B2B marketing alignment is becoming one of the biggest risks heading into 2026. The new Voice of the Buyer: The Great Disconnect report shows the disconnect isn’t just between marketers and buyers — it is happening inside marketing teams, too. And when strategy and day-to-day execution move in different directions, progress slows long before pipeline numbers reveal the impact.
Around 19% of C-suite leaders say staying ahead of AI is their top challenge. Only 7% of directors share that priority. Managers are focused on something different again — stronger content, lead flow, and shrinking budgets.
Leaders look at long-term transformation. Practitioners look at what needs to happen today. It makes sense: one group sets direction, the other keeps the engine running. But while that natural separation isn’t unusual, it becomes a problem when the gap widens at the same time buyer expectations are shifting.
And that’s the real pressure point. Channels evolve quickly. Buyers demand clarity and proof. AI is changing how content is produced, targeted, and measured. In a climate like this, even a small misalignment inside marketing can slow programs, weaken quality, and create inconsistency that spreads across the entire funnel.
Why B2B marketing alignment is breaking down
B2B marketing alignment breaks when each layer of the team sees a different problem.
Leaders feel strategic threat. Directors feel operational strain. Managers feel execution pressure. Without shared context, goals drift, and so does performance.
The report highlights three specific gaps driving that drift:
- AI readiness: Leaders want to accelerate. Teams say they don’t have the bandwidth yet.
- Understanding buyers: Directors prioritize buyer insight, but that insight isn’t always informing leadership decisions.
- Budget pressure: Managers feel it daily. Leaders feel it in boardrooms.
When these pressures compete, teams lose the rhythm needed for predictable demand generation.
How B2B marketing teams can realign
The report points to three practical shifts that help close the gap:
- Define shared success. Teams need a common view of what “good” looks like — not just MQL volume, but influence, validation, and buying-group momentum.
- Bring execution into planning. The people closest to the buyer should help set priorities, not just react to them.
- Use buyer evidence to guide decisions. Shared data leads to shared direction.
When everyone aligns around what buyers need, which is clarity, proof, and trust, strategies and day-to-day activity move at the same speed.
Where B2B marketers go from here
Internal misalignment is solvable, but it requires honest conversations about expectations, capacity, and what buyers are telling you. For 2026 planning, the real question is simple:
Is your team aligned around buyer realities, or last year’s assumptions?
To dig deeper into the findings shaping B2B marketing alignment, download the full Voice of the Buyer report and explore the data behind these shifts.
