Key takeaways:
- Outcomes Rocket’s Saul Marquez detailed the importance of aligning sales and marketing teams with shared KPIs and clear ownership improves GTM success.
- The State of Account-Based Marketing report promoted operationalizing AI around real revenue problems enhances GTM strategies.
Building a predictable revenue engine requires sales and marketing teams to pull in the same direction.
Outcomes Rocket’s State of Account-Based Marketing report sheds light on exactly what works and what falls flat in B2B growth strategies. This report offers a clear look at how top-performing companies structure their go-to-market systems to cut through crowded markets and engage the right buyers.
To help us make sense of these findings, we sat down with Saul Marquez from Outcomes Rocket. In our interview, Marquez explored the core challenges causing friction between departments, shares solutions to close the sales and marketing alignment gap, and how B2B marketers can start operationalizing AI to solve revenue problems.
Demand Gen Report (DGR): Saul, thanks for making time for us. What are the top challenges in aligning sales and marketing teams for GTM success? How can organizations close the 30% alignment gap between sales and marketing teams?
Saul Marquez: Great to be here. The alignment gap is a definition and accountability issue. Our data shows only 37% of respondents clearly understand GTM as an integrated, cross-functional revenue framework, and about 21% of companies either lack a formal GTM strategy or do not have clearly defined ownership. On top of that, 28.7% identify sales-marketing alignment and friction as one of the top GTM challenges they face today. When teams are working from different definitions of GTM, misalignment is the natural result.
In a B2B environment with longer cycles and multiple stakeholders, that gap shows up in very practical ways such as inconsistent messaging, delayed handoffs, conflicting performance metrics, etc. It directly affects win rate, pipeline velocity, and revenue reliability.
The way to close that gap is not complicated, but it does require discipline. I would start with governance before tactics. One clear GTM owner matters. That could sit under a CRO, a CMO, or a tightly defined cross-functional leadership structure, but somebody has to own the operating model. Second, sales and marketing need shared KPIs and a shared view of what success actually looks like. When one team is chasing lead volume and the other is chasing close quality, the system is misaligned by design.
DGR: How can B2B marketers operationalize AI to enhance GTM strategies? What are the best practices for accelerating AI integration into GTM strategies?
Marquez: A lot of companies are still in the early innings here. The excitement around AI is real, and so is the potential, but most teams are still using it in ways that are useful without being truly transformative. Right now, the most common applications in the data are:
- Content creation and repurposing: 42.9%
- Email personalization and sequencing: 32.5%
- Targeting and segmentation: 28.7%
- Predictive lead scoring: 27.8%
- Churn prediction: 26.9%
The market clearly believes AI is going to matter more and more. Nearly 58.4% of respondents expect AI-first GTM models to outperform traditional approaches over the next 12 to 24 months. But AI is not going to fix a GTM system that is already messy.
So the best practice is to operationalize AI around real revenue problems. Use it where the pain is already obvious. I also think companies need to respect the order of operations. Build the foundation first, then layer in AI. The report shows that a lot of teams are still operating with fairly basic GTM infrastructure and maturity. If you want AI to make GTM smarter, your data and segmentation have to be strong enough to support it.
Recommendation for Measuring ROI
DGR: How can organizations measure the ROI of their GTM strategies effectively?
Marquez: The “2026 State of B2B Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy” shows 29.1% of respondents have limited confidence that their GTM efforts translate into measurable business impact, and on average about 24% of GTM budgets are going to initiatives without traceable commercial outcomes. Many companies still measure GTM activity instead of GTM contribution.
Organizations need to anchor the system around the outcomes leadership actually cares about. In our data, the top internal GTM metrics are revenue growth at 61.5%, customer retention at 42.0%, and win rate at 38.6%. After that come pipeline volume at 25.9%, lead-to-opportunity conversion at 24.7%, CAC at 22.4%, expansion revenue at 20.5%, sales cycle length at 18.3%, and pipeline velocity at 16.8%. That ordering tells us ROI should be measured first through business outcomes, then through the operational drivers that influence those outcomes.
My recommendation is a three-layer measurement model. First, track outcome metrics such as revenue, retention, win rate, and expansion. Second, track efficiency metrics like conversion rate, CAC, cycle length, and velocity. Third, track leading indicators tied to the actual GTM motions, such as segment engagement, meeting creation, opportunity creation, and progression quality. That structure keeps teams from overreacting to vanity activity while still giving them enough signal to optimize earlier in the funnel. The report’s conclusions point in the same direction by calling for cleaner attribution and closed-loop reporting.
