Customer data continues to increase in importance. Building massive datasets are not enough for success these days, however. Creating proprietary customer profiles and even automated intelligence platforms is now the norm. With these new standards comes a new skill set for the CMO. Here are just a few of the ways that the head marketing strategist must evolve in the modern business landscape.
Master of the Customer Journey
Mastering the customer journey is just a more complicated way to say that a CMO must have empathy for prospects. There is virtually no marketing strategy that will work today without viewing that strategy from the customer’s perspective. Every aspect of a campaign must speak directly to a prospect and keep them engaged. Consumers are also savvier than ever – they will see right through and reject a top-down, backroom, wide net campaign with no relevance to their lives.
Master of Data
The modern CMO must know what they are doing around a data stream. Augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and geolocation are just a few of the technologies that are emerging around data. Companies in all industries will eventually need to incorporate these concepts as standards – the businesses that lag behind will find themselves harshly removed from the commercial conversation.
Master of Collaboration
CMOs will be working more closely with other departments than ever before. CIOs, data scientists, and CDOs all rely on the data that the marketing department collects. Moreover, this data will serve different purposes at the same time for all of these departments. In some cases, these department heads will report to the CMO. The CMO needs to be ready for this level of responsibility, and understand and synergize the different perspectives that these departments will bring to the table.
Master of Vision
The marketing department is usually the department that leads the charge in terms of new ideas after research and development. Now that a huge part of development in business is data, the CMO will be playing the role of R&D captain in many respects. This means that the CMO must learn to look ahead, have a vision that other departments can rely on and bring viable ideas to the table that other departments can help to crystallize.
Master of Strategy
Marketing has always been about strategy, but the level of responsibility has changed drastically for the CMO over the past five years. For many companies, the CMO now sits at the head table when it comes to decisions that affect the entire company. The CMO may also be the main point of contact between companies in terms of data. All of this means that the CMO needs to balance company-wide levels of strategic planning with short-term goals that have implications far beyond the internal marketing department.
The role of the CMO has progressed and advanced, and will probably continue to do so as the proliferation of data becomes even more widespread. Look to CMOs to take an even larger role in moving successful companies forward in the future.
