A CMO (chief marketing officer) is a C-level corporate executive liable for activities in a company that need to do with creating, communicating and delivering offerings that have worth for patrons, clients or business partners.
A CMO’s primary mission is to facilitate growth and increase sales by growing a complete marketing plan that will promote brand recognition and assist the group gain a competitive advantage. As a way to achieