Addressing Tactics Before Strategy: Key Challenges for CMOs

Tactics before strategy continues to be a key challenge for organisations and their CMO’s to address in 2025 according to the latest survey where 84% of CMO report hight levels of dysfunction, with a high priority focusing on operational needs rather than customer planning:

https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-03-25-gartner-survey-reveals-84-percent-of-cmos-report-high-levels-of-strategic-dysfunction 

Elements of the CMO survey suggested an ongoing disconnect between how CMO’s regard their digital channels.

The report also suggests there is a growing trend for CMO’s to look for the “quick wins” (by addressing the more tactical elements of digital), continuing to operate digital channels in silo’s and measuring performance through vanity metrics, rather than taking an integrated, longer term approach.

Here are a few of the key highlights:

• An apparent lack of progress in social media not being integrated into the wider marketing strategy of organisations

• 45% of respondents could not demonstrate a measured impact of social media on their business

• Decline as to how organisations integrate customer information across purchasing, communication and social media channels, suggesting there is a lack of customer feedback steering what messages are used across marketing channels used by the organisation

One reason performance is lagging may be because companies remain focused on digital strategies, not on embedding the role of digital marketing into organisational process and operations

And it’s going to become more of a challenge for organisations as they address and adjust their marketing strategy to decide where budgets are to be spent.

This aligns with what many brands are feeling: the content deluge is real, and audiences are harder to impress. The “spray and pray” approach of past years — producing endless posts or videos without clear strategy — has given way to a focus on quality, purpose, and storytelling that feels human.

Emerging Trends Shaping Your Marketing Channels

So what’s next?

1. AI integration and governance.Generative AI has become a core part of marketing workflows — powering ideation, content creation, SEO optimisation, and predictive analytics. Yet marketers are now demanding balance: human oversight, brand voice consistency, and ethical AI governance are the new differentiators (Floodlight New Marketing, 2025).

2. Short-form video dominance.Video continues to outperform every other format. Short-form content — from Reels and YouTube Shorts to LinkedIn snippets — drives visibility and engagement across both B2B and B2C sectors. Marketers are learning that personality and storytelling win over production polish.

3. Interactive and immersive content.Brands are exploring interactive tools, quizzes, augmented reality experiences, and micro-engagements to keep audiences active rather than passive. It’s part of a broader move towards “experiential” content that pulls customers deeper into brand ecosystems (Mash Magazine, 2025).

4. Zero-click and AI-surfaced content.With search evolving into generative overviews and AI summaries, marketers are adapting to zero-click environments — where success isn’t just about driving clicks but about owning the conversation at the point of search or AI response.

5. The role of Content (Marketing)

For content marketing, this “trough” is less about failure and more about maturity. Brands now understand that sustainable success doesn’t come from quick campaigns, but from consistency, cross-channel integration, and a deep understanding of customer needs. In short, it’s no longer a shiny tactic — it’s a core business capability.

A More Strategic Future

Yet, there’s still a need for better education. Many organisations talk about digital marketing, but fewer understand what a truly documented, integrated, and measurable approach looks like.

Because content marketing is not:

• A campaign-based afterthought designed to fill channels.

• A megaphone for brand messaging that ignores audience needs.

• A scattergun “spray and pray” exercise.

• A shiny tactic chasing trends without strategy or measurement.

It is, instead, a sustained, insight-driven system for pulling customers closer to your brand, shaping their experience, and aligning marketing with long-term business growth.

As your organisation considers its marketing channel mix, now is the perfect time to address and audit the role of digital marketing, it’s plans, processes and how it’s measured back to your business goals.