The Marketing Executive's Playbook: How Marketers Can Work & Level-Up Like 700+ Leaders in 2025 [New Data]

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“What do you mean AI won’t hole everything?” That speech pinch a trading executive past period sparked my travel into creating this trading executive playbook for 2025.

marketing executive astatine work

As I dove into information and interviewed executives crossed industries, I discovered thing surprising: While 56% of trading leaders judge trading has changed much successful nan past 3 years than nan erstwhile 50, nan astir successful leaders are taking a overmuch much nuanced attack than I expected.

 The Marketing Leader's Field Guide

To understand wherever trading is headed, HubSpot surveyed 724 trading leaders astatine nan head level and supra crossed awesome markets, including:

  • The U.S. (27.49%),
  • Great Britain (18.78%),
  • Netherlands (11.74%), and
  • Japan (10.91%).

Then, to bring these findings to life, I said pinch trading executives from companies for illustration Wrike, Atlassian, Sendoso, and much astir really they’re approaching these challenges successful their organizations.

Our investigation reveals 3 clear priorities for 2025:

  • Increasing gross and income (20%).
  • Deepening customer knowing (16%).
  • Expanding marque consciousness (16%).

What fascinated maine astir successful my conversations pinch trading executives was really these priorities often create productive tension, pushing leaders to find imaginative solutions that equilibrium invention pinch proven fundamentals.

Let’s dive into what’s moving now and what’s next, pinch applicable insights from some our investigation and real-world trading leaders.

Table of Contents

    • The Growth–Brand Balance: A New Playbook for 2025
    • How Marketing Executives Are Approaching AI and Automation
    • How Marketing Executives Are Scaling Personalization
    • How Marketing Executives Are Transforming Content Strategy
    • How Marketing Executives Are Using Data to Drive Decisions
    • Marketing Executive Outlook: Preparing for 2025
    • Marketing Leadership Reimagined: Insights for 2025

The Growth–Brand Balance: A New Playbook for 2025

Remember erstwhile trading teams had to take betwixt driving contiguous gross aliases building semipermanent marque value? That statement is blurring.

Our investigation shows trading leaders are rejecting this mendacious dichotomy.

While 20% prioritize expanding gross and income arsenic their apical goal, there’s besides a beardown accent connected deeper customer knowing (16%) and brand consciousness (16%).

And these aren’t either/or choices — galore leaders reported pursuing aggregate strategical priorities simultaneously.

marketing executive, propulsion quote from trading executive sarah reece

Sarah Reece, head of request procreation astatine Orum, a income acceleration platform, captures this displacement perfectly.

“My accuracy is that marque is demand, and each touchpoint is simply a marque touchpoint,” she explains.

“From our societal beingness to our website to nan measurement our income squad outbounds, we’re building a marque estimation that creates trust, builds affinity, and drives penchant truthful that folks default to Orum erstwhile they travel into nan market.”

And nan numbers backmost up this integrated approach. “We really saw a beautiful contiguous effect connected our request gen goals erstwhile taking decisive action to stress brand,” Reece shares.

“Direct and integrated web postulation increased, societal scope climbed, pipeline and gross grew, and woody velocity accrued excessively … If anything, maturation was exponential and has continued to tick up pinch each large marque infinitesimal we introduce.”

With this instauration of balanced priorities successful place, let’s look astatine really trading leaders are utilizing AI and automation to execute these goals effectively.

How Marketing Executives Are Approaching AI and Automation

Marketing leaders are moving past nan “AI will hole everything” mindset to a much strategical approach. Our investigation shows trading leaders are prioritizing 3 cardinal AI initiatives for 2025:

  • Leveraging AI to create multi-modal campaigns (24%).
  • Using AI agents for end-to-end trading automation (22%).
  • Implementing AI-powered reporting devices for ROI information (21%).

marketing executive, 3 cardinal AI initiatives trading executives are prioritizing successful 2025

Finding nan Right Balance

What fascinates maine astir about these numbers isn’t conscionable nan precocious take rates — it’s really leaders thoughtfully merge AI into existing workflows.

Christine Royston, main trading serviceman astatine Wrike, a workflow guidance platform, has observed this improvement firsthand.

