The CMO Playbook for 2025: Insights from 7 B2B Marketing Leaders

Over the past months, I sat down with seven B2B marketing leaders who are actively shaping our industry's future. These aren't theoretical forecasts – they're real strategies being implemented right now by CMOs at companies like Airship, Arkose Labs, and Ironclad.

The timing couldn't be more critical. Marketing leadership is undergoing its most significant transformation in decades, with unprecedented challenges around trust, technology, and team alignment. Yet in these conversations, I discovered something fascinating: amid the complexity, certain strategies are consistently delivering results.

Every leader I spoke with reinforced what I've observed working with B2B companies over the past 16 years – success in 2025 won't come from chasing trends. Instead, it will emerge from a carefully orchestrated blend of peer influence, authentic experiences, and strategic focus.

Here's what's actually working, what's changing, and most importantly – what these marketing leaders are betting on for 2025.

The Reality Check: Marketing Leadership in 2025

The role of CMO has evolved far beyond its traditional boundaries. Ryan George, CMO of docupace, shared a perspective that perfectly captures this shift – he likens the role to being "Secretary of State," constantly navigating between departments while managing both internal and external relationships.

This resonated deeply with what I'm seeing across the industry. Thomas Butta, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Airship, put it bluntly: "It's a very difficult job. I think people underestimate it and have expectations that are often not realistic... and then everybody, of course, has opinions."

What's Actually Working Right Now

Through my conversations with these leaders, several breakthrough strategies emerged that are delivering measurable results:

1. The Trust Advantage

Patrick Kehoe at Arkose Labs shared a game-changing insight about building trust in an era where competitors share up to 80% similar messaging. Their solution? Double down on peer-to-peer connections. "Getting your brand and your product talked about by peers in these communities and these Slack channels" has become their secret weapon for cutting through the noise.

2. The Event Amplification Strategy

The playbook for events has been completely rewritten. For instance, Patrick Kehoe described how Arkose Labs transforms their event strategy: they now focus on curated dinners and peer roundtables where key prospects can connect with existing customers in an intimate setting. These conversations become springboards for content, customer testimonials, and ongoing community engagement. "We rely so heavily on those events... we're back stronger than ever because they enable this peer thing that we're talking about," notes Kehoe.

3. The Band Tour Approach

Diego Lomanto, CMO of Writer, shared an analogy that perfectly captures the shift happening in go-to-market strategy. He compares it to launching a band: "You have to go on the road... build a fanbase." For Writer, this means combining experiential and broadcast methods – hosting intimate customer dinners where prospects can interact with power users and leaders within the company, while simultaneously amplifying these stories through broader channels. This creates a flywheel effect where each "tour stop" builds momentum for the next.

The 2025 Strategic Focus Areas

Here's where these marketing leaders are placing their bets:

1. Experience Unification

Thomas Butta at Airship is tackling a critical challenge in customer experience: the disconnection between channels. "The experience that we as consumers have is disjointed and disconnected wherever we choose to engage with a brand," he notes. His team is working to help brands create seamless experiences across mobile apps, websites, and physical touchpoints. Meanwhile, Ken Fenyo at Grubango shares how they're moving beyond basic personalization: "It's not just about being relevant in terms of product, but the whole experience becomes relevant." His team uses AI to understand not just what customers buy, but why they buy it, creating deeply contextual experiences.

2. Direct Relationship Building

Leslie Henthorn at Ironclad emphasizes the importance of having a team that truly understands and works in alignment with each other. Her approach focuses on building resilience within marketing teams while choosing strategic battles that matter most for customer impact. She advocates for maintaining authentic customer relationships even in challenging times, noting that the ability to build genuine connections is what separates good marketers from great ones.

3. Data-Driven Decision Making

Ken Fenyo highlighted a crucial distinction that often gets overlooked: "There's a real art to knowing how to ask the questions to get at what you really want to know." It's not just about having data – it's about asking the right questions to unlock actionable insights.

4. Strategic Partnerships

Thomas Butta provides a compelling example of collaborative amplification. Airship, is partnering with complementary technology providers to lead broader discussions about the future of customer experience, rather than focusing solely on product features. This approach allows them to:

• Share resources and reach while addressing larger industry challenges
• Create more compelling outcomes that resonate with C-suite decision makers
• Build stronger market presence through combined thought leadership
• Address customer challenges from multiple angles, providing more comprehensive solutions

5. Social Evolution

The B2B social media playbook is being completely rewritten. Patrick Kehoe highlights how they're moving away from broad-based campaigns to focused "spearfishing" efforts:

• LinkedIn Lives featuring customer success stories that showcase real implementation challenges and wins
• Focused community building in industry-specific channels, particularly in cybersecurity forums where peer validation is crucial
• Peer-to-peer connection facilitation through moderated Slack channels and private communities
• Content that emphasizes authentic experiences, such as customer journey videos and detailed case studies

Your Action Plan for 2025

Based on these conversations and my experience working with B2B companies, here's what you should focus on:

1. Engineer Trust Networks: Move beyond basic peer recommendations to create self-sustaining ecosystems where customers naturally advocate for each other. Think customer-led advisory boards, peer mentorship programs, and AI-enabled matching of similar use cases.
2. Amplify Everything: Turn every interaction into content that feeds your broader narrative, from private customer discussions to team insights. The key is making each touchpoint part of your story.
3. Go Direct, Go Deep: Instead of just building direct relationships, create exclusive micro-communities around specific challenges or industries. Make your brand the natural convener of high-value conversations.
4. Partner for Power: Don't just find complementary partners – create strategic alliances that redefine category boundaries and set new industry standards. Look for partners who can help you shape the future of your space.
5. Design for Discovery: Rather than just creating experiences, architect serendipitous moments that naturally lead customers to value. Build systems that make it easy for customers to discover solutions they didn't know they needed.

The Bottom Line

The future of B2B marketing isn't about predicting trends – it's about mastering the present moment to shape what comes next. As a keynote speaker who's worked with organizations across 24+ countries, I've seen firsthand that success comes not from having a crystal ball, but from having the clarity to see what's happening now and the courage to act on it.

That's why I call myself a "now-ist" rather than a futurist. The insights shared by these marketing leaders validate what I've observed working with brands like NASA, Chase, and Mastercard: the gap between knowing and doing is where real opportunities live. The most successful CMOs in 2025 won't be the ones who predicted every trend – they'll be the ones who built systems to spot and seize opportunities in real-time.

The leaders I spoke with are already putting this philosophy into action, focusing on authentic connections, strategic partnerships, and experiences that drive real business results. Their approaches align perfectly with what I've been advocating for years: don't get caught up in predicting the future when there are game-changing opportunities right in front of you today.

These insights come from my conversations with Thomas Butta (Airship), Patrick Kehoe (Arkose Labs), Ken Fenyo (Grubango), Diego Lomanto (Writer), Harry Battu (XYZ Reality), Leslie Henthorn (Ironclad), and Ryan George (docupace). Their willingness to share both successes and challenges provides an invaluable roadmap for what's actually working in B2B marketing.