CMOs Can’t Afford a Weak GTM Story in 2026

B2B marketing leaders are finding that their role has never been more complex than it is right now. A big theme at Pavilion’s 2025 GTM conference was “professional resiliency.” Today’s CMOs and VPs of Marketing face pressure from every direction at once: multi-faceted buying groups, declining attention spans, rising acquisition costs, and a market now flooded with AI-generated content, answer engines, and outreach.

The marketing motions and playbooks that used to work — even just three years ago — now deliver diminishing returns. A prime example: SEO strategies that once generated reliable visibility are now being shaken up by AEO/GEO, where new content strategies and third-party mentions become critical just to stay in the game.

Attribution has become murkier. Buying journeys are less linear. Prospects self-educate more extensively before raising their hand. Gated content annoys people more than ever. Meanwhile, authentic video content is favored and in-person events are back with force.

But one thing is constant: effective positioning and messaging remain one of the biggest drivers of revenue performance. It is foundational — because no matter the channel mix or outreach approach, Marketers and GTM teams still have to tell the story of the problems solved or value created, why you, and why now.

Story as a Top Revenue Lever: From Dark Art to Measurable

Marketing leaders are increasingly measured — explicitly or implicitly — on revenue contribution, even when economic conditions are uneven and internal expectations continue to rise.

Marketing can spin up new messaging angles in days. Generative AI can now amplify those variations 100x faster and distribute them through more channels than ever. But is the underlying story actually effective?

Most leaders still don’t have answers to questions like:

• Is our go-to-market messaging being used consistently in the field?
• Are certain personas responding more strongly to certain message variations?
• Are top-performer sellers leaning into a different narrative?
• Is this message improving — or a drag on — conversion rates?

These are not philosophical questions. They are economic ones. A great story accelerates revenue velocity, win rates, and hopefully CAC. When internal alignment is spotty — or when buyers are confused or uninspired — an underperforming story encumbers your marketing ROI.

Yet paradoxically, measurement of that critical lever — the story — is still shockingly weak. As one of Troupe’s advisors told us: “It’s like a dark art.”

Make it Measurable, Bring the Proof

CMOs measure nearly everything else in their org — demand gen, digital marketing, share of voice — and those metrics have only sharpened over time. But the KPIs of GTM storytelling still default to opinions, not data.

But that’s changing now. With solutions like Troupe using AI to ingest and analyze, marketing leaders can now report on the progress in pipeline contribution that stems from:

• Message adoption
• Message consistency (alignment)
• Message conversion lift
• Message-level benchmarks by persona or stage

This gives leaders greater confidence in allocating budget, staff resources, and strategic priorities — because knowing where their story is working best (and where it’s not) reveals which levers will move revenue faster.

For example: “Do we need to strengthen our messaging and enablement at certain stages or with specific personas?” and “Is the messaging behind our new product launch improving conversion — or do we need to adjust the rollout?”

Troupe specifically gives Marketing leadership the evidence and recommendations they've long been lacking to help them:

• Quantify their story’s impact on revenue (and therefore, their team’s impact) by showing what’s working, where, and to who, so time and energy are not wasted on opinion-dominated debates and initiatives.
• See clear, standardized GTM story KPI reporting that helps with both executive-level / board-level strategy and decisions, as well as with team member goals and coaching.
• Maximize existing marketing investments, staff productivity, and collaboration efforts.

Having the right messaging effectiveness insights ensures their story has a market advantage and is a major, proven accelerant to growth.

Amidst Transformation, Deliver Your Strongest GTM Story

Jake Sorofman, former CMO at Visier and Pendo, as a guest on our Said Differently Q&A program said that having a winning go-to-market story is like “rocket fuel” for revenue acceleration “when you get it right,” and adds that it could be the second – or even most – important lever you can pull for growth.

Marketing leaders who outperform in the next 18–36 months will embrace two responsibilities — not one:

1. Crafting an effective story — and evolving it when it makes sense
2. Proving its impact on revenue — and ensuring execution activates it fully

Those were once separate disciplines. They are now inseparable, combining both the art and the science to show what’s connecting to pipeline and revenue.

Talk to Troupe’s team to see how to turn your story’s signals into a virtuous cycle of improvement and impact demonstration.