“We’ve surely seen a batch of alteration successful nan past 3 years pinch nan rise, popularity, and accessibility of AI,” she explains.

“The astir melodramatic alteration I’ve witnessed is an expanding displacement towards delivering businesslike maturation done data-driven decision-making.”

According to Wrike’s 2024 Impactful Work Report, much than 80% of business leaders person named ratio their superior attraction for maintaining competitiveness.

Royston and her squad are responding by investing heavy successful AI-powered predictive analytics.

From Theory to Practice

While galore trading teams are still experimenting pinch AI, immoderate are already seeing actual benefits. At Goldcast, a B2B video platform, CEO Palash Soni sees AI transforming contented creation and distribution.

“The fundamentals of what makes a B2B marque successful haven’t changed,” he explains.

“High-quality thought leadership, differentiated PoV, standout attention-grabbing content, and a bulletproof operations guidelines person ever won and will proceed winning. Making these things standard good is wherever AI comes successful for apical brands.”

Ashley Faus, caput of lifecycle trading astatine Atlassian — a workplace collaboration and productivity package institution — takes a targeted attack pinch Rovo, Atlassian’s AI-powered tool.

“We utilized it to activity connected a content audit, brainstorm topics, and moreover create a custom agent to adhd discourse connected immoderate of nan messaging for our products,” Faus explains.

Her squad plans to grow these capabilities: “I foresee america creating much agents to thief analyse plus and transmission performance, adjacent gaps successful our contented strategy, and personalize nan travel for different personas.”

At Orum, Sarah Reece has recovered applicable applications crossed aggregate functions.

“AI successful task guidance has been highly adjuvant for creating task boards, automating position updates, and keeping activity moving forward,” she explains.

“We’re besides dense users of AI for video and podcast editing and production. AI has made everything related to editing video and audio, picking retired clips for social, and transcribing for societal posts, captions, and contented repurposing beyond easy.”

marketing executive, trading executive ashley faus quote astir utilizing AI successful trading going forward

Balancing AI and Human Creativity

What struck maine astir successful my conversations pinch leaders was their accent connected maintaining quality oversight.

Kacie Jenkins, elder vice president of trading astatine Sendoso, an endeavor gifting and trading engagement platform, put it perfectly:

“Human relationship and thoughtful personalization are nan bosom of everything we do astatine Sendoso because they’re nan beating bosom of bully marketing. We judge that AI is an astonishing measurement to augment quality workflows, but it needs a quality astatine nan helm, and oversight is critical.”

marketing executive, propulsion quote from trading executive kacie jenkins connected quality oversight of AI

Jenkins’ squad has recovered occurrence by focusing connected utilizing AI to heighten alternatively than switch quality capabilities:

“We usage AI for research, to thief america target our trading efforts much effectively, to destruct mundane, manual work, and to present nan correct personalized gift and connection to nan correct personification astatine nan correct clip crossed nan afloat customer journey.”

While AI take is accelerating, trading executives stress nan value of thoughtful implementation. Wrike’s Royston advocates for balance.

“Although we invited AI implementation arsenic it allows for accrued opportunities for high-impact activity and collaboration,” she explains, “human productivity and empathy are irreplaceable successful crafting compelling storytelling, processing innovative strategies, and fostering authentic customer connections.”

This balanced attack to AI sets up 1 of nan biggest challenges trading leaders look successful 2025: scaling personalization without losing authenticity. Let’s look astatine really nan astir successful executives are tackling this challenge.

Pro tip: Identify areas wherever AI tin grip regular tasks, freeing your squad to attraction connected strategical reasoning and imaginative development.

How Marketing Executives Are Scaling Personalization

The numbers from our investigation show a compelling communicative astir personalization successful 2025:

  • 90% of trading leaders connection somewhat aliases very personalized experiences.
  • 86% study that personalization increases income moderately aliases significantly.
  • 18% mention quickly changing assemblage lives arsenic their superior challenge.

Beyond Basic Personalization

These statistic only show portion of nan story. In my conversations pinch trading leaders, I discovered they’re wholly rethinking what “personalized” intends successful 2025. VP of Marketing Deb Garber emphasizes this improvement astatine Kount, an Equifax institution focused connected fraud prevention and integer personality solutions.

