‘Panicked and pressured’: Why are B2B marketers doubting their skills?

In a tough trading environment where the only certainty is further disruption, it’s understandable marketers might feel their confidence start to dip.

Over a tenth (11.8%) of the 450 respondents to Marketing Week’s 2025 State of B2B Marketing survey admit they don’t feel like they have the right skills to fit the demands of their role. A further 8.2% are unsure if their skillset is up to scratch.

The free text responses reveal self-consciousness about being a generalist, concern over a lack of ownership of the 4Ps and limited strategic control.

“I don’t have the support or budget to do what I feel is ‘real marketing’ work and I feel that my skills and confidence are eroding, and I’m no longer as effective as I could have been,” one respondent writes.

This lack of confidence is often linked to where marketing sits in the “food chain”, reflects CMO of Cassava Technologies, Ifeoma Jibunoh.

“B2B is engineering-led, the products and the engineers are the ones that eat most of the meal. They’re the kings of the jungle,” she says.

“Whereas in consumer organisations, the brand is an asset. The valuation of a brand is a language that is spoken of often and it’s seen as an asset. In B2B, it’s seen as a cost.”

Every marketer should know, 99% of other marketers out there are paddling incredibly hard to inch forward. Everybody’s feeling it.

Brian Macreadie, Addleshaw Goddard

Jibunoh has experienced both sides of the equation, having spent 17 years at Heineken and the past eight in B2B at Mastercard and Cassava Technologies. While there will likely “always be conflict” with sales and finance, there have never been a greater wealth of case studies and data available demonstrating the power of marketing, she notes. The trick is using the data effectively.

“Creating awareness about the value proposition of the marketing function itself. Marketers don’t do that well. Whereas we can do it for brands or companies, but for the function itself we need to do it,” says Jibunoh.

“You can’t blame [marketers for lacking confidence] because a CFO is not constantly demonstrating the importance of being a CFO. A sales guy is not constantly educating on the role of sales in an organisation. So why does marketing have to do it? But unfortunately, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles in our world.”

Brian Macreadie, head of marketing at law firm Addleshaw Goddard, urges his peers “to stop beating themselves up”, especially when it comes to ownership of the 4Ps.

Whether you are working for a business that sells nuclear control rods or advanced shipping algorithms, as Macreadie points out there are reasons why it’s harder to influence the product in B2B. Despite it being unrealistic to own the 4Ps, most B2B marketers are still putting “undue pressure” on themselves.

“The thing we can own is not creating the product, but it’s actually creating the market feedback that comes back into our business to inform where the product might go next,” he explains.

Similar with pricing, Macreadie sees an opportunity for marketers to demonstrate how the market responds to price and feed that into how the strategy evolves.

Chief growth officer at payments firm Sokin, James Hannaford, agrees it is “incredibly difficult” to own price as a B2B marketer. However, if marketers can show where the product and price sit in the market, and demonstrate the growth opportunity, they become central to the conversation.

“If you don’t have that material substance to back an argument, you’re never going to be able to own that P. Simple as that,” he states.

Spheres of influence

Demonstrating strategic thinking helps grow confidence, but it can prove challenging for stretched marketing leaders. One respondent explains their job is “strategic on paper”, but cuts to resources mean they have become increasingly focused on execution.

Hannaford sees the danger in the function being viewed purely as a performance marketing machine.

“You could quite easily get stuck into thinking of it as a pure performance marketing play, like Google ads. ‘I’ll get X number of leads, which means I get Y number of clients’ and I can just continue like that. But marketing has to have a broader remit than that,” he stresses.

Hannaford believes marketing can make an impact across every “go-to-market motion” in the business, from direct sales to working with partners to brand and performance. Success comes back to data, planning and understanding not only who you’re selling to, but who in the buying committee is influencing the deal.

If you don’t have that material substance to back an argument, you’re never going to be able to own that P. Simple as that.

James Hannaford, Sokin

“All those aspects need to be thought through. That would elevate a marketer’s position if they’ve strategised and outlined where those touchpoints could and should be within the different go-to-market motions,” he suggests.

The fact B2B companies are typically sales – rather than marketing – led is a contributing factor, Macreadie notes.

“Marketers are usually further back in the process, which instantly can make a lot of teams, if they’re not careful, too tactical. That’s a dangerous place to be. For me, the way you change that dynamic is by listening to clients and the market,” he explains.

“I genuinely think market feedback, client feedback, market research is the gold upon which proper B2B marketing teams are built.”

Macreadie insists marketers can shift the strategic skills dynamic by listening to the market and diagnosing based on what clients are saying. Listening to customers is, in his opinion, the “source code for success”.

Demonstrating marketing’s strategic impact comes down to education, says Jibunoh. In the balance between long and short-term thinking, B2B traditionally runs the risk of “being very short”, focused on tactics and lead generation, rather than demand generation, she argues. 

‘A perfect storm’: Exploring B2B’s ‘lead gen crisis’

Before Jibunoh joined her current business, marketing was focused on admin and tactical support to serve sales, rather than being seen as a “true partnership” – a perception she has worked hard to change. It is her belief leaders should “evangelise” about the role marketing can play in unlocking value creation and driving future cash flow.

