Marketing leadership in 2025 feels like 5 games, 1 controller
Pipeline, pressure, AI and the stuff no one’s talking about
THIS WEEK: Marketing leadership feels heavier than ever
AI pressure. Meh attribution. Roles stretched too much. This week quick tips to unpack some of the stuff no one warns you about and offers a few ways to reset. Tools, job tips, podcast recs and a reality check we all probably need right now.
If you’re in the thick of it now or you’ve been recently you know the feeling.
The pressure isn’t just to perform. It’s to predict. To master new tools you barely
understand. To show pipeline impact before the work has time to settle.
One week you’re rebuilding messaging. Next week? You’re defending why paid social isn’t converting like Google. The team’s overwhelmed. Leadership’s asking for answers.
And you’re the middle of the funnel and the top of the funnel and the bottom of the funnel all at once.
Another Evan rant chatting through what’s happening for marketing folks right now.
What’s making it hard
1. AI is everywhere and nowhere
Everyone’s talking about it. Everyone’s testing something. But most marketing leaders I talk to feel behind. It’s not just learning how to prompt tools. It’s knowing where AI actually makes a difference, what to trust and what’s noise.
2. Attribution is murky again
If you’ve relied on Salesforce campaigns, UTMs, or last-click logic, you’re probably looking at numbers that don’t tell the full story. Especially with video, audio, dark social and product-led loops gaining traction. Not to mention the buzz going around on LinkedIn about LLMs not being traceable from an attribution perspective (or limited).
3. The role is too broad
Marketing folks are being asked to be brand thinkers, data analysts, ad buyers, SEO experts, copywriters, GTM architects and sometimes SDR managers. This stretch isn’t sustainable.
But then there’s also the shit no one really warns you about
• You can’t show ROI on an AI tool you bought.
You put in the budget. Bought the licenses. But nothing got implemented. Or it did, and now the team’s back to the old way.
• Your “hyper-personalized” ads are starting to annoy people.
Too much segmenting. Too many first-name subject lines. Feels like spam, even when it’s not.
• Your brand identity starts to blur.
When every piece of content is a variation of a variation, you start losing the thread of what actually made your message stick.
So hopefully this might help a bit. Here’s how I’d approach and have been tackling some of it. And no. I am not expert. But like anything. Fail. Learn. Fail. Learn. Rinse and repeat
1. Run a 4-week AI learning sprint
What we’re hoping to introduce soon. One hour a week. Everyone on team brings a small test: a prompt that worked, a post it helped write, an insight it unlocked.
Keep a shared doc. End of month, pick 2 or 3 tools to keep, ditch the rest. You’ll get real usage patterns instead of tool overwhelm.
2. Build a new measurement truth
Pick 2 or 3 indicators that reflect buyer behavior not just conversions.
Example: page views on high-intent content, self-reported attribution, repeat demo bookings. Make those the success stories you talk about internally and make sure damn well everyone knows the definitions throughout the org from the CEO to the Intern.
3. Reclaim your role by owning the story
Step back and define: what’s our actual narrative? Why do we exist in our category Then gut check every campaign, every asset, every single potential hire against that.
Nothing earth shattering but also like anything. Distill it down to tangible objectives and you can make some solid progress.
Podcast recs if this hit home
Marketing Against the Grain
Hosted by HubSpot’s Kipp Bodnar and Kieran Flanagan. They talk real AI use, scaling systems, and how to cut through trendy fluff with actual frameworks.
Fintech Marketing Podcast – Mastercard: Being human in times of crisis
Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar talks about leading through brand noise, how to sound like yourself in the chaos, and building trust under pressure.
«And no these aren’t sponsored»
3 AI tools on LinkedIn right now
Omneky
Generates and tests ad creative at scale. Great if you’re running paid media and can’t keep up with creative fatigue.
YouScan
Social listening powered by AI with visual recognition and authenticity checks. They just released a free tool to detect AI-generated content.
Anyword
Performance prediction for ad copy and marketing language across channels. Helpful if your team’s copy is starting to sound too robotic.
job search tips for marketers right now
1. Lead with outcomes, not titles
“I owned paid social” doesn’t say much. “Cut CAC by 40% while increasing SQO volume” does.
2. Don’t dodge the gap
Got laid off? Took a break? Say it. Transparency builds more trust than perfection.
3. Show your learning
Pick one thing: AI, measurement, content ops. Share what you’re learning each week. It keeps you visible and builds momentum.
⸻
You don’t need to do it all.
You don’t need to be great at every tool.
But you do need a plan. A story. A signal through the noise.
That’s what makes leadership feel like leadership again.
— Evan
See you next week! Enjoy the 4th of July for the folks in the US!