5 Debatable Budgeting Questions for 2025

For many CMOs, October is the most important month of the year. Not because of Halloween (although who doesn’t like a costumed block party with candy?). Not because pumpkins become prominent or the leaves start to change. October is the month most CMOs prepare, present, and seek approval for their 2025 budget.?

Not surprisingly, our October Huddles on budgeting are typically the best attended. We cover lots of ground. Comparing allocations (i.e. people, programs, tech). Sharing ratios (i.e. marketing as a % of ARR, marketing as a % of net new revenue). And daring each other to experiment. During these conversations, 5 big questions caught my attention, all of which we’ll be debating at the CMO SUPER HUDDLE (11/8 Palo Alto).?

1. How will the overall economy impact budgeting?

The last two years were recessionary for most B2B brands. Budgets were down. Sales cycles were up. Fewer deals were made. 2025 will be better. How much better will depend on the speed of Fed rate cuts. If they go down 1.5 basis points in 6 months, growth capital will start flowing. CFOs will stop being CF-NOs. The rising tide will lift most business boats.?

For CMOs, economic growth spells opportunities. The key will be to plan your budget accordingly. You’ll need a base plan to meet conservative growth targets. AND you’ll want to have some pre-planned programs in your hip pocket ready to go if the year starts strong. Ideally, these programs (perhaps targeting new verticals, supporting new products, and/or using new channels) are already being tested.?

Your planning assumption? Be ready to pounce.?

2. How will GenAI impact marketing budgets?

Most budgets fall into three spending buckets: people, programs, and tech. GenAI could and should impact all of these. From a staffing standpoint, you may need a few fewer people due to GenAI-related efficiencies. But your staff mix could change as well, as you hire fewer but more experienced professionals. Could be a wash.?

The same goes for programs. GenAI is likely to accelerate your development of sales enablement tools and make it easier for you to create iterations of your proprietary content (including blog posts, podcasts, videos, etc.). Unless you maintain your focus on a few big programs, quantity will prevail.?

Probably the biggest unknown is GenAI’s impact on your tech budget. Your current tech stack will all roll out AI versions – it’s just not clear if they’re going to charge more for them. Regardless, do a tech audit and be prepared to shed the underutilized to make room for newer, must-have, GenAI-driven tools.?

3. How will GenAI impact the CMO role??

Slowly and then all at once, GenAI will impact all aspects of the CMO role. Content? Already happening. Analytics? Of course. Techstack? Definitely. Process management? Definitely. Leadership? Maybe. Decision making? Perhaps. Strategy? It’s worth testing. [We’ll be debating this at the SUPER HUDDLE. If you’re a B2B marketing leader, ping me for a discount code.]?

At a minimum, CMOs need to think of LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT as their new sparring partner. To find the holes in their arguments or their marketing plans. To identify opportunities and competitive weaknesses. To justify risks. To help fulfill the promise of marketing as a force multiplier. This means making sure you and your team have access to a wide range of tools and experts who can help you use them.?

BTW: Have you heard of NotebookLM? It turns content like this newsletter into a surprisingly good podcast - hear for yourself .??

4. Will the CMO role grow or diminish in 2025?

Both. Business-savvy leaders who happen to be marketers will get even more responsibility in 2025. In CMO Huddles, we ask, “What’s your plus?”? As in CMO+. If you’re at a start-up, your plus is likely to be Strategy, helping your CEO find the gap in the market and differentiating your offering. Other leading CMOs are being asked to take on pipeline, sales, product, pricing, or customer experience.?

If your stated expertise is demand generation, then your domain may shrink. It’s not that demand gen will be less important to the organization. It’s just that you’ll be perceived as a tactician or worse, “just the marketer.” Great CMOs build differentiated reputations inside and out. They recognize all the levers available and can demonstrate that the true power of marketing goes well beyond demand.?

5. What’s the countertrend to all this tech talk??

There’s always a countertrend. As we spend more time connecting virtually, our need for and appreciation of meeting in person grows exponentially. This applies to your staff, peers, partners, customers, and prospects. If you met in person 1 out of 4 times with your customer advisory board in 2024, up that to 2 out of 4 in 2025. If you have a big trade show coming up, use it as an excuse to bring your staff together a second time in 2025. You get the idea.

We need to break bread together. To bond. To affirm each other’s importance. To laugh. To learn. To debate. To share, care, and dare each other to greatness. To wear penguin hats (or maybe that’s just me and James (JD) Dillon ). To be flocking awesome. Join us.?

One last note, the CMO Super Huddle would not be possible without the support of our sponsors (Iterable , Clozd , Seismic , Boomerang , HG Insights , SalesHood ) and partners (TIE SV , Forrester , Bospar , Spiralyze ). They're all committed to daring B2B greatness in 2025. Please visit their websites and check out their offerings.