Gartner's Digital IQ 2025: What Top Financial CMOs Do Differently

Snapshot
Gartner’s 2025 Digital IQ Strategy Guide for CMOs identifies the top-performing digital marketing brands, with standouts in financial services including Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo, Fidelity, Schwab, and E*TRADE.

These “Genius Brands” represent the top 3% of the 1,243 analyzed. They achieve superior outcomes by prioritizing three strategic areas: long-term planning, enhanced customer understanding, and experience-led marketing. In contrast, most CMOs remain stuck in reactive mode—only 15% maintain a strategy horizon of three years or more.

Top financial brands invest heavily in marketing strategists to operationalize long-term vision, and are 2x more likely than peers to hire specifically for strategic roles. Their use of customer experience technology is more stable and integrated, reducing platform churn and boosting ROI across campaigns. By adopting voice-of-the-customer platforms and aligning martech talent with key tools, they turn insight into action with greater precision.

These CMOs also recognize the value of experiences that shift customer perceptions. Gartner notes that a single “perspective-changing” brand experience can double the likelihood of premium purchases or referrals—critical behaviors in financial services. The best brands balance promotional content with education-focused campaigns and personalized digital journeys, often using AI to deepen engagement across devices and channels.

Gartner’s advice to financial CMOs: Don’t chase flashy trends—optimize what drives business impact, hire for foresight, and design experiences that elevate trust and loyalty over time.

Download the full report from GARTNER