Closed Loop Team
Economic uncertainty, headwinds, pressure — we’ve all heard these buzzwords in the B2B marketing landscape. Headlines have shouted that marketing budgets are being cut, but the reality is that they’re being challenged and scrutinized.
Today’s marketing leaders face a pure existential challenge with their budget. CMOs walk a tightrope in this tight economy, defending long-term brand investments while proving short-term ROI, all under the surveillance of big brother — the CFO.
The truth is that the ones winning the budget conversation aren’t only just performing well, they’re taking the time to align with their finance partners and strategically drive impact.
In a candid, inaugural fireside chat, Closed Loop CEO Amanda Evans sat down with Sydney Sloan, G2’s CMO, and Ty Heath, LinkedIn’s B2B Institute Director, to discuss how marketers can better communicate with finance, align on goals and resonate with the C-suite.
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Prefer the highlights? Keep reading for five powerful strategies discussed.
Check out these five high-impact strategies from Sydney Sloan and Ty Heath to help CMOs align with finance, protect brand investment and drive measurable growth.
“I don’t speak marketing in board meetings.”
— Sydney Sloan
Impressions, MQLs and brand halo effect are terms marketers love to use to demonstrate marketing’s value. However, it’s essential that marketing leaders leverage language that translates to margin, growth and risk mitigation. These are the terms that resonate with the C-suite and the finance team. Instead of using marketing jargon, reframe your communication with financial outcomes in mind.
“We’re not here to save money. We’re here to grow.”
— Sydney Sloan
As resources become more strained, buyers leverage AI engines to help make informed decisions. According to Sloan, nearly 70 percent of tech purchase research begins in GPT, not Google. Because of this, brand recall is paramount. And to top that off, brand notoriety is the key to being included in the day one consideration set.
Sloan reports that strong brands do these things well:
“If you’re not on their mind, you’re not on the list.”
— Ty Heath
Marketers no longer have the luxury of dreaming of being on a shortlist with 5 to 7 other companies. Those lists have been shortened to 3 to 5 companies, and sometimes just one. In this age of shrinking consideration sets and faster decision cycles, brand building is how companies pre-sell their product before sales gets involved. Say goodbye to seeing brand as a discretionary line item on the marketing budget. It’s now strategic infrastructure. CMOs who build a strong CMO-CFO relationship and get their finance counterparts to understand this principle are already two steps ahead.
“I treat the company’s money like my own.”
— Sydney Sloan
Great marketing leaders don’t just manage the marketing budget, they see treat it as part of a disciplined marketing spend strategy that deserves TLC. All too often, we think of performance as the key indicator of success and earning trust. However, CMOs who align well with the finance team understand that they have to show strategic control.
“Don’t give it to me—we’re not ready.”
— Sydney Sloan (on why she sometimes refuses extra budget)
Overseeing a marketing budget isn’t just about saving money or spending conservatively. Effective CMOs demonstrate strategic readiness at every step, even showing vulnerability when it matters. Leaders have to be willing to decline a budget when they’re not ready, according to Sloan.
Being a steward of the company’s budget also should be founded on built models your organization trusts and a record of predictable outcomes everyone can count on.
Sloan has a few tips on earning trust with the CFO:
Having the budget conversation isn’t about playing defense. It’s about showing your team has an offensive stance that is disciplined at its core. Use predictability to build trust, and that trust paired with performance or benchmarks, will almost always expand the budget.
“Spend 101% of the budget. If it’s working—spend 120% to get 140% of the outcome.”
— Sydney Sloan
Earning trust with disciplined spending and predictable outcomes is just the beginning. To keep the budget and grow it, you need a story that connects marketing to the business’s goals. That’s where mental frameworks come in.
“Messaging is capital allocation for marketers.”
— Ty Heath
In the C-suite, what’s measured is managed. Stakeholders enjoy clarity around performance. Heath suggests that a framework or mental model can help bridge the communication needed to resonate with your leadership.
Influencing budget decisions shouldn’t rely solely on fragmented dashboards or single-channel ROI metrics. Build frameworks that finance teams can recognize as tools for capital allocation, prioritization and risk mitigation.
Heath mentions that models like the CMO Scorecard and the 95-5 Rule are powerful in this circumstance as they don’t just explain what marketing is doing, they show why it matters to the bottom line.
The CMO Scorecard is a great way to justify full-funnel investment and illustrate how advertising metrics across media and creative work together to deliver outcomes beyond lead generation.
The 95-5 Rule is another framework that helps reframe the brand as a future-ready, long-term growth investment.
“Marketers are in the memory business. If we’re not investing in creativity, we’re not being remembered.”
— Ty Heath
Consumers now exist in an era of short attention spans. Combine that with shrinking shortlists, the need to make fast decisions and AI playing a role in curated research, creative is the business lever brands need. Successful CMOs are hedging their bets on creative to survive and secure a position in the consideration set.
“Creative ambition isn’t fluff—it’s how you get on the day one list.”
– Ty Heath
According to LinkedIn’s B2B Institute, up to 50% of a campaign’s effectiveness is driven by creative. Not only does it drive engagement, it builds memory—and memory drives margin.
CMOs winning the budget conversation aren’t defending creative. Instead, they are positioning it as a multiplier across the funnel, not as a top-of-funnel tactic.
Heath shared the ABLE framework to present creative impact in CFO terms:
Attention x Branding x Linkage = Equity
In 2025, let’s be honest: budgets aren’t shrinking—they’re being cross-examined.
Performance isn’t enough in today’s climate. Heath and Sloane advocate that CMOs must demonstrate control across strategy, spend and the story they tell the CFO.
CMOs rising to the moment are doing the following differently:
The takeaway? Your CFO and C-suite don’t want less marketing. They want more clarity. The CMOs who deliver it don’t lose budget. They gain influence.
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