32: Strategies to link marketing to revenue: Insights from Anaplan CMO Jim Freeze

2026-01-21

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How might your marketing strategy change if you could prove—with shared baselines and benchmarks—which efforts truly move the needle, and which don't? Anaplan CMO Jim Freeze explains how AI is evolving marketing workflows, elevating creative focus, and tightening the link to measurable outcomes. He details how his team sets explicit productivity goals and uses AI to support content development, enabling marketers to spend more time on strategy, creativity and smarter channel-mix decisions. He also dives into measurement fundamentals with practical advice leaders can act on now: establish transparent targets, align on baselines and industry benchmarks, and report progress regularly. The conversation also emphasizes tighter alignment with sales, stronger finance fluency for marketers, and preparing for the ...

How might your marketing strategy change if you could prove—with shared baselines and benchmarks—which efforts truly move the needle, and which don't?

Anaplan CMO Jim Freeze explains how AI is evolving marketing workflows, elevating creative focus, and tightening the link to measurable outcomes. He details how his team sets explicit productivity goals and uses AI to support content development, enabling marketers to spend more time on strategy, creativity and smarter channel-mix decisions. He also dives into measurement fundamentals with practical advice leaders can act on now: establish transparent targets, align on baselines and industry benchmarks, and report progress regularly.

The conversation also emphasizes tighter alignment with sales, stronger finance fluency for marketers, and preparing for the AI-driven search that will reshape content and site strategy.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Jim's tips to demonstrate marketing's value with metrics leaders trust

The importance of baselines, benchmarks and transparent reporting to earn credibility with the C-suite

The potential benefits of cross‑functional accountability and AI integration to pipeline velocity, win rates and team focus

Key highlights:

[00:00] Introduction

[01:40] Our first math major and second lawyer

[04:20] From programming in C to being a CMO

[07:55] The scope of Anaplan

[12:15] How Anaplan is using AI

[15:45] The evolution of the marketer role

[18:45] Demonstrating the value of marketing