REQUIRED READING POST

There is no doubt that this year will be turbulent given local and global events, and the mandate for Chief Marketers to steer business growth garners a superior skills set. CMO Council is tracking top trends to equip CMOs with the insights needed.

The CMO as a Growth Catalyst

It is up to the CMO to find “uncommon growth in the storm” assert both PwC and Prophet. “Now, more than ever, lines are being blurred across the C-suite, and CMOs can carve out a role as innovator, strategist and growth-driver. The modern CMO weaves their influence through the fabric of the C-suite, strategically supporting all facets of the business,” PwC predicts.

Our bespoke research into how sales and marketing leaders are breaking the mold to better connect with customers and drive greater growth, the report “ Sales & Marketing: Driving Revenue Through Collaboration”, looks at how sales and marketing have to redefine their relationship to enable new customer-centric purchasing paths. Most sales and marketing organizations haven’t been able to pivot fast enough to the new digital buyer. More than 70% of marketers don’t feel very confident in their current sales and marketing model to sell effectively in the digitalized customer journey. This means they risk falling short of their revenue mandate and requires an entirely new way to collaborate across customer strategy and data, initiatives, technology, activities and metrics. This study was codeveloped with KPMG Customer Advisory. DOWNLOAD

Our special interest group, the Growth Guidance Center, is dedicated to exploring the forces and factors that accelerate, inhibit, disrupt, diversify and sustain growth. This knowledge transfer initiative highlightS best practices, critical resources and next generation solutions to accelerate revenue growth, improve market visibility, identify opportunities, and manage and optimize profitability and revenue performance. LEARN MORE

WEBINAR: Watch on Demand – “Owning Digital Transformation as a Successful CMO”

CMOs as Organizational Changemakers

To create transformational growth, CMOs are becoming digital leaders and as the role of marketing has expanded, they believe it’s time to shake up the operating model, reports Prophet. “CMOs need to think about themselves as connectors and integrators. They should think cross-functionally across departments, linking channels and disciplines across products and experiences.” There is a need to increase cross-functional collaboration, adds Gartner.

In the CMO Council report, “Marketing and Finance: Fueling Innovation or Falling Behind?” produced in collaboration with KPMG, we found that nearly 4 in 5 CMO-CFO partnerships aren’t very willing to collaborate on investments, goals and metrics. Among CMO-CFO partnerships that are indifferent or hesitant to collaborate, only 27% are satisfied with their ability to innovate. So, if marketing and finance wish to successfully navigate these headwinds, they’ll need to redefine their working relationship and align on financially responsible growth strategies that prioritize smart, realizable, innovative investments. Our findings are based on a survey of over 275 marketing leaders across industries and geographies. Additionally, we conducted in-depth interviews with marketing executives from Schneider Electric, The Vitamin Shoppe, Fiserv, Agios, and others. DOWNLOAD

CMO Customer Acquisition Strategies

The influx of new technologies like GenAI has expanded the breadth and depth of knowledge and capabilities available to marketing leaders, reports PwC. “By translating analytics into insights, you can deliver enhanced and personalized experiences that cater to the ever-fluctuating behaviors and preferences of your customers. Loyal customers hold the key to long-term growth, and marketing leaders recognize the need for a customer-centric approach.”

In our latest exclusive report, “Fire Up Your B2B Revenue Generation Engine”, CMO Council provides strategies to help B2B marketers drive customer-acquisition and boost revenue, teaming with WM America and leading B2B account-based marketing experts for the development of a certified Lead Evaluation and Assurance Process (LEAP) that brings new levels of success, transparency, accountability and reliability to prospect verification, validation and sales conversion. 

We look at models and metrics for success, gaps between highly evolved and lesser evolved marketing organizations, strategic demand gen initiatives, and more. The findings of this report are based on a survey of over 170 heads of B2B marketing, sales, revenue, growth, demand gen and campaign execution. It includes in-depth interview insights from executives at IBM, Autodesk, T-Mobile, NTT, ABM Consortium, TechTarget, NetLine, B2B Marketing, Reachdesk, Momentum ITSMA, and Xometry. DOWNLOAD

CMOs Lean into Creativity

It would be a mistake to overlook the power of creativity, and how it allows brands to connect with customers on a meaningful level, reports Prophet. Brand managers today are being challenged to make smarter, more informed decisions. The Brand Inspiration Center, powered by CMO Council, is an online resource hub for brand creativity and innovation. Brand managers today are being challenged to make smarter, more informed decisions at a time when new product success rates remain at dismal levels and marketing spend needs to be justified by revenue and market share metrics. There is a now a real imperative to embrace Generative AI in all areas of the go-to-market and customer support ecosystem, most notably creative development, content adaptation and customer interaction.

This requires more adept, imaginative, and inventive responses to shifts and changes in lifestyles, behaviors, socioeconomics, multicultural blending, psychographics, purchase intent, shopper behavior, social media influencers, and digital media content engagement. The special interest group is your hub for innovation without limitation in today’s complex marketing world. LEARN MORE

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