The Top Challenges for B2B CMOs to Tackle in 2024

In 2023, Gartner reported that 75% of CMOs had to stretch thinner budgets to hit loftier marketing targets.

According to a 2024 State of B2B Marketing Pipeline Growth Report, 79% of companies are coping with these cuts by consolidating teams and job responsibilities. As a result, efficiency has become a survival code.

Prospective deals are taking longer to close, slowing deal velocity. Without a clear ROI, sales are becoming more difficult to make. In many cases, the buyer simply forgoes a purchase. On top of all of this, many companies are questioning their martech spend.

B2B CMOs have pivoted and are now focusing on tactics with proven impact. Organic growth channels, bottom-of-funnel content, intent data, conversion rate optimization (CRO), customer retention strategies, and personalization are vital in 2024. It’s no longer about doing as much as possible. Prioritization and going “all in” on top initiatives are key.

In other words, it is about making every investment count. CMOs need to get lean to get ahead this year.

This challenge is tough, but the path is clear: Focus on smart spending, prioritization, and squeezing more value from every marketing investment.

For example, Drew Neisser, Founder and Penguin-in-Chief at CMO Huddles states, “Many CMOs are facing the vexing challenge of delivering more revenue on smaller budgets. While CMOs can’t be expected to work miracles, they can get closer to their goals through a combination of focus and courage. That means focusing their entire org on one bold, highly differentiated initiative.”

Gartner’s “CMO Leadership Vision 2024” flags orchestrating profitable growth across functions as a pivotal challenge.

You can meet this challenge by synching data between the marketing, sales, product development, customer success, and customer service departments. The goal is to form a cohesive strategy that amplifies profitability across the board.

According to Gartner, “Organizations that promote data sharing will outperform their peers on most business value metrics.”

Organizations championing data transparency don’t just keep pace — they lead. This openness supports critical business value metrics, setting a new performance standard. That’s why CMOs need to break down barriers.

Silos are out. Integrated, collaborative operations are in. This shift fosters a culture where information flows freely. It empowers every department to contribute to the company’s overarching goals.

Adopting this integrated approach transforms marketing from a standalone function to the central growth hub. You’re leveraging insights, aligning objectives, and providing every team member with the knowledge to help drive the company forward. A synchronized effort where each department’s success feeds into the other creates a cycle of growth and profitability.

For B2B CMOs, the path forward involves fostering communication, facilitating collaboration, taking the lead on team building, and building a shared vision. This can unite the organization to achieve sustained, profitable growth.

For example, Julia Wiltshire, Vice President of Marketing at Nstream, states, “Profitable growth in marketing goes far beyond brand building, crafting messaging, or delivering a demand-generation campaign. Marketing leaders champion alignment with sales, product development, customer services, etc.

“This alignment ensures that we collectively use data, insights, and feedback to better understand customer needs and market trends.

“The result is the crafting of company and functional team strategies that put the customer at the center of every experience and touchpoint, reinforce the brand, and ultimately drive profitability.”

AI is on every B2B CMO’s radar.

According to PwC, 81% of CMOs anticipate leveraging GenAI for new business models within the next year and a half. The allure is undeniable. AI promises efficiency, innovation, and the power to scale at unprecedented rates.

Marketing teams can incorporate AI into their operations to get more done, faster. For example, AI can help you brainstorm new ideas and process vast amounts of data quickly, providing valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and trends.

AI can analyze customer data to create personalized messaging, leading to more targeted and effective marketing campaigns. AI chatbots can provide instant responses, enhancing customer experience and overall efficiency.

AI-driven marketing automation streamlines repetitive tasks such as email campaigns, social media posting, and lead nurturing. Automated workflows save time, reduce errors, and ensure consistent communication across channels.

But the AI gold rush isn’t without risks. The rush for AI-generated content can lead to a sea of bland, undifferentiated content. You lose the human element, the individuality that makes truly unique content pop.

Accuracy is another battlefield. AI’s rapid content generation is a double-edged sword. The pace can outstrip rigorous fact-checking, leading to misinformation.

AI systems like ChatGPT are out of date. This means their information might be historical data, not current facts. Brands risk credibility with every unchecked AI output, turning potential gains into reputational losses.

Marketing teams are drowning in tech. The ambition to stay ahead has led to bloated tech stacks, with a lot of technology gathering digital dust. This leads to squandered budgets. But these funds could fuel growth initiatives once freed up.

The numbers paint a stark picture. Tech utilization rates dropped to 33% in 2023, down from 42% in 2022 and down from 58% in 2020. This trend shouldn’t just alarm you. It should be a wake-up call.

Martech overload creates missed opportunities. Every dollar trapped in redundant or unutilized tech subscriptions is not spent driving your business forward. Streamlining your tech stack should be a priority in 2024.

Perform a martech audit, then evaluate and trim anything not serving growth. This helps you to cut costs while enhancing agility. It will also lead to easier and less time-consuming technology management. Focus on tools that integrate, working together to serve a single purpose.

Tim Howlett, Chief Marketing Officer at DwyerOmega, states, “The primary obstacle, post the tumult of COVID-impelled supply chain disruptions, lies in navigating the abundance of groundbreaking technologies, predominantly AI-driven.

