In the fourth and final article in our series, Decision Marketing looks back over the past 12 months – and forward to 2025 – to gauge a number of seemingly immortal issues. This time we look at the role of marketing professionals…what are the challenges they face and how can they embrace change?
In a year in which an increasing number of marketers were forced to do more with less, there was no let up in the pressure many were facing.
None more so, than in the pursuit of data-driven marketing, with one study insisting marketers were still being hampered by a lack of resources, with more than eight out of ten (81%) claiming they did not have easy access to all the customer data needed to inform their activity, and over a third believing they were still four or more years away from achieving a true customer-first approach.
In fact, many believed they were still not being taken seriously enough by top management and were constantly being forced to prove their worth in driving business growth.
The upshot was that these issues impact the effectiveness of campaigns and marketers’ ability to grow their businesses, despite companies which put their customer first being 60% more profitable than those who don’t.
Meanwhile, Gartner research claimed the vast majority (84%) of marketing chiefs were being stifled by too many meetings, too much feedback from colleagues and unclear decision-making authority when working cross-functionally, leading to so-called “collaboration drag” which could have a major effect on effectiveness.
The survey also found that organisations with high levels of collaboration drag are more than a third (37%) less likely to achieve their revenue goals.
The result is that marketers who experience high collaboration drag are 15 times more likely to feel burned out and nine times more likely to plan to leave the company. But by investing in and developing marketing talent, it was argued that CMOs could reduce collaboration drag by nearly a quarter (23%). CMOs should also prioritise developing their teams’ interpersonal influence, critical thinking, technical skills, and using on-the-job learning programmes to unlock practical mastery.
And, it would seem, as CMOs chase revenue growth despite budget cuts, AI has emerged as an important tool.
A separate Gartner study claimed that reduced budgets are only a problem if marketing leaders are working with the same tools as before – but that’s not the case now that CMOs have AI. GenAI is delivering enhanced productivity, despite constrained resources.
In fact, GenAI investments are most likely to be cited as delivering time and cost efficiencies – more than one third of CMOs identified these as their top three benefits when considering the ROI of AI investments.
Even so, Forrester was quick to point out that, CMOs would have to forge deeper partnerships internally and externally and be comfortable letting go of some areas of responsibilities to trust their direct reports to step up if they truly want to be the new kings and queens of AI. The “How AI Impacts The CMO” study predicted that CMOs would have smaller teams but mighter roles as AI takes hold.
Once again, the thorny issue of agency relationships was raised. CMOs were advised to fully tap the counsel and extended resources of their agencies as part of operationalising AI but there is even more at play, Forrester reckoned, as AI fundamentally alters the agency partnership model.
Instead of buying agencies’ time, CMOs should buy agencies’ algorithms. As a result, agencies’ technology-powered products become embedded into CMOs’ operations. This means ensuring that all agency partners are the right strategic fit is even more crucial, resulting in more outcome-linked partnerships and fewer costly agency reviews.
Finally, the annual CMO Barometer 2025, published by Serviceplan Group, insisted that marketing chiefs will have adopt three essential “super-powers” in the year ahead – analytical skills for interpreting customer data; creative leadership to stay agile amid rapid changes; and an understanding both data and emotional cues in consumer behaviour – or risk becoming “irrelevant”.
Among the key findings is the stable economic sentiment but pessimistic trends. A majority of CMOs (51%) expect the economy to stay roughly the same in 2025, but fewer predict budget increases, a dip from last year’s optimism.
Meanwhile, nearly half (48%) of CMOs ranked AI and marketing automation as their most critical focus for 2025, underscoring the push for automated processes and deeper customer insights.
Looking to agency partners, CMOs were clear: creative, proactive solutions are top of mind, with a significant 71% expecting agencies to bring fresh, “out-of-the-box” ideas.
Serviceplan Group CMO Felix Bartels concluded: “Agencies must act as proactive leaders, using new technology to drive innovation and creativity. In today’s intense market, CMOs need that level of creative support more than ever.”
And, let’s be fair, if CMOs don’t get what they want from their current agencies, there are plenty others out there waiting in the wings.