalamenti - AccuraCastTravel & Hospitality CMO
To Boaden, engaging on a platform such as LinkedIn can be an art form that many people get wrong. “I’ve had requests, for example, from people to connect and then as soon as they’ve connected, they’re already trying to sell me something.”
It’s a common experience that many will be familiar with – blunt sales messages that adopt a sledgehammer-style approach to marketing with very little attempt at personalisation. Instead, connecting on any social platform should be about building relationships, sharing information, and gaining contacts. Those relationships will be much more likely to yield results.
The platform can also be expensive which may put off some, but others remain positive on its value. It is fairly expensive, but it has served numerous businesses well in that it allows identification of key decision enables brands to contact them with a very high success rate of moving the relationship forward.
Direct deals
Direct deal marketing will continue to be important as marketers seek to target specific audiences and publications. Trade publications may have smaller audiences and lower reach, but they are more focused. Marketers seeking to personalise and target campaigns are working closely with publishers to negotiate premium advertising space and shape campaigns.
This can take time, and requires significant investment in time and resources, but when done well it can yield results getting tailored messages directly out to the most receptive audiences.
For example, when looking to recruit top talent, direct deals with specific HR publications can help to reach specific job roles and connect with talented individuals.
Technology is also making its presence felt with marketing teams also combining elements of programmatic marketing with traditional direct relationships to save time and expand reach.
Whether focusing on the traditional avenues such as LinkedIn or exploring the key questions will be where the audience can be found, and what messaging will work on different platforms. It is not an exact science and marketing teams a undergoing a substantial amount of experimentation, especially when it comes to less traditional B2B channels such as Reddit.
Events marketing
The rise of remote work and the impact of COVID-19 created question marks about the future of event marketing. By necessity, during the lockdown, virtual events became more common, and these have continued in the post-COVID era. However, any suggestions that events might diminish have turned out to be wide off the mark.
For many, COVID-19 imposed a pause on attending events, but as things opened up again, events came back. As many marketing leaders attended their first events, they found people keen to connect.
“The enthusiasm that I saw there of people going, meeting, networking, it was as high as it’s ever been in my memory,” Michael Boaden recalls.
Marina Pape agrees that events are an important channel, but the way in which businesses are approaching them is changing.
”The days of having an expensive booth is one thing. Having a smart experience for customers – that type of event marketing – I see value in that. I question the value of older school events.
Marina Pape - Tiger Beetle, ex MollieMarketing Director
Localisation and adaptability
Regardless of the channels, successful marketers are those who show an ability to adapt and refine their strategies according to different audiences.
“Our success comes from adapting strategies to meet the cultural preferences and nuances of each region while maintaining a consistent global brand message,” says Evelyn Truter.
Translation tools are being used to translate content into native languages, but quality can vary considerably. Results from AI translation tools can be unreliable which is why all content aside from the most basic will need to be overseen by humans.
Translation will also not necessarily hone the content for a local audience. For that, local marketing teams to understand the market, the customer base, and relevant strategies will be critical. Respondents increasingly recognise the importance of locally based marketing talent and refining content messaging to each region and demographic. Businesses need to truly engage and build networks within new markets.
For Michael Boaden, networking at local events and using local advisors have helped him gain new partnerships and relationships across multiple geographies.
”We've been successful with strategies in which we contact network partners in a specific geography, and meet up with them, and use them as advisors and door openers in the local language, rather than trying to go into a country and start building relationships from scratch.
Michael Boaden - PlanPayHead of Business Development
Advice from Our Network of CMOs
We asked our panel of CMOs for one key lesson they learned from leading marketing teams that they wish they’d known earlier in their career. Here’s what they shared:
I think if I could go back and tell myself something, it would probably be that competency doesn’t trump character. There are lots of technical things to learn about marketing, which are always changing as marketing does. But I think you can be very competent at what you do, but ultimately how you work with people, how well you’re able to collaborate, if you’re able to stay positive when things get tough, that is a lot more to me. The thing that I’ve learned and that I hold dear is that character is extremely important in leadership.