“If your leadership team are not evangelising about long and short, and the multiplier effect of both, then the risk that you are lost in the short sea is very high, unfortunately,” Jibunoh notes.

“It’s actually quite scary, because I can see how it can happen. But you need to have those battles. I have battles internally with regard to what role marketing should play.”

Educating internally about the strategic power of marketing is “equally as important” as her external role. Despite not being fully accountable for product or pricing, by making the case for marketing you can force your way into those conversations.

“Your area of accountability is different, but your sphere of influence – depending on the leadership – enables you to be part of the conversations in relation to the traditional 4Ps,” says Jibunoh.

Her department now has a sphere of influence that “mirrors B2C, but in a slightly different way”, allowing her team to have wider strategic impact. In this context, Jibunoh encourages marketers to position themselves as “orchestrators” of cross-functional collaboration, meaning they are in the room when strategic decisions are made.

Superpower skillset

The State of B2B Marketing data also reveals a sense of self-consciousness about being a generalist.

“[My] role is demanding a very generalised skillset, but with strong delivery in all areas – [I] don’t have the specialist knowledge in some areas to deliver,” one marketer told us.

Jibunoh firmly believes in the virtues of a generalist skillset. In fact, she argues the “accelerated” rate of specialisation is too high and could be stunting career progression. Knowing how to treat your brand as a mini company and understanding everything from the cost of goods and segmentation to positioning, pricing and distribution is a strength marketers should treasure.

“The strategic generalist role is definitely an opportunity area. The ability to connect the dots across different levers of value creation is what marketers should cherish, because that is harder to replace,” she states.

Indeed, Jibunoh believes in the era of AI disruption there is a danger of tactically oriented, specialist roles risk being displaced.

“They’re being displaced by the AI tools. They’re being displaced by outsourcing to fractional marketers who come and go. That specialisation is more prevalent in B2B than it is in B2C,” she notes.

If your leadership team are not evangelising about long and short, and the multiplier effect of both, then the risk that you are lost in the short sea is very high.

Ifeoma Jibunoh, Cassava Technologies

Her approach to the skills gap is focused on the fundamentals and developing competencies in her team around insight generation, brand strategy, trade marketing, portfolio strategy, excellence and execution. She is also looking for a sense of curiosity and restlessness.

Macreadie also feels “fortunate” to be a generalist, having built a strong grounding in the marketing fundamentals after 18 months focused on pricing and years working in a product team.

“You have to be a generalist to be able to understand what’s the right levers to pull based upon your current market situation, because there will be a time when the problem isn’t your PR or your events. There will be a time when somebody’s out- innovated your products. There will be a time in everyone’s career when you have to face that,” he reflects.

“If all you know about is social media marketing, but you’ve now got to fix a product, you’re stuck. For senior marketers, people that have a goal to run marketing departments, they have to have a broader footing than just marketing communications and lead generation.”

Former global head of marketing for asset management at Goldman Sachs, Anouschka Elliott, agrees being a generalist is “one of the greatest skillsets” any marketer can have.

“We have to understand what’s going on in every part of the organisation. That’s one of our greatest superpowers,” she explains. “It’s likely only the marketers, the CEOs and CFOs have that depth of understanding. We have to lean into that and have the confidence that this is a superpower.”

Shared concerns

Confidence also comes from learning to be kinder to yourself. In the current context of rapid changing technology and increased demands, Elliott urges peers who feel “panicked and pressured” to cut themselves some slack. This is especially true in the context of the AI skills gap.

“Give yourself some space. Don’t beat yourself up. Things will emerge, things will evolve. The best you can do is just jump in and start testing and learning. See what it can do for you. Use it as an extension of your team,” she advises.

“If you’re feeling pressured, you’ve got limited resources and you’re trying to make it work, brilliant. See how you can lean into AI to be another junior for you or do things more quickly.”

Understanding everyone experiences a crisis of confidence in their career, particularly in the current climate, is important, says Macreadie. He can see how the emergence of AI has fed into a sense of imposter syndrome, with marketers believing everyone else must be further ahead. Networking and attending industry events can help dispel those myths.

“You suddenly realise everyone’s in the same boat as me. I shouldn’t have FOMO. Everyone’s having different stresses and different problems,” says Macreadie.

“I would definitely encourage people to just get out and network, because you’ll see you’re not making bad decisions. You’re not alone.”

We have to understand what’s going on in every part of the organisation. That’s one of our greatest superpowers.

Anouschka Elliott

Indeed many professions, not just marketing, are feeling the strain of the economic environment, meaning it’s natural confidence may have taken a knock.

“Those that get through it will come out stronger when the better times hopefully, inevitably return. I don’t think people should beat themselves up for the economic headwinds,” Macreadie adds.

“Every marketer should know, 99% of other marketers out there are paddling incredibly hard to inch forward. Everybody’s feeling it.”

Ultimately, even the most confident individuals might find themselves in a culture that isn’t receptive to marketing. Macreadie recalls leaving at least one business during his career that had “zero intention” of investing in marketing.

Acknowledging finding a new role is challenging, he believes if marketers are operating in a “hostile” environment where there is “no investment, no love, no time, no attention” it might be time to get out.

Read all our State of B2B content here.