Uphill Battles: Fighting Marketing’s Biggest Challenges With AI, More

77% are working with flat or reduced budgets.

38% are seeing flat or declining revenue.

61% are coming off the most difficult year of their professional careers.

These and other stats about the behind-the-scenes realities of B2B marketing and the CMOs who bear those burdens definitely articulate what so many marketers are instinctively feeling. In fact, the report — from Bospar, CMO Huddles, and Repoint and titled “Underground Recession: The Hidden Strain on B2B CMOs” — might very well shine a warm welcoming light for those who had felt left out in the cold amidst “macroeconomic indicators [that] appear robust” and industry realities that impact marketing departments the most.

“Our survey data underscores the shared experiences of B2B marketing leaders, who are grappling with four trends that are making their jobs difficult,” the report says, listing budget cuts and revenue declines, longer deal cycles, staffing cuts and layoffs, and increased pressure to deliver more with less.

Most marketers surveyed (54%) say deal cycles are longer than they had been, with one study showing a 24% increase in length for the average startup. 69% said they’ve been asked to do more with less over the last year, and more than three-quarters (76%) said they’re under more pressure to deliver pipeline results.

(Source: Bospar)

The report includes advice ranging from the expansion beyond a CMO role and development of a fuller dashboard to “idea concentration” and, yes, AI implementation. And while the time-saving opportunities that generative AI presents are legit, the report calls it a “game-changer” for marketers in particular.

“If you think of GenAI as a means of efficiently creating content, then you’re likely to miss the biggest opportunity of your career,” the report says. “It’s not so quietly changing every aspect of business. Dream it and you can do it.”

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