Trends in Job Function Targeting for 2025
Posted: Mon May 19, 2025 8:37 am
1. Function-Based Personalization at Scale
What’s happening:
AI and automation tools now allow ultra-personalized messaging based on job function, industry, and role-level data—without sacrificing scale.
Trend: Hyper-relevant copy for each function (e.g., different pain points for Sales Ops vs. Sales Enablement).
Example tool use: AI-powered email BitMart Database sequencing (e.g., with Apollo, Outreach, or Lavender).
2. Cross-Function Targeting in Buying Committees
Why it matters:
B2B buying is now highly collaborative—the average deal involves 6–10 stakeholders across departments.
Trend: ABM and outreach strategies now target multiple functions in parallel (e.g., CMO, CTO, CFO) with different angles.
Impact: Higher engagement when each stakeholder sees personalized value.
3. Predictive Job Function Targeting with Intent Data
What’s changing:
Rather than wait for someone to engage, companies use intent signals to proactively target people in specific functions.
Example: If IT professionals from a company download a cloud security whitepaper, your team can trigger outreach to the CTO and Security Lead.
4. Job Function + Lifecycle Stage Mapping
Trend: Companies are building more nuanced campaigns that match both the function and customer journey stage (e.g., awareness vs. decision).
Use case: A “Top-of-Funnel” ad for Finance might highlight benchmarking data, while “Bottom-of-Funnel” content might be an ROI calculator.
5. AI-Generated Role-Specific Content
AI is increasingly used to generate custom content for specific functions—such as reports, emails, or landing pages for CMOs vs. CHROs.
Example: Dynamic landing pages that adjust based on the visitor’s detected job function or role (via Clearbit Reveal, Mutiny, or 6sense).
6. Functional Trends as Microsegments
Smart companies are segmenting within job functions—recognizing trends and shifts specific to subroles.
Examples:
Within "Marketing": Treat Growth Marketing differently from Brand Marketing.
Within "Engineering": Separate ML Engineers from DevOps.
This allows deeper alignment and relevance.
7. Role-Specific Influencer Targeting
Job function targeting now includes thought leader engagement per function.
Trend: Partnering with industry influencers relevant to specific job roles (e.g., CFO influencers on LinkedIn or FinTwit).
Impact: Builds credibility faster with function-based audiences.
8. Integration with First-Party CRM and Product Usage Data
Businesses are now syncing job function data with CRM + product usage to deliver smarter upsell, retention, or churn prevention campaigns.
Example: If a CHRO hasn’t logged into an HR analytics platform in 30 days, the system sends a strategic usage review invite.
9. Privacy-First Targeting & Ethical AI
With data regulations tightening, companies are prioritizing ethical targeting by:
What’s happening:
AI and automation tools now allow ultra-personalized messaging based on job function, industry, and role-level data—without sacrificing scale.
Trend: Hyper-relevant copy for each function (e.g., different pain points for Sales Ops vs. Sales Enablement).
Example tool use: AI-powered email BitMart Database sequencing (e.g., with Apollo, Outreach, or Lavender).
2. Cross-Function Targeting in Buying Committees
Why it matters:
B2B buying is now highly collaborative—the average deal involves 6–10 stakeholders across departments.
Trend: ABM and outreach strategies now target multiple functions in parallel (e.g., CMO, CTO, CFO) with different angles.
Impact: Higher engagement when each stakeholder sees personalized value.
3. Predictive Job Function Targeting with Intent Data
What’s changing:
Rather than wait for someone to engage, companies use intent signals to proactively target people in specific functions.
Example: If IT professionals from a company download a cloud security whitepaper, your team can trigger outreach to the CTO and Security Lead.
4. Job Function + Lifecycle Stage Mapping
Trend: Companies are building more nuanced campaigns that match both the function and customer journey stage (e.g., awareness vs. decision).
Use case: A “Top-of-Funnel” ad for Finance might highlight benchmarking data, while “Bottom-of-Funnel” content might be an ROI calculator.
5. AI-Generated Role-Specific Content
AI is increasingly used to generate custom content for specific functions—such as reports, emails, or landing pages for CMOs vs. CHROs.
Example: Dynamic landing pages that adjust based on the visitor’s detected job function or role (via Clearbit Reveal, Mutiny, or 6sense).
6. Functional Trends as Microsegments
Smart companies are segmenting within job functions—recognizing trends and shifts specific to subroles.
Examples:
Within "Marketing": Treat Growth Marketing differently from Brand Marketing.
Within "Engineering": Separate ML Engineers from DevOps.
This allows deeper alignment and relevance.
7. Role-Specific Influencer Targeting
Job function targeting now includes thought leader engagement per function.
Trend: Partnering with industry influencers relevant to specific job roles (e.g., CFO influencers on LinkedIn or FinTwit).
Impact: Builds credibility faster with function-based audiences.
8. Integration with First-Party CRM and Product Usage Data
Businesses are now syncing job function data with CRM + product usage to deliver smarter upsell, retention, or churn prevention campaigns.
Example: If a CHRO hasn’t logged into an HR analytics platform in 30 days, the system sends a strategic usage review invite.
9. Privacy-First Targeting & Ethical AI
With data regulations tightening, companies are prioritizing ethical targeting by: