B2B Marketing Trends: CMO Predictions for 2024

Step into the future of B2B marketing strategy with HotTopics as we unravel the latest marketing trends and predictions for 2024—from our B2B CMO community

As we step into 2024, the ever-evolving realm of marketing continues to shape the future of business strategy. At HotTopics, our commitment to staying at the forefront of marketing trends in the industry has led us to host insightful roundtable debates within our community. 

CMOs and senior marketing leaders from diverse sectors around the world have shared their expertise and perspectives on a range of topics and marketing trends, including but not limited to AI, B2B marketing and customer engagement. 

Read on to discover some of the key strategies, emerging technologies and innovative approaches that senior marketing leaders are staying on top of, ranging from personalised customer engagement to the strategic application of AI and the world of B2B marketing. 

Tapping into marketing talent

Talent remains a significant topic for marketing leaders across both marketing and technology.

In the Studio roundtable debate The Definitive Guide to Tapping Marketing Talent Today, CMO of Adarma Security [at the time of filming] Joanne Gilhooley said, “Investing in people shouldn’t just be a conversation for today, it should be a constant part of anybody’s strategy.” Joanne acknowledged that finding good talent is a difficult thing in itself, especially when paired with tighter budgets, arguing that the more cost-effective solution would be to invest in current talent.

Further on in the debate BCX’s CMO Mandisa Ntloko-Petersen offered her own take on hiring external talent with a plan in mind that would put her company one step ahead of the competition. “One of my core principles is hiring people that are better than me, with a whole aim of creating a succession plan.”

In a Leader’s Corner interview with HotTopics, EMEA LATAM & CXO Marketing Manager at Palo Alto Networks, Sarah Wilkinson, commented that hiring the right talent has become much more of a challenge in recent years. “I remember a few years back hundreds of CVs coming in…the process has taken a lot longer than it would have done 10 years ago.”

When discussing the priorities of the B2B CMO in the Studio roundtable debate Leadership Triage: What Skills Should CMOs Prioritise in 2023?, Sally Croft, CMO and Head of Corporate Relations Europe and LatAm at Ericsson explained that marketers want to have more impact by “doing less things”. She argued that this impact can be driven by retaining talent and prioritising teams.

AI, AI, AI: propelling marketing trends 

With generative AI currently taking the industry by storm, CMOs have been left to navigate this constantly adapting landscape, ranging from reshaping leadership and team dynamics to redefining marketing strategy. 

In the Studio roundtable debate AI and Tomorrow’s CMO, the panellists discussed the “double-edged sword” that is AI. On one hand, it offers opportunities to get data-driven insights, automate manual tasks and personalise customer experiences. On the other, marketers are faced with ethical concerns and data privacy issues. 

Eye Security’s CMO Sakina Najmi addressed the concern that the pace of change may be too much for the business: “We like to be at the cutting-edge and try different things – but the business doesn't want to move along at the same speed and doesn't like to experiment on different things.”

Marketing needs to go through a “regeneration” according to  SKV Consulting’s CMO, Sumeet Vermani. 

In a Leader’s Corner interview with HotTopics, Sumeet explained that AI is part of this process, which involves reexamining what marketing is, how it is conducted and how it is implemented. 

“Can we be closer to the customer? Can we be more insightful? Can we be more technology-driven and can we be more ROI driven using AI?”

Top priorities for the C-suite 

What priorities are top of mind for C-suite marketing executives today?

When thinking about prioritisation for B2B marketers, in the Studio roundtable debate on Prioritisation and 2024, IFS SVP of Global Marketing, Preeti Saini explained that 2024 is about stabilising its brand in new markets alongside M&A-driven growth. This growth was split into two areas—demand generation and brand awareness.

In this context, Preeti's vision entails a dual strategic move aimed at robust demand generation. With a focused aspiration to penetrate crucial growth markets like the United States, she hopes to nurture current customer relationships, leverage the growing customer base to strengthen the IFS brand image. 

Honing in on the same topic, Utkarsh Srivastav, Senior Director - Brand, Social and Digital Marketing at LTTS, argued that the priorities currently shaping innovation within marketing are customer priorities, sales priorities and marketing priorities.

For Infront’s CMO Mark Baker, one of the major priorities is customer alignment: “Customers are going through as much change as we are, often more. We need to ask ourselves where the customers are and if we are still relevant to their needs; if we can no longer help our customers, our own internal priorities should be automatically de-prioritised.”

Further marketing trends and predictions for 2024

As we venture further into 2024, the marketing industry remains a catalyst for business strategy evolution. HotTopics, through engaging roundtable debates featuring CMOs and senior marketing leaders, has provided a wider view of the emerging trends that will define the marketing landscape in the coming year.

In a world where the marketing industry is constantly evolving, staying informed about the latest trends is crucial. To delve deeper into these discussions and keep pace with the ever-changing marketing landscape, we invite you to join HotTopics and participate in The Studio events. Stay ahead of the curve and witness live debates that unravel the intricacies of marketing in the present and future.

Elevate your expertise in the latest marketing trends—apply to join the Marketing Leader’s Studio now.