A CMO (chief marketing officer) is a C-level corporate executive answerable for activities in a corporation that must do with creating, communicating and delivering offerings that have worth for customers, shoppers or enterprise partners.
A CMO’s main mission is to facilitate development and increase sales by growing a comprehensive marketing plan that will promote model recognition and assist the group gain a competitive advantage. In an effort to achieve their own goals and successfully form their companies’ public profile, CMOs have to be exceptional leaders and assume the voice of the customer throughout the company.
Chief marketing officers typically report to the CEO or chief operating officer (COO) and hold advanced degrees in both enterprise and marketing. A CMO who has a robust background in information technology may 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 customer outreach. Because the senior most marketing position in the group, he or she oversees these features throughout all firm product lines and geographies.
It’s the CMO’s job to:
understand the corporate’s position within the marketplace, utilizing traditional strategies, as well as newer technologies equivalent to data analytics;
determine how and where the corporate ought to be positioned sooner or later;
develop the strategy to drive the group to that future market position; and
execute on that strategy.
The CMO’s work is expected to produce top-line results, with marketing efforts raising the brand awareness, recognition and loyalty that will finally lead to elevated sales.
As such, the CMO is expected to work intently (or in some organizations even lead) the sales unit.
Salary and pay structure
Based on PayScale, total compensation for a U.S.-based CMO ranges from nearly $eighty five,000 to about $315,000.
The CMO’s experience level and the geographic location of the position influence 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 via an annual salary, individual bonuses, profit sharing and commission.
Chief marketing officer roles and responsibilities
The CMO has a breadth of roles and responsibilities to support its total mission. Those embrace:
overseeing the development and placement of the artistic elements that position the corporate within the marketplace;
researching and assessing the market and the corporate’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 internal and exterior public relations groups to create a coordinated message.
Why the CMO function has gained prominence
The technology advancements of the twenty first 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 succeed in customers and understand their ideas on products, companies and brands.
In addition they have given a new, much more prominent voice to consumers who can instantaneously broadforged their opinions to potentially 1000’s, if not millions, of people.
On the identical time, CMOs and their groups are able to faucet those applied sciences to reach and influence clients, position their products and challenge competitors on the same speed and scale because the customers.
As it has been with different C-suite executives in this new technology-driven business paradigm, the CMO must collaborate much more extensively with his or her executive peers with a purpose to keep pace. CMOs additionally have to be capable of adaptation and innovation, as technologies evolve and markets shift in response.
Qualifications
CMOs, who may additionally have the title of vice president of sales and marketing, typically have no less than a bachelor’s degree in marketing (although an MBA is commonly preferred, if not also required). They generally have not less than a decade of experience in marketing and/or advertising and a number of years of experience in a managerial role.
They’re expected to have strong leadership skills, expertise in project development, glorious communication skills and a high level of business acumen.
In addition, the CMO function at this time requires a high level of technical aptitude to maximize the instruments and leverage the social media platforms which can be essential to marketing efforts.
As an example, CMOs are expected to oversee the corporate’s use of analytics platforms to understand buyer preferences, priorities and patterns particularly through person-generated media and the way that perception can drive sales.
They’re additionally anticipated to direct marketing campaigns and buyer outreach via current — and emerging — social media sites, as well as by means of traditional channels.
To that finish, CMOs must be highly inquisitive and innovative, able to establish emerging applied sciences that would disrupt their business or trade and likewise then able to respond to that by directing his or her C-suite colleagues on how one can reposition the corporate in light of that change.