DGR: What role do channel partners play in driving pipeline growth for B2B companies?
Marquez: Channel partners help companies expand reach and build trust faster than they could on their own. Our report shows partnerships are one of the more effective channels for driving pipeline, but not in isolation. A strong pipeline usually comes from a mix of relationship-driven channels and scalable digital programs.
Partners are most valuable when the market is crowded and buyers are more cautious. In those situations, a good partner can shorten the trust curve and create warmer entry points into the market. That can make a real difference when pipeline quality is harder to maintain and sales cycles are slower.
DGR: What are the most effective ways to leverage data analytics for GTM optimization?
Marquez: Of those responding, 40.7% said they are investing in data analytics and forecasting tools to strengthen GTM. The best use of data analytics is to make GTM decisions sharper.
From my perspective, analytics should do three things well. First, it should show what is actually driving commercial outcomes. Second, it should help teams prioritize better by showing which segments, accounts, and motions are producing the strongest results. Third, it should make optimization easier by highlighting where conversion slows down and where teams should adjust.
What Metrics are Key to Focus on for GTM teams
DGR: How can B2B marketers balance foundational investments with forward-looking innovations?
Marquez: Start by protecting the core of the GTM system before expanding into newer capabilities. My advice is to make sure the basics are solid first, then invest in forward-looking tools only where they improve speed, precision, or decision-making in a measurable way.
I would not spread the budget evenly across both. I would sequence it. First, fix what affects visibility and execution, especially analytics, segmentation, and cross-functional alignment. After that, layer in innovations like AI, intent data, or ABM where they can strengthen targeting, forecasting, personalization, or pipeline efficiency. That approach gives innovation a real job to do instead of turning it into another disconnected experiment.
DGR: What metrics should be prioritized to measure GTM success beyond revenue growth?
Marquez: Beyond revenue growth, I would prioritize the metrics that tell you whether the GTM engine is actually getting more efficient. In our data, the most important metrics after revenue were customer retention at 42.0% and win rate at 38.6%, followed by pipeline volume, lead-to-opportunity conversion rate, CAC, expansion revenue, sales cycle length, and pipeline velocity. Revenue can go up for a quarter and still hide problems underneath. Therefore, that mix matters because it gives you a fuller picture of performance.
The question should be “How much of that growth can we actually explain, repeat, and scale?”.
DGR: How can B2B marketers address competition and market saturation in their GTM strategies?
Marquez: The first thing I would say is that when the market feels crowded, the answer is to do sharper marketing.
Competition and market saturation is the top GTM challenge right now. A lot of teams are struggling because too many companies sound alike and target too broadly. So the real opportunity is differentiation through clarity. That starts with advanced segmentation which combines firmographic, behavioral, and intent data.
I also think this is where channel strategy matters. The report shows that the strongest pipeline channels are in–person events, customer marketing and referrals, email automation, organic content and SEO, and partnerships. When a market is saturated, buyers look for credibility. So marketers need to get tighter on their ICP and lean harder into channels that build trust.
Trends to Watch for This Year and Beyond
DGR: What are the key takeaways for long-term strategic planning in B2B GTM?
Marquez: GTM has to be treated like a business system. One of the clearest signals I mentioned above is that only 37% of respondents show a clear understanding of GTM as a cross-functional revenue discipline. That is a long-term planning problem. If ownership is unclear, strategy gets fragmented. And when strategy is fragmented, execution usually follows.
The second takeaway is that alignment has to become operational. Nearly 70% say their teams are mostly or fully aligned, which is good. But the remaining 30% still report partial or poor alignment, and that gap creates real execution risk.
And finally, long-term planning has to balance near-term performance with future growth. A lot of teams are trying to balance brand and performance, which I think is the right instinct. But that only works if measurement improves.
DGR: What are the emerging trends in GTM strategies that B2B marketers should prepare for?
Marquez: AI is obviously part of that story. The most common uses of AI today are content creation, email personalization, and targeting or segmentation. That tells me the next phase of GTM will be more about better prioritization. Another trend is that precision is becoming more important than scale alone. Personalization is improving, but for many companies it is still fairly surface-level, and advanced segmentation remains rare. There is still a big gap between the teams that are sending more messages and the teams that are actually getting smarter about who they are speaking to and why.
And maybe the most important trend underneath all of this is that GTM is being held to a higher standard. Leaders are being asked to prove contribution and that changes the conversation inside the business. GTM is being judged by whether it improves win rates, supports retention, increases pipeline quality, and creates revenue that can actually be traced back to a strategy.
