Research: The top five new responsibilities for CMOs

The role of the CMO is going to be saddled with even more responsibilities, according to a new survey by Deloitte and Salesforce Exact Target Marketing Cloud.

The report, which polled 228 global marketing leaders identified five new priorities for CMOs in the digital age. 

“The role of the CMO has expanded from brand steward to customer champion,” said Frances Yu, director, Deloitte Consulting. “CMOs play a key role in driving revenue growth,  and to deliver on those growth expectations, CMOs should chart their own path to provide answers to changing consumer demands, new channel adoption, upgrading technology strategies and marketing talent challenges.” 

As we observe the convergence of different marketing disciplines, it makes sense that CMOs will now be entrusted to take on duties previously performed by executives in other departments. In the digital age, everything is marketing. Here are the top five new expectations of CMOs 

Expectation 1: Taking on more revenue top-line growth

·         53% of CMOs say with the growth of digital marketing, their team’s responsibilities include a greater focus on enabling revenue growth

·         38% of CMOs say they have a larger technology budget to keep pace with the growth of digital marketing

Expectation 2: More customer experience responsibilities

·         38% of CMOs name an increased role in customer service as an area where the growth of digital marketing has challenged their teams

·         However, 23% of CMOs don’t feel adequately prepared to address an increased role in customer service

Expectation 3: An expanded use of data and analytics

·         61% say data acquisition is their top internal marketing priority for 2014

·         However, adding personnel with data and analytics knowledge is the number-one area (32%) where CMOs feel least prepared

Expectation 4: More real-time marketing

·         59% of CMOs named flexible and agile marketing processes as a top internal marketing priority

·         Only 16% use web personalization frequently today, while 50% plan to do so

Expectation 5: Having to answer for more ROI and create better metrics

·         53% of CMOs say ROI was their most important metric used to measure success

·         52% of CMOs say the growth of digital marketing has led to the need for more qualified data and analytics personnel

You can access the rest of the report here.