Now that most B2B marketing relies heavily on digital technology for almost every aspect of marketing, including securing leads, liaising with customers, and managing diverse business data, it makes sense that the people in charge of choosing and managing that technology should begin having a more fundamental role of operating businesses.
The Chief Marketing Technologist (CMT) increasingly fills that role today, meshing marketing and IT needs seamlessly, rather than as distinctly different positions. Because technology is such a vital tool for business success, the person in that role needs to be placed carefully within a business.
What is a Chief Marketing Technologist?
A CMT has the right components of skills and a highly strategic ability to identify how technology can help businesses achieve their business goals and directives. They need to be team leaders who can work with various people and departments throughout the company to drive its digital transformation.
In addition to being technically minded, a Chief Marketing Technologist needs to be visionary and creative. They also need to be able to navigate a never-ending landscape of service providers and suppliers, explain data, manage budgets, create data, train people internally and also recruit effectively. CMTs also must stay informed and be able to identify new technological opportunities.
Recruitment Challenges
While there are more people now working in IT and marketing with pertinent qualifications for CMT positions, it can still be a challenge for recruiting people with the appropriate skill set for any tech or digital marketing position. A CMT bridges business-oriented skills that are typically marketing related to more hard tech skills. Many companies look to recruit people with marketing experience, an MBA, and an IT degree. Finding a candidate that possesses that background can be difficult.
Companies that recruit CMT candidates typically spend a much higher percentage of their budget on investing in technology, so that may mean that businesses that take their tech more seriously may hire a CMT to get it right but also may indicate a general boldening of companies to invest in more tech. Whatever the reason, the important thing isn’t so much what is being spent on technology, but how those investments pay off.
Does My B2B Company Need A Chief Marketing Technologist?
Many businesses are making huge investments into marketing-related technology now, but does that mean every business needs to follow suit? Can a company afford to be without someone who makes informed decisions straddling both marketing and tech? That depends While companies are investing increasingly in tech, it’s generally just the top performers. Depending on your industry, companies have had to rely on high-tech just to stay in the game. Without a large budget or recruiting team, it becomes more vital that if you choose to bring on a CMT, the candidate has the dedicated skillset and the understanding of why their performance is so vital – but that is true even if you’re a smaller organization that still has separate IT and marketing functions. It is possible that a company could streamline their operation if they found the perfect candidate who could float over and yet still unify tech and marketing issues and teams. If you don’t have the budget to recruit the top contenders you may do your business more harm than good by trying to bring a CMT on board.