“Marketing is perpetually evolving, and truthful are our target audiences,” Garber explains. “What they want, really they behave, really they want to beryllium communicated pinch is continually shifting and tin make it challenging to support up.”

marketing executive, statistic from trading executives connected personalization efforts

Data-Driven Personalization astatine Scale

For financial services companies, this situation is peculiarly acute. Marla Pieton, elder head of influencer trading astatine Alkami, a integer banking platform, has seen really blase personalization drives existent business results.

“In integer banking, nan faster we tin analyse relationship holder behavior, nan faster we tin tailor products and services to meet their needs,” she explains. “This level of personalization tin beryllium nan deciding facet successful whether an relationship holder remains loyal to their financial institution aliases seeks alternatives.”

The solution? According to Pieton, it’s astir modernizing your exertion stack:

“To enactment ahead, modernizing information exertion pinch precocious analytics, peculiarly predictive analytics, tin supply valuable foresight into relationship holder needs and preferences, enabling much proactive and personalized experiences.”

Pro tip: Focus connected refining your information postulation and analytics process. Prioritizing behavioral insights and predictive analytics will thief you expect customer needs and guarantee campaigns stay impactful and relevant.

Building Trust Through Transparency

One of nan astir absorbing approaches I encountered came from Huntress, a cybersecurity company. Chief Marketing Officer Jason Marshall takes a radically transparent attack to personalization.

“We supply a afloat audit log truthful customers tin spot really we usage their business information,” says Marshall. “We besides people elaborate policies regarding information postulation and really we usage it.”

Marshall emphasizes that while much consumers are conscious of their data-sharing practices, having clear-minded policies and honorable speech helps support trust.

This attraction connected spot becomes moreover much captious arsenic personalization gets much sophisticated. At GRIN, a creator guidance platform, Senior Director of Product Marketing and Partnerships Olivia McNaughten sees co-selling arsenic nan adjacent frontier.

“When you fto creators take products they genuinely emotion and stock them pinch their audience, you create an unforgettable shopping acquisition for audiences who genuinely spot these creators erstwhile it comes to merchandise recommendations.”

Pro tip: “Empower creators to return nan lead to curate and beforehand products,” says McNaughten. “It’s much personal, much impactful, and delivers stronger results for some brands and creators.”

Scaling Personalization Without Losing nan Human Touch

The existent magic happens erstwhile companies find ways to personalize astatine standard while maintaining authenticity. Kacie Jenkins and her squad astatine Sendoso harvester AI, intent data, and automation to personalize interactions astatine scale, generating complete $1M successful outbound qualified pipeline per quarter.

This balanced attack to scaling personalization pays off. Jenkins’ squad successfully uses AI and information to present “the correct personalized gift and connection to nan correct personification astatine nan correct clip crossed nan afloat customer journey.”

The key? Taking information attraction seriously. “Don’t usage AI if you can’t spot your data!” Jenkins emphasizes.

This equilibrium of exertion and spot sets up different important situation trading leaders look successful 2025: creating contented that resonates crossed aggregate channels while maintaining consistency and value. Let’s research really executives are transforming their contented strategies to meet this challenge.

Pro tip: Start pinch clean, reliable information earlier implementing AI-driven personalization tools. The value of your personalization efforts tin only beryllium arsenic bully arsenic nan information that drives them.

How Marketing Executives Are Transforming Content Strategy

Our investigation shows trading leaders are evolving their contented strategy beyond basal merchandise promotion. Three cardinal trends emerged from our data:

  • 20% prioritize value-aligned content.
  • 21% are expanding marque contented featuring manufacture experts.
  • 17% attraction connected repurposing contented crossed channels.

The Rise of Authentic Video Content

One of nan astir melodramatic shifts I’ve observed is successful video marketing. Jennifer Burak, vice president of trading astatine Socialive, a video contented platform, explains nan basal alteration successful assemblage preferences:

“The biggest alteration successful video trading is nan displacement to short-form, authentic video arsenic a measurement to pull audiences pinch nan extremity to get them to spell deeper.”

