• by Mac Hagel , Yesterday

Across industries, marketing leaders are wrestling with three persistent challenges: how to define and reach an audience that is both broad and highly targeted, how to deliver innovation that feels breakthrough across increasingly fragmented platforms, and how to evolve measurement beyond last-touch interactions to prove brand and business impact.

These challenges aren’t new, but the urgency to solve them has escalated alongside rising expectations. With endless data and new AI tools launching monthly, the assumption is that CMOs should be able to adapt instantly. Yet while they are expected to master both the art and science of marketing, many lack the blueprint. As brands fight for share in fast-moving markets, CMOs need solutions, not excuses.

Here’s how CMOs can solve these challenges by year-end.

Defining audiences

The tradeoff today is not just brand versus conversion—it’s reach versus quality leads. Over-indexing on reach inflates metrics without driving engagement, while focusing on high-value leads builds sustainable growth. The industry is shifting from mass reach to “mass precision,” but that remains difficult. Addressable media helps, though it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

With data and connectivity at their disposal, CMOs must identify the customers that matter most, while balancing the scale required to generate conversions.

Delivering innovation

Audience-first strategy is critical, but consumer journeys are fragmented across platforms, channels, and devices. The pressure to deliver innovation that cuts through is only increasing.

AI often enters the conversation as the silver bullet, but like any tool, its value depends on the data that powers it. The differentiator is not data collection, but how well it’s integrated into an operating model. That means not just surfacing insights but acting on them consistently, at scale, and with measurable outcomes.

Innovation must start with clearly defined audiences, not technology. From there, brands must map insights to action—linking audience data with media, creative, and measurement. The winners will prove innovation not through buzzwords but through infrastructure that connects strategy to execution in ways that are fast, adaptive, and transparent.

Evolving measurement

Measurement is no longer about reporting—it’s about guiding decisions. Brands are shifting from last-touch attribution to multitouch models that better reflect today’s nonlinear customer journeys. This shift is vital as media spans platforms and touchpoints that influence behavior differently.

But measurement cannot stay siloed at the channel level. Models that only optimize for clicks or impressions miss the bigger picture. CMOs must link upper-funnel brand efforts to lower-funnel conversions, connecting media to business outcomes such as revenue, customer acquisition cost, and lifetime value. The goal isn’t perfect attribution, but smarter tradeoffs that align marketing with business growth.

The clock is ticking

As 2025 winds down, CMOs will be judged on their ability to demonstrate clear business impact. Defining audiences with precision, delivering innovation that matters, and building measurement frameworks that connect to business outcomes are the three imperatives they must solve—before time runs out.