”There are lots of technical things to learn about marketing, which are always changing as marketing does
Marina Pape
Marketing Director at TigerBeetle, ex Mollie
Evelyn Truter
Fractional CMO, Board Advisor ex Xerox
People don’t always embrace change as easily or as quickly as you might expect – even when the benefits are clear. Leading teams has taught me the importance of mastering the ‘art’ of articulation: finding the right way to communicate and inspire, so they genuinely want to be part of the journey.
”Leading teams has taught me the importance of mastering the ‘art’ of articulation
”Articulate your strategy and goals very clearly, people are not mind-readers. Make sure they understand that every action they take, every dollar they spend, must contribute to this goal. Listen and learn from them, they often know better.
Nick Knupffer
Head of Marketing at Surf Security, ex AMD, Intel
Dipti Malaviya
Consulting Partner at TC
Keeping in tune with innovations and trends in the market through white papers, research publications, and events is critical for everyone in marketing, not just the leadership team. Team culture and shared vision are absolutely important to drive results. One bad apple ruins the lot.
”Team culture and shared vision are absolutely important to drive result
”Leadership in marketing is about balancing creativity with commercial objectives. Both need to coexist for sustainable success.
Carol Howley
CMO at Magnus Consulting, ex Exclaimer
Advice From Our CMO Team
”Since the beginning of my management career, I have always prioritised ongoing professional development and growth of my staff, making it a central focus of my management style. Looking back, I deeply regret not encouraging my employees to refresher and enhance their skills and knowledge.
Rosanna Badalamenti
Travel & Hospitality CMO at AccuraCast
Paul Bennett
Finance CMO at AccuraCast
”Recruit experts who know more than you. Your job is to empower them to get the best results for you and the business.
”One key lesson I’ve learned is the importance of embracing bold ideas and taking calculated risks. Encouraging a culture where the team feels confident to experiment and occasionally fail has led to some of the most creative and impactful campaigns.
Radmila Blazheska
B2B CMO at AccuraCast
Key Takeaways
Most of all, it pays to be bold. In an uncertain economic landscape, it can be tempting to turn in on yourself and narrow your horizons. When times are tough marketing budgets can be the first things to go. When business slows, marketing teams can struggle to get buy-in from business leaders. However, it’s in difficult times when marketing earns its stripes. With competition high, technology changing and customers shifting successful marketing teams will be those willing to experiment and take the initiative.
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Key contributors:
- Dipti Malaviya – Consulting Partner – TCS, ex Microsoft, Nokia
- Bella Jasani – Marketing, PR and Communications Director – ex JP Morgan, EY, BNY Mellon
- Carol Howley – CMO – Magnus Consulting, ex Exclaimer
- John Lyons – CMO, ex LEGO
- Mark Bishop – CMO, Senior Marketing Leader – Atlassian
- Marina Pape – Marketing Director – Tiger Bettle, ex Mollie
- Alan Hill – Marketing Director – ex NTT, Cisco and Fujitsu
- Phil Ruttens – CMO – Tyk
- Evelyn Truter – Board Advisor, Mentor – ex Xerox
- Nick Knupffer – Head of Marketing – Surf Security, ex AMD, Intel
- Michael Boaden – Head of Business Development, Europe and UK – PlanPay
- James Hamlin – Director – Add3
- Anne Marie Lavollée – International Marketing Manager – ex Grayshift, HAGS
- Nick Bottai – CMO – ex IBM, eBay
About the Author
Mila is CMO of the Tech & SaaS practice at AccuraCast. An experienced B2B marketer Mila has proven success in turning companies into market leaders. Skilled in driving performance, productivity, and profitability for businesses worldwide, particularly in the SaaS technology sector within both start-up and corporate environments.
Farhad is the Group CEO of AccuraCast. With over 20 years of experience in digital, Farhad is one of the leading technical marketing experts in the world. His specialities include digital strategy, international business, product marketing, measurement, marketing with data, technical SEO, and growth analytics.
