Why CMOs are Trading Inbound Volume for High-Value Connection — Marie Moynihan, Zyte

Marie Moynihan examines the changing dynamics of B2B growth. As Zyte operates in a web data-driven industry, she explains why top CMOs focus on sales partnerships and curated executive events to stand out amid automated digital marketing.

How does a background in both data and creativity define a modern CMO?

Marie describes herself as both an engineer and a storyteller. This combination enables her to work extensively with BI tools and Excel while maintaining the creative vision needed to craft compelling narratives.

“What excites me about marketing… is the combination of data and creativity. I’m quite analytical; I love data. I spend most of my time in Excel or our BI tool… however, that’s only half of marketing. The other part is creativity. You need a desire for storytelling. Balancing those is very important… I’ve always said to stay close to sales.”

Why is Zyte shifting from a traditional inbound model to an outbound ABM strategy?

While inbound demand provides a strong foundation, Marie notes that it eventually plateaus. To capture the next tier of growth, the company is investing in Account-Based Marketing (ABM). A shift that requires a new set of skills and a more surgical approach to target accounts.

“We’ve had a very traditional inbound model for our leads. Demand generation has driven them. As we grow, we now need to start to flex an outbound ABM model. We’re establishing that in the company right now, and it’s different. It requires new skills, new people, and new thought processes. The other big thing is we’re looking to grow our non-paid demand… investing more in content.”

How will the rise of AI search change the framework of organic demand?

Marie anticipates a world where keywords take a backseat to real-world, conversational queries. Preparing for this shift means ensuring that a brand’s content isn’t just optimised for bots, but genuinely answers the complex questions users are asking.

“The bigger question for marketers is around AI search. All the rules around search that we were used to, working with Google… are going to be blown wide open with AI search. There will be a lot more real-world queries, like ‘tell me this,’ ‘I want to know.’ People will be asking questions of AI… in a way that’s very different from keywords and long-tail search.”

How does aligning around pipeline build bridge the gap between sales and marketing?

By abandoning MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) in favor of pipeline metrics, Marie has leveled the playing field across teams. This shared accountability ensures that both departments are focused on the final outcomes: bookings and revenue.

“I believe sales and marketing are a partnership… we’re all KPI-driven around the same thing. Ultimately, it’s bookings and revenue, right? Focus your teams on those numbers, and you’ll get them working together. You won’t get that constant back and forth or divide. We don’t operate on MQLs; we operate on pipeline build, and that has helped the conversation.”

Why is developer-to-developer engagement more effective than traditional marketing?

For technical ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles), Marie has invested heavily in developer advocacy. By facilitating peer-level technical discussions, Zyte builds an organic, sales-ready community before a representative even reaches out.

“Our customers, like developers, engineers, and data scientists, tend not to love talking to marketing or sales. Last year, we invested in developer advocacy… they’re having developer-to-developer conversations, sharing tips and tricks, but really showing them how to do it rather than marketing explaining it. We finished 2024 with an extract community of around 16,000 developers… that excites the sales team because when they’re ready to speak to sales, they are just ready.”

How do you host a successful industry event that your competitors actually attend?

Six years ago, Marie realised that her core audience wasn’t at major trade shows. Instead of trying to fit in, Zyte hosted its own: the Extract Summit. By keeping it an industry-focused event rather than a Zyte pitch, they’ve built a massive community of interest.

“We decided to stand up and host our own industry event. It isn’t a Zyte event; it’s an Extract Summit event. We invite our competitors; it’s an industry event that we host, and it has grown and grown. This has been really successful for us as a way to meet customers face-to-face… we get the right people in the room, and it has grown, feeding the community.”

What is the most significant challenge when hosting high-level executive events?

For Marie, the integrity of the conversation is the primary challenge. She actively filters out promotional content to ensure that her summits remain a valuable industry resource rather than a series of advertisements, noting that high-level attendees have a low tolerance for being sold to.

“One of the big things we constantly fight against is people wanting to come in and do a sales pitch. We have really set a high standard for the quality of talks. We will say, ‘No, sorry, that’s a sales pitch.’ If you’ve got something exciting or new to share, come and talk to us about that, but don’t give a pitch because nobody wants to listen to that. Monitoring the quality of speakers is crucial because attendees have a low tolerance for sales pitches.”

Join the Conversation: The Ortus Club’s Executive Network

Marie Moynihan’s experience proves that in an era of automated emails and AI-generated noise, direct, pitch-free engagement is the ultimate differentiator. The Ortus Club provides the environment Marie advocates for: a space where sales-pitching is left at the door in favor of high-level strategic exchange. Our executive roundtables allow CMOs and technical leaders to build the trust and narrative that Marie credits for increasing deal sizes and brand authority. By joining our curated sessions, you can move past the MQL and focus on the authentic peer relationships that drive long-term pipeline growth.

FAQs

Q: Why does Marie emphasise filtering out sales pitches at her events?
A: Senior executives and developers have a low tolerance for being sold to. They seek authentic expertise. The Ortus Club roundtables follow this exact philosophy, ensuring every attendee provides and receives value through peer-level dialogue rather than promotional decks.

Q: How does event attendance influence deal size?
A: As Marie notes, sitting down face-to-face with a CEO or CMO builds trust. This trust often leads customers to commit to a larger deal size because they have moved from seeing a vendor to seeing a partner.

Q: How do executive roundtables help with ABM strategies?
A: ABM requires a surgical approach to specific high-value accounts. Our roundtables bring together the exact ICPs Marie targets, allowing for the direct engagement required to move the needle on key accounts.

Q: Why is human interaction more valuable than cold calling?
A: AI can send a million emails a day, but it cannot facilitate a “human-to-human” story. Marketing leaders are now focusing on research and peer-to-peer data to connect with people who are actually in the market.