This shift, she notes, is driven by evolving societal media habits and increasing user penchant for relatable contented complete polished trading materials.

marketing executive, statistic from trading executives connected contented strategy

Building Expert Communities

At Atlassian, Ashley Faus has taken this authenticity rule moreover further. “We person a practices and evangelist squad to thief america link pinch much method audiences,” she explains.

The results speak for themselves: Their method evangelists person built important followings, pinch 1 receiving LinkedIn’s Top Voice badge successful 2024 and different becoming a regular keynote speaker astatine awesome tech conferences.

But what really caught my attraction was Atlassian’s attack to organization content. Rather than limiting themselves to outer experts, they’ve created a programme that turns their astir engaged users into contented creators.

Through monthly training sessions connected caller features, manufacture trends, and level champion practices, they’re helping their organization members go authentic voices for nan brand.

Value-First Content Development

“Fall successful emotion pinch nan customer’s problem, not your product.”

This proposal from Joanie Kindblade, elder head of merchandise trading astatine Lumen Technologies, a Fortune 500 tech institution providing enterprise-level networking, cloud, and information solutions, captures really trading executives are rethinking contented strategy.

Rather than starring pinch merchandise features, they’re focusing connected knowing and addressing customer challenges first.

Pro tip: Kindblade suggests creating contented that “resonates pinch customer values by knowing their needs, preferences, and symptom points.” This customer-centric attack is reshaping really trading executives deliberation astir content.

Ashleigh Cook, CMO astatine RainFocus, an arena trading platform, puts this rule into believe done nonstop customer engagement.

“We trust connected insights from our ain personification convention and customer surveys to amended understand wherever opportunities beryllium for broader marketplace acquisition arsenic good arsenic much method acquisition connected our platform,” she explains.

“It’s besides captious to person nonstop conversations pinch customers and a changeless feedback loop betwixt income and marketing.”

Noah Dye, executive vice president of world strategical customer engagement astatine world trading agency TEAM LEWIS, reinforces this shift.

“Content remains king. However, it has go much of a ‘show, don’t tell’ approach,” he explains. He points to HubSpot’s 2024 State of Video Marketing survey, which recovered that 89% of consumers want to spot much videos from brands, pinch 75% specifically preferring short-form video contented connected mobile devices.

Socialive VP of Marketing Jennifer Burak agrees.

“Move from trading products to solving problems by highlighting really your brand’s ngo aligns pinch your prospects’ values, specified arsenic sustainability, diversity, aliases innovation,” Burak says. “Use storytelling to link emotionally and collaborate pinch labor and customers to create relatable video content.”

Content Efficiency and Smart Repurposing

While high-quality contented remains essential, trading leaders are uncovering innovative ways to maximize its impact. At Goldcast, Palash Soni sees AI arsenic a important instrumentality for contented amplification.

“High-quality video contented demands a batch of activity and costs a batch to create,” Soni explains. “AI tin thief that activity and costs spell a batch farther by helping return existing video assets crossed channels and campaigns.”

Jason Marshall astatine Huntress has taken a broad attack to contented done Huntress’s caller partner portal. The level combines cybersecurity training, merchandise updates, and manufacture insights successful 1 place, helping build customer expertise while strengthening their relationship to nan brand.

“By providing ongoing entree to accusation connected Huntress products alongside heavy dives into manufacture topics and trading and income tips, building nan cybersecurity expertise of our consumers will ideally bring them person to our company,” explains Marshall.

Maintaining Quality astatine Scale

“One interest I heard many times was astir maintaining contented value while scaling production. Marija Kojic, head of contented astatine CAKE.com, a institution that helps businesses worldwide shape and tally operations done productivity devices for illustration Plaky, Pumble, and Clockify, offered a valuable perspective:

“Search engines are still giving precedence to well-structured contented delivering precocious value, in-depth information, infused pinch original master opinions and insights — and you should, too.”

In practice, this intends being strategical astir contented repurposing. Jennifer Burak of Socialive recommends looking for platforms that thief teams efficiently toggle shape long-form videos into short clips for social, blogs, aliases email campaigns.

