A CMO (chief marketing officer) is a C-level corporate executive answerable for activities in an organization that should do with creating, communicating and delivering choices that have value for purchasers, shoppers or business partners.
A CMO’s primary mission is to facilitate progress and improve sales by growing a complete marketing plan that will promote brand recognition and help the group acquire a competitive advantage. With a view to achieve their own goals and successfully shape their firms’ public profile, CMOs should be exceptional leaders and assume the voice of the customer across the company.
Chief marketing officers typically report to the CEO or chief operating officer (COO) and hold advanced degrees in each enterprise and marketing. A CMO who has a robust background in information technology may additionally hold the job title chief marketing technologist (CMT). In some larger organizations, nonetheless, those positions are separate and the CMT reports to the CMO.
Chief marketing officer job description
More specifically, the CMO is the executive in command of growing the strategy for corporate advertising and branding, as well as buyer outreach. As the senior most marketing position in the organization, he or she oversees these capabilities throughout all firm product lines and geographies.
It’s the CMO’s job to:
understand the corporate’s position in the marketplace, using traditional strategies, as well as newer technologies such as data analytics;
decide how and where the corporate must be positioned sooner or later;
develop the strategy to drive the organization to that future market position; and
execute on that strategy.
The CMO’s work is predicted to produce top-line results, with marketing efforts elevating the brand awareness, recognition and loyalty that will ultimately lead to elevated sales.
As such, the CMO is anticipated to work closely (or in some organizations even lead) the sales unit.
Wage and pay construction
Based on PayScale, total compensation for a U.S.-primarily based CMO ranges from almost $eighty five,000 to about $315,000.
The CMO’s expertise level and the geographic location of the position affect the pay, as does the scale of the organization.
PayScale puts the median compensation for a CMO in the United States at $a hundred and seventy,000.
CMOs make that money by an annual salary, particular person bonuses, profit sharing and commission.
Chief marketing officer roles and responsibilities
The CMO has a breadth of roles and responsibilities to support its general mission. These include:
overseeing the development and placement of the inventive elements that position the company within the marketplace;
researching and assessing the market and the company’s position in it;
supervising or collaborating with sales to turn marketing insights into sales; and
directing the corporate’s public relations efforts, or working in conjunction with inside and exterior public relations teams to create a coordinated message.
Why the CMO role has gained prominence
The technology advancements of the 21st century have elevated the importance of the CMO position in many organizations. The internet, the ubiquity of mobile computing, the internet of things, analytics, artificial intelligence and social media platforms all have created new ways to reach customers and understand their thoughts on products, companies and brands.
Additionally they have given a new, much more prominent voice to consumers who can instantaneously broadsolid their opinions to probably hundreds, if not millions, of people.
At the identical time, CMOs and their groups are able to faucet those applied sciences to reach and affect prospects, position their products and challenge competitors at the similar speed and scale as the customers.
As it has been with other C-suite executives in this new technology-driven enterprise paradigm, the CMO must collaborate much more extensively with his or her executive peers to be able to keep pace. CMOs additionally must be capable of adaptation and innovation, as applied sciences evolve and markets shift in response.
Qualifications
CMOs, who may additionally have the title of vice president of sales and marketing, generally have not less than a bachelor’s degree in marketing (although an MBA is usually favorred, if not also required). They typically have no less than a decade of experience in marketing and/or advertising and multiple years of expertise in a managerial role.
They’re anticipated to have sturdy leadership skills, experience in project development, excellent communication skills and a high level of business acumen.
In addition, the CMO function at the moment requires a high level of technical aptitude to maximize the tools and leverage the social media platforms which are essential to marketing efforts.
For example, CMOs are anticipated to oversee the corporate’s use of analytics platforms to understand customer preferences, priorities and patterns particularly through user-generated media and how that insight can drive sales.
They’re also expected to direct marketing campaigns and buyer outreach by way of present — and rising — social media sites, as well as through traditional channels.
To that end, CMOs should be highly inquisitive and revolutionary, able to establish rising applied sciences that could disrupt their enterprise or industry and likewise then able to respond to that by directing his or her C-suite colleagues on tips on how to reposition the company in light of that change.