The Mandate for Midmarket CMOs: Three Key Shifts Changing the Future of Marketing

This IDC Perspective examines how midmarket CMOs are navigating the dual pressures of delivering growth and modernizing their organizations with AI. Findings from 2025 IDC Global B2B Tech CMO Priorities Study (IDC #US52470324, March 2025) highlight that net-new customer acquisition, scaled AI adoption, and the hybridization of marketing skills have emerged as the defining imperatives for this segment. Midmarket CMOs operating under heightened scrutiny must align their strategies around these nonnegotiables to safeguard growth and elevate marketing as the measurable driver of value."For midmarket CMOs, it is no longer about experimenting with AI; it is about proving revenue and growth, operationalizing AI, and building hybrid talent portfolios. These are the absolute factors that will separate growth leaders from the pack," says MaryAnn Holder-Browne, research manager, IDC CMO Advisory.