CMO Roundtable Roundup – Association Edition

For our latest CMO Roundtable with our partner Doug Anderson, we gathered eight association and communications leaders to talk about their key initiatives for 2025 and the challenges that are keeping them up at night.

Here are the highlights from our discussion:

Fluidity. If there’s one word to describe the conversation, it would be “fluidity.” The need to operate within an uncertain landscape, driven by the advent of a new presidential administration, has introduced a range of changes and evolving policies. Leaders must try to anticipate future developments and, at the same time, remain agile and ready to react to unexpected shifts. This is what Brian Sansoni, Senior Vice President of Communications, Outreach, and Membership at the American Cleaning Institute, calls “the ability to have agility.”

Influencers. Influencer marketing is like the phoenix—every year, pundits predict its decline, but it always rises from the ashes, evolving and adapting to new trends. The majority of the leaders at the meeting noted that building out their influencer strategies is a key initiative for this year. As more and more people get their news and information (and misinformation) from social channels – putting their trust in the people they follow – communicating through those followers has become a critical component of an association’s messaging strategy to its members.

Video content. The majority of the participants said they’re focused on expanding their video content strategy in 2025. With the continued growth of social platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram Reels, video has proven to drive high engagement metrics. Video is also an effective way to communicate complex ideas in easily digestible ways and, to the point above, provide content for influencers to promote.

Return to Office. We do an (unscientific) poll every time we meet with leaders about their organizations’ current RTO policies. For those companies that no longer have office space, 100% remote work is clearly here to stay for a while. However, many companies that currently have hybrid work policies are starting to increase the number of required days in the office. One leader whose association increased the required days in the office from two to three effective January 1st mentioned their management team expects some attrition once bonuses are paid out in February.

What’s clear from our conversation is that leaders are navigating uncertain waters, sometimes struggling to find solid ground. However, despite the challenges, each of them brought a sense of optimism and enthusiasm for the new year, energized by the opportunity to leverage their creativity and agility in the face of change.