C-Suite Marketing in 2025: Challenges for B2B Engagement
In 2015, we published "Mastering Executive Engagement: What's Holding You Back?," examining ten barriers to c-suite marketing that prevent B2B companies from building valuable relationships with C-level customers.
A decade later, the fundamentals in c-level engagement remain remarkably consistent. But there’s no denying the context continues to evolve.
What’s Changed in C-Suite Marketing: Technology Leadership, Social Demands & Strategic ABM
1. Tech leadership is business leadership (and vice versa).
What was the realm of the CIO and CTO in 2015 is now the domain of all executives, including the CEO. The inescapable integration of business and tech has also triggered an expansion of the c-suite, with chief officers for data, AI, information security, sustainability, innovation, experience, ethics and more. This landscape requires executives—and anyone seeking to engage them—to be more agile, tech-fluent, and able to cut across disciplines and through even more jargon, noise, and organizational confusion.
87% of tech and data leaders said people in their organization are confused about where to turn for data and technology services and issues
Almost a third of tech and data leaders don’t fully understand their own roles in relation to others
Source: “The evolution of technology and data leadership,” Tom Davenport and Thoughtworks 2. The social executive is on the rise.
LinkedIn has exploded in the last 5 years, reaching 1 billion users in late 2024, and with it a mandate for C-level executives to communicate with their teams and customers through social channels. C-suite executives who do it well have a communications plan weaving together LinkedIn and in-person engagement. As they are increasingly under pressure for strategic content and authentic engagement, this transformation in C-suite visibility creates new engagement channels but also heightens expectations for executive thought leadership and relationships. Astute executives can drive a different level of exchange with their c-suite peers, including customers.
35 percent (US) / 30 percent (UK): 5-year increase in c-suite professionals on LinkedIn, 2019-2024
23 percent: Increase in posts from chief executives globally year on year
4x engagement: Chief executives’ content vs. other content
39 percent: Expected surge in followers after CEO posts
Source: “Power and influencers: CEOs on social media”, Cristina Criddle, The Financial Times, October 2024 3. Account-based marketing reaches the top.
When we wrote our original piece, it had been roughly a decade since ITSMA coined “account-based marketing (ABM)” with its certification program and white paper. Interest, at least as reflected by Google Trends, had yet to take off. Today, according to data from both Foundry and Momentum ITSMA, more than 90% of B2B marketers are working with some form of ABM program in place.
The most effective programs go beyond transactional relationships straight into the c-suite, strategically mapping both current officers and their potential successors (C-suite minus 1 and 2) to ensure relationship longevity within the prioritized, high-value accounts. Companies that limit ABM to tactical, user-level engagement miss a crucial opportunity to elevate their brand and accelerate strategic opportunities. Integrated plans can create a consistent cadence of meaningful interactions, be it through 1:1 meetings, special events, customer advisory boards, or other top-to-top programs—all designed to deliver clear value to customer organizations.
“If your ABM program is oriented toward helping customers innovate and grow, it’s hard to succeed without executive engagement. The good news for ABM-ers today is that the CXOs we’re all trying to reach now have a much greater interest in connecting and innovating with solution providers than they did before the pandemic.”
SOURCE: Rob Leavitt, “Using ABM for executive engagement: Five keys to C-suite success,” ITSMA MomentumWhat's Remained the Same: The Core Work—Earning Engagement & Realizing Value
Regardless of how companies try to connect with their C-suite customers, we’re vying for the same basics: earning engagement and realizing business value.
The first challenge is getting meaningful time and attention from C-level executives who are genuinely invested in the interaction. The second challenge is to convert executive interactions into measurable impact that drives organizational success.
When relationship-building is at the core, there’s no magic wand or fool-proof intervention. It takes intention and long-term effort.
Five key barriers consistently undermine success:
The Understanding Gap: Asking the right questions and listening for what matters most to senior officers
The Executive Presence Challenge: Engaging effectively at the c-suite level
The Right People Problem: Bringing together influential leaders
The Action Gap: Turning executive engagement into organizational change
The Sustainability Challenge: Maintaining long-term commitment in a short-term world
The Understanding Gap
Companies still struggle to truly grasp executive priorities and agendas, often defaulting to telling and selling rather than listening and learning. While tools for gathering executive insight have evolved, the fundamental challenge of understanding what matters most to senior leaders endures.
Required Capabilities:
Systematic listening before, during, and after every interaction
Co-creation of engagement strategies with customers
Deep understanding of customer profit drivers and strategic priorities
The Executive Presence Challenge
Team members continue to face difficulties engaging effectively at the C-suite level. The ability to drive strategic discussions, facilitate challenging conversations, and demonstrate relevant business acumen remains critical—though what constitutes "executive presence" has evolved in our hybrid world.
Required Capabilities:
Strategic discussion facilitation skills
Ability to quickly identify relevant connections across complex topics
Confidence to appropriately challenge senior executives
Business acumen that transcends product knowledge
The Right People Problem
Convening executive peers or industry thought leaders and making every moment count has become even more complex. With unprecedented demands on executive attention and new modes of interaction, the challenge of bringing together influential leaders—and keeping them engaged—has taken on new dimensions.
Required Capabilities:
Realistic assessment of organizational standing with the customer C-suite
Demonstrated influence over strategic issues executives care about
Ability to consistently deliver high-value interactions
The Action Gap
Organizations still struggle to define success metrics, implement insights effectively, and maintain connected stakeholder communication. While tools for tracking and measuring impact have improved, turning executive engagement into actionable change remains difficult.
Required Capabilities:
Clear success metrics aligned across stakeholders
Systems for capturing and synthesizing executive input
Strong cross-functional communication channels
Leaders with authority to implement changes
The Sustainability Challenge
Building lasting executive relationships requires long-term commitment in an increasingly short-term world. Organizations must align culture, incentives, and executive commitment to support sustained engagement.
Required Capabilities:
Long-term relationship building mindset
Regular cadence of meaningful touchpoints
Organizational alignment around customer centricity
Consistent executive sponsorship
An Invitation: Help Us Update Our Point of View
A lot has changed since we first wrote about these challenges in 2015. While the core barriers feel familiar, how companies tackle them—and what success looks like—has evolved significantly.
We want to understand what's working (and what's not) in C-suite marketing and engagement today. What new obstacles have emerged? Which approaches are delivering real value? How are companies adapting to reach and engage senior executives in meaningful ways?
Over the next year, we'll be talking with B2B leaders, industry experts, and executives themselves to update our perspective. If you're wrestling with these challenges or have insights to share, we'd love to hear from you.