Tomorrow’s CMO: new report shows a seismic shift towards marketing-led organisations

Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) will be crucial in successfully guiding B2B businesses through the pandemic and beyond, according to new research on the role of the CMO now and in the future, published today. The report, summarising views of over 140 senior marketers, concluded that B2B businesses are shifting towards a marketing-led model, overseen by an increasingly commercially-minded CMO with their finger firmly on the pulse of the customer.

The report, Evolution to revolution: How Covid and behavioural trends will shape the role of the CMO, warns businesses of the risk of focusing solely on sales and short term goals while faced with unprecedented pressure caused by the pandemic. Instead, a customer-driven environment focused on engagement and retention, as well as acquisition, will be essential to business resilience and, ultimately, growth. This requires marketing to be in the driving seat, with a CMO or equivalent that fully understands and represents the customer in board-level commercial and strategic decisions.

Key findings of the research include:

•  61% of B2B organisations have a CMO or equivalent in place, with more (7%) expecting to do so soon;

• The CMO role is already evolving to include growth responsibilities for 39% of respondents’ organisations, although it remains an emerging role: just 26% believe the CMO currently has equal influence to other c-suite members but 90% believe this will grow significantly by 2030;

• The top three areas of a CMO’s focus will be: value growth, customer experience and brand development by 2030;

• Covid19 has accelerated the pace of transformation, forcing organisations to re-evaluate and create solid strategies to build and retain customer relationships and react to changing priorities;

• As the CMO becomes more strategic and works cross-functionally, technology and internal resources will fill some skills gaps but there is still a need to maintain increasingly close relationships with agencies that understand the marketplace.

The research was commissioned by integrated B2B agency The Marketing Pod, working with B2B Marketing to survey 140+ senior marketers and conduct in-depth interviews with CMOs or equivalents at B2B organisations. 

Commenting on the report findings, Jodie Williams, co-founder and director of The Marketing Pod, said: “The CMO’s remit is expanding far beyond what has traditionally been thought of as marketing. It has never been more important for firms to have their finger firmly on the customer’s pulse, and marketing is perfectly placed to provide a 360 degree view of attitudes, needs, behaviour and the wider marketplace.  Armed with this knowledge, the CMO role and influence is expanding as recognition grows that revenue and growth are intrinsically linked to a deep understanding of customer attitudes.

“Covid19 has increased the pace of change towards businesses becoming marketing-led. To pull through the pandemic and succeed, businesses are realising that short-term, sales-focused tactics may not be enough. Organisations are swiftly shifting to customer-centric strategies, focusing as much on engagement and retention as acquisition. This research shows that tomorrow’s CMO will spearhead this approach from the boardroom and bring together teams across the business to secure value growth and succeed.”

The report also highlights the recognised, continued need to work with specialist agencies to help plug any skills gaps and relieve time pressure as the role broadens to encompass a far greater number of areas and growth responsibilities. 

“The research shows that CMOs expect to have a well-integrated martech stack at their disposal to automate activity and provide greater insight, but senior marketers also believe that agencies working in strategic partnership to help deliver the CMO’s objectives and plug skills gaps will be essential. We strongly believe that a deep understanding of the marketplace and a strong grasp of a CMO’s goals is vital to become a true extension of a business’ internal teams, and it’s clear that those within the industry also see the value that a solid agency partnership can bring.”

The full report findings are available to download here https://themarketingpod.co.uk/future-cmo