“The crucial task is aligning these innovations with pertinent business challenges while discerning authentic vendors. Historically, B2B sectors tend to lag behind the general market in MarTech adoption, yet those able to expedite this process stand to gain a significant competitive edge.”

Data chaos is a serious threat to marketing efficiency. Streams of data from countless sources clash, creating a minefield for teams.

The issue centers around reliability. Incomplete data, data entry mistakes, duplicate data, and outdated data all contribute to the problem.

At a private equity event in late 2023, with close to 50 B2B SaaS companies in attendance, I identified a pressing concern among the CMOs. Most of them emphasized the dire need for data cleansing to bolster reliability.

CMOs need to treat this as a strategic imperative. It’s a case of a rising tide lifting all boats. The cleaner and more reliable your data, the greater performance you’ll achieve across the board. On the other hand, unreliable data leads to misinformed decisions, inefficient campaigns, and squandered marketing dollars.

You can overcome this challenge through meticulous, ongoing data cleansing. Focus on confirming data accuracy, consistency, and completeness. Then, identify and eliminate errors, duplicates, and outdated information.

But don’t stop there. Being proactive about data cleansing helps to prevent data degradation.

Some proactive measures you can put in place include:

• Setting up data governance frameworks
• Performing regular data quality audits
• Using data cleansing technology
• Fostering a team culture that emphasizes data hygiene

Don’t sleep on this crucial task. Clean data helps to sharpen campaign targeting, enhance customer insights, and solidify the foundation for analytics and AI tools.

This year, the digital marketing landscape will face a seismic shift when Google Chrome phases out third-party cookies entirely. Google plans to phase out cookies for all Chrome users by Q3 2024. This change comes amid escalating privacy concerns and regulations.

Google’s decision is a game-changer for B2B CMOs. It signals the end of an era in audience targeting and data collection.

Kathleen Booth, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Growth at Pavilion, states, “The end of third-party cookies will be one of the most disruptive changes to the current digital marketing ecosystem.

“CMOs need to shift their focus to first-party data strategies, such as VoC data collection, contextual targeting, conversion optimization, and marketing automation – and invest in building an owned audience either through community or through a media strategy.”

The SEO landscape could get turbulent in 2024.

Google’s pace of algorithm updates has shifted into high gear. These changes are aimed at improving the user experience. However, they sometimes upend existing SEO strategies. That means quick recalibrations by marketing teams.

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) adds another layer of complexity. This leap forward in search technology promises to transform how users search and how Google presents information.

There’s a great deal of no-value, mediocre content online. CMOs need to cut through the digital noise to generate leads. But that requires more than just producing content. You should create compelling narratives that strongly resonate with your target audience.

Invest in owned media. Blogs, videos, landing pages, and tools can become solid lead magnets, drawing audiences with unparalleled value. You can provide that value by crafting content directly addressing your audience’s pain points.

Focus on depth and differentiation. In such a crowded marketplace, surface-level insights won’t cut it. Consider turning to original research and unique insights. These elements pierce through the clutter to set your B2B brand apart in a crowded marketplace.

Inefficient ad spend is a major marketing issue. The CMO Council reports that 70% of brands waste their marketing budgets on ad campaigns that see no sales lift.

The root of this problem comes from a few places:

• Misaligned targeting
• Lackluster messaging
• Not tracking or analyzing campaign performance

Without analytics and a willingness to pivot when things aren’t working, your ad spend can dry up in dead-end campaigns.

Dorothea Gam, CMO at Mouseflow, states, “Inefficient ad spend is a growing challenge for marketers, draining resources without delivering expected results. It’s a struggle, from new algorithms to new compliance laws. These necessary rules complicate marketing efforts. Converting your traffic is more crucial than ever, and leveraging web behavior analytics can be a game-changer. By understanding user interactions, we can refine our users’ experiences and journeys, making our efforts more effective, and ensure that every dollar spent is an investment towards achieving tangible outcomes.”

Marketers need a nuanced approach when navigating today’s tumultuous global landscape.

From the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict to unrest in Israel — not to mention the unprecedented scenario of a likely US Presidential nominee facing 91 felony charges — the backdrop is undeniably chaotic.

In such times, tread carefully with your marketing strategies. It’s a balancing act with brand messaging on one side and sensitivity on the other.

When we talk about being mindful, it’s more than just avoiding PR blunders. You should demonstrate empathy and align your brand with specific societal values.

Monitor the news of the day. Pause campaigns that might clash with public sentiment. If certain social media posts you’ve created in the recent past suddenly become insensitive or politically incorrect, remove them. On the other side of the equation, speak up when appropriate. Your audience will respect you when you show your values.

Track global events in real time. This can keep your marketing efforts timely, relevant, and respectful, avoiding the mediocre marketing bubble covering many corners of the B2B world.

Engagement strategies should reflect an understanding of your audience’s concerns and emotions. They should help you offer support, add value, and handle issues well. This kind of content can help you form deep connections with your audience.

By taking a stance, you’re demonstrating your brand’s commitment to more than just sales.

This mindful approach can safeguard your brand’s reputation and reinforce your role as a responsible and empathetic entity in a chaotic world.