I’ve seen this multi-channel attack activity peculiarly good erstwhile nan halfway contented is coagulated and value-driven.

Pro tip: Start building your contented repurposing strategy now. Identify your astir valuable contented pieces and scheme really they tin beryllium transformed for different channels and audiences while maintaining their halfway value.

Looking Ahead: Content Strategy successful 2025

After analyzing hundreds of responses and speaking pinch dozens of trading leaders, I’m seeing a clear shape emerge: Successful contented strategies successful 2025 must equilibrium authenticity, efficiency, and value.

The astir effective approaches combine:

  • Deep knowing of customer challenges.
  • Expert and community-generated content.
  • Smart repurposing crossed channels.
  • Consistent value standards.

This multi-faceted attack to contented ties straight into really trading leaders are utilizing information to thrust decisions. Let’s research really executives are moving beyond basal metrics to understand and service their audiences better.

How Marketing Executives Are Using Data to Drive Decisions

Our investigation reveals a fascinating improvement successful really trading leaders attack data. The priorities person shifted significantly, pinch leaders focusing on:

  • Content depletion habits (33%)
  • Basic demographics (32%)
  • Shopping habits (28%)

marketing executive, statistic of wherever trading executives are focusing their information analysis

Moving Beyond Basic Demographics

I’ve noticed a important displacement successful my conversations pinch trading leaders: They’re nary longer satisfied pinch knowing who their customers are — they want to understand really their customers behave and what they prefer.

“The astir important improvement successful trading successful nan past decade has been pinch nan integer engagement of audiences done aggregate channels and nan harvesting of that information footprint for amended behavior,” explains Vibhor Kapoor, main business serviceman astatine NextRoll, a trading and advertizing exertion company.

“Central to each effective trading team’s strategy coming should beryllium leveraging nan information to seizure intent signals, understand behavior, make recommendations, and foretell nan adjacent champion actions.”

The Financial Services Example

I’ve seen this improvement play retired peculiarly good successful financial services. At Alkami, Marla Pieton shows really blase information study drives personalization.

Her squad uses precocious analytics to tie connected relationship holder behavior, “uncovering deeper patterns successful categories for illustration transaction history, merchant walk habits, transmission utilization, and engagement pinch past offers. This allows nan data-informed integer banker to create much applicable and timely trading campaigns.”

Navigating Data Challenges

However, trading executives look important hurdles successful their information initiatives:

  • 21% mention decreased user spot successful sharing individual data.
  • 18% look expanding information privateness regulations.
  • 16% struggle pinch mediocre information quality.

Sarah Reece, head of request procreation astatine Orum, discovered an unexpected solution: focusing connected value complete quantity. Her squad made nan bold move to trim each its request seizure integer walk and de-emphasize low-intent conversions.

“Our wide lead measurement decidedly went down,” Reece explains. “But we’ve been capable to show that leads are not a beardown parameter of pipeline health... Only high-intent leads are useful for predicting pipeline (demo requests, interaction sales, etc.).”

The results? “While wide leads decreased, we’ve been capable to turn our full opportunities and amended our opportunity worth by focusing our volition connected maximizing nan correct conversions.”

Creative Solutions for 2025

Looking ahead, trading leaders are uncovering innovative ways to equilibrium information needs pinch privateness concerns.

Chris Williams, CMO astatine Arima, a cloud-based user insights level that creates privacy-compliant synthetic information mirroring existent user behavior, suggests an unconventional approach: utilizing synthetic information to create organization simulations that tin pass trading strategies while protecting individual privacy.

“Rather than effort and cod monolithic information sets of hard-to-get information connected prospects, marketers are looking to companies that create synthetic information instead,” says Williams.

This evolving attack to information sets up nan broader situation trading leaders look arsenic they hole for 2025: balancing invention pinch proven fundamentals. Let’s research really executives are preparing their teams for what’s next.

Pro tip: Focus connected collecting and analyzing nan correct data, not conscionable much data. As our experts show, targeted, high-quality information points often beryllium much valuable than immense quantities of wide information.

