• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, June 12, 2024

Chief marketing officers face many issues. But those in the B2B space feel especially hassled, judging by a study, Underground Recession: The Hidden Strain on B2B CMOs, from public relations agency Bospar and B2B marketing community leaders CMO Huddles that was conducted by Redpoint.  

For instance, 77% report flat or reduced budgets. And 38% report budget cuts of at least 3%.

Overall, 61% report the past year was the toughest of their careers.

And their work is getting more difficult: 54% say deal cycles are longer now. This would require more work by the email team as leads move through the funnel.  

“Longer deal cycles are a huge problem, especially with investors focused on quarterly targets,” says Ali McCarthy, Amplify Your Voice's fractional CMO, according to the study. 

McCarthy adds, “Despite marketers’ dedication to driving qualified opportunities, the perception that marketing isn’t delivering quickly enough is creating mounting pressure and stress for marketers to accelerate and do more with the same or fewer resources.” 

No wonder B2B CMOs are pessimistic. Of those polled, 69% say their industry is in a recession. And 61% feel the official unemployment rate does not reflect conditions in their industry.  

In addition, 62% Feel the stock market gains are out of sync with their industry performance

As for the CMOs themselves, they report these personal impacts: 

What should CMOs do? More work. 

“As the landscape evolves, so should the role of CMOs, who are less vulnerable when their duties go beyond marketing,” the study says. “Think CMO+. The PLUS could be adding internal comms, customer experience, customer success, pricing, e-commerce, AI transformation, and in some cases, sales.” 

Bospar, CMO Huddles and Redpoint surveyed 121 B2B CMOs.

The full study can be found here.