3Thinkrs’ survey of 400 B2B tech CMOs examines the shifting state of play in marketing and communications going into 2026, and leaders’ readiness to respond.

3Thinkrs’ report, ‘How to win influence in B2B tech: A CMO’s marketing and communications playbook for 2026’, reveals that B2B tech CMOs are planning to pivot their marketing and comms strategies to combat the dwindling effect of traditional brand influence tactics.

This ‘influence reset’ comes in response to tech brands wrestling with declines in web traffic, lower LinkedIn engagement levels, shifting media dominance, and the rise of zero-click purchasing.

Unsurprisingly, pockets of ‘rivalry anxiety’ have emerged. 62% of CMOs say they lack the skills, budget, or resources to compete with faster-moving challengers. And 35% are concerned their rivals are outpacing them in the race to adapt for generative engine optimisation (GEO) and zero-click search.

The survey compared the responses of 200 CMOs at venture-backed start-ups with those of 200 CMOs at billion-dollar tech brands, revealing two divergent paths to reclaim influence:

How tech giants and VC-backed start-ups vary in their marketing and comms tactics for 2026

• Venture-backed start-ups are moving the fastest to measure share of AI voice (39% compared with 26% at billion-dollar firms) and are more focused on cultivating relationships with journalists at emerging publications (22% vs. 11% respectively).

• CMOs at billion-dollar companies are prioritising diverse storytelling formats – broadcast, webinars, and podcasts – to reclaim influence (37%, vs. 26% at VC-backed start-ups). They are also investing more in brand-owned channels (27% vs. 20% respectively). 

Seven opportunities, pivots, and pitfalls for B2B tech marketing leaders in 2026

• Fast-moving challengers can pull ahead as CMOs admit they lack the brand and go-to-market (GTM) playbooks to respond at speed

Despite 62% of CMOs feeling underequipped to compete with fast-moving challengers, many are still not investing in the playbooks or coordinated GTM operating models needed to respond at speed. For example, 61% admit that they are either not proficient or only “mildly proficient” at maintaining a single, shared brand story. And just 16% have a plan in place to protect their company’s reputation if a crisis emerges.

• Six in ten tech CMOs are rethinking marketing for GEO, making ‘share of AI voice’ the top visibility metric now reported to CEOs

61% of tech CMOs are already rethinking their marketing to optimise for AI engines, as traditional search performance declines. VC-backed start-ups are feeling this shift most acutely (56% vs. 29% at billion-dollar companies). The shift is also reflected in the top visibility metrics being reported to CEOs, led by share of AI voice (33%), ahead of share of traditional search (21%), and share of media voice (19%).

• Crafting memorable brand narratives is the Achilles’ heel for tech CMOs, with half unable to achieve messaging alignment between internal teams

Six in ten (61%) tech CMOs say they perform “below par” or “struggle” to define and sustain a distinctive narrative that buyers can instantly recognise, recall, and repeat. A further 58% find it difficult to hold buyer attention beyond campaign moments. And many fall at the first hurdle: 50% believe they perform below average at aligning internal teams on core brand messages, preventing them from amplifying a single, cohesive story across platforms.

• CMOs say thought leadership is their top growth lever, outranking partnerships and even AI
Thought leadership has emerged as CMOs’ leading tactic for driving growth, selected by 40%. This edges out strategic partnerships, as a means to boost reach, credibility, and market access (38%). And just one in three CMOs (33%) said they were planning to grow by integrating AI into their core proposition and communications to strengthen positioning and boost marketing efficiency.

• Attention beats reach and LLM partnerships when targeting media exclusives
38% of tech CMOs would prioritise publications with a C-suite persona-targeted newsletter, such as Fortune CEO Daily or Forbes CMO, when pitching stories for a media exclusive. It’s the most popular option, ahead of digital-first premium national/business titles (29%), favoured for their broader audience reach and measurable impact on web traffic. Notably, 12% would now consider a publication’s partnerships with LLMs when deciding where to target an exclusive.

• More than half of CMOs are planning to boost multimedia content on LinkedIn, as brand engagement on the platform declined in 2025
LinkedIn company page visibility reportedly dropped from 2.1% to 1.6% of user feeds between February and October 2025. At the same time, videos and carousels were reported to drive higher engagement rates. These changes have prompted tech CMOs to respond. VC-backed start-ups are moving fastest to reclaim influence here: 60% plan to invest more in video and multimedia formats for LinkedIn, compared with 48% of billion-dollar tech companies.

• Go-to-market teams are well aligned on KPIs, but falter when it comes to execution
46% of tech CMOs say joint planning and goal setting across marketing, PR, and sales is now an “embedded” or “advanced” capability at their organisations. However, only 24% say their teams show the same flair for powering sales enablement with PR content, highlighting a disconnect between go-to-market planning and execution.

Measurement is another area of weakness: 59% say they’re only “mildly proficient” at best when tying PR and marketing metrics directly to sales pipeline and conversion data. But CMOs are planning improvements for 2026: 43% at VC-backed start-ups plan to better integrate marketing, comms, and sales in their social selling efforts, alongside 35% at billion-dollar tech companies.

Marketing leaders’ reactions to the report’s findings

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