“If you’re going to hire me, this is what you can expect,” explained a 2x CMO to the startled CEO of a $275mm tech company. This CMO got the job. So far, so good. What happens next is an instructive place to start our 2025 state-of-the-B2B-CMO discussions.
Q1: Detective Work
A student of Michael Watkin’s The First 90 Days seminal playbook, our heroic CMO built the cornerstone relationships she’d need to orchestrate big changes. She listened more than she spoke. She addressed a modest problem, demonstrating “decisiveness” without making any premature or consequential mistakes. She assessed her team and revised the org chart. She kept the CEO in the loop with weekly updates and started building a GTM plan aligned with his vision.
Q2: Quick Wins to Buy Time
Though she’d told the board and CEO exactly what to expect her first year, pressure mounted on the CMO to show progress. Having identified a handful of easy fixes like landing page optimization, over-gating content, and surveying employees about the company, the CMO did have a few quick wins to share. However, the research she’d initiated on the big stuff (i.e. overall positioning and strategic differentiation that could drive the product roadmap) was still underway.
Q3: The Pressure Mounts
The product team wants to push out a new GenAI-driven update while Sales struggles to close deals. The CMO knows these are distractions from the bigger issue – high churn rates reflecting low C-sat. The entire go-to-market strategy must be revised, including pricing, product, positioning, targeting, messaging, and customer service. Fortunately, the CMO convened a strategy task force in Q2, and the research results showed a clear path forward. Meanwhile, one of the PE firm's staffers scrutinizes spending by keyword! It’s your run-of-the-mill Silicon Valley crazy farm.
Q4: The Relaunch
Having completely rebuilt her team, the tech stack, the KPI dashboard, and the Sales-Marketing relationship and earned the trust of the CFO by delivering on her initial promises, it was “go time.” New positioning. New website. New everything. Importantly, the CMO insisted on pre-launching with employees, creating a short certification program that all needed to complete. With a new promise to the market, the CMO was confident the company could deliver. Anecdotal positivity poured in. So far, so good.
Year 2: Reaching for More
Riding high from a successful relaunch, the CMO took a well-deserved vacation. Her fully staffed team filled in ably. Having delivered on initial expectations, she pondered how her role could evolve to help the company even more. Since customer experience was still below par and without a leader, she threw her hat into the ring. The CEO and board loved the idea, especially since it meant one less senior executive on the payroll.
Have you set (great) expectations for 2025?
Written by Drew Neisser