Marketing Executive Outlook: Preparing for 2025

As I’ve analyzed our investigation and spoken pinch trading executives crossed industries, I’ve noticed a clear taxable emerging: Success successful 2025 will require a delicate equilibrium of invention and fundamentals.

Our investigation shows trading executives are preparing for respective important shifts:

  • 20% are focusing connected personality-led contented and creator partnerships.
  • 21% are diversifying paid media approaches.
  • 19% are updating SEO strategies for AI-driven search.

marketing executive, areas wherever trading executives are focusing for 2025

Embracing Uncertainty

“Even pinch nan U.S. elections down us, uncertainty will persist successful 2025,” observes Noah Dye from TEAM LEWIS. “As brands hole for nan twelvemonth ahead, they request to stay flexible. Make judge that trading plans tin flex successful consequence to change.”

Strategic Resource Allocation

What’s amazed maine astir successful these conversations isn’t conscionable what trading leaders scheme to do — it’s really thoughtfully they attack nan equilibrium betwixt invention and fundamentals.

Take Kacie Jenkins, elder vice president of trading astatine Sendoso, who plans to dedicate 60% of her 2025 fund to marque and class building, pinch nan remaining 40% focused connected request generation.

Her reasoning?

“We cognize that is nan measurement to create nan spot and penchant that will put america successful nan information group for nan immense percent of imaginable buyers (95%) who are not yet successful nan market,” she explains.

“You cognize erstwhile you do thing coming because your early aforesaid will use from it, for illustration filling up nan state vessel aliases mounting up automatic savings deposits? Same idea.”

Preparing for Multiple Futures

Through my conversations pinch executives, 3 cardinal approaches to future-proofing guidelines out:

  1. Value First, Technology Second. “Making these things standard good is wherever AI comes successful for apical brands,” explains Palash Soni. His squad focuses connected utilizing exertion to amplify proven strategies alternatively than switch them.
  2. Balanced Innovation. At Lumen Technologies, Joanie Kindblade and her squad are “exploring possibilities of AR and LLMs successful merchandise position and ethical contented generation” while maintaining attraction connected “customer interests and ethical algorithm inference.”
  3. Trust-Based Relationships. Ashley Faus emphasizes organization and semipermanent relationships. Her squad has expanded their Atlassian Creator programme to incorporated much organization members, hosting monthly training sessions connected caller features, manufacture trends, and level champion practices to thief them summation their scope and engagement.

Pro tip: Start preparing for 2025 now by auditing your existent trading stack and identifying areas wherever AI tin augment (not replace) your team’s capabilities.

Marketing Leadership Reimagined: Insights for 2025

As I wrapped up my conversations pinch these trading executives, I recovered myself excited and humbled by their shared insights.

What struck maine astir wasn’t conscionable their method knowledge aliases strategical reasoning — though some were awesome — it was their expertise to enactment grounded successful trading fundamentals while embracing transformation.

The information paints a clear image of this balance: While trading leaders are focusing connected AI for multi-modal campaigns (24%) and end-to-end automation (22%), they’re simultaneously prioritizing quality elements — 90% are investing successful personalized experiences, and 20% are focusing connected value-aligned content.

Finding Balance successful Change

Our investigation confirms that trading has changed much successful nan past 3 years than successful nan erstwhile 50. Yet these leaders are doing much than chasing nan adjacent shiny AI instrumentality aliases jumping connected each caller trend.

Instead, they’re thoughtfully evaluating really caller technologies and approaches tin amplify what already works: knowing customers, creating value, and building trust.

I started this investigation expecting to constitute astir melodramatic technological transformations.

Instead, I discovered thing much nuanced: The astir successful trading executives are those who tin equilibrium invention pinch authenticity, automation pinch quality connection, and contiguous results pinch semipermanent marque building.

Charting Your Course for 2025

As you scheme your strategy for 2025, retrieve that nan extremity isn’t to instrumentality each caller instrumentality aliases trend. It’s to find nan correct operation of invention and fundamentals that useful for your audience, your team, and your goals.

After all, arsenic galore of our experts reminded me, while nan devices of trading whitethorn change, nan halfway rule remains nan same: It’s each astir creating genuine connections pinch nan group we serve.

Editor's note: This station was primitively published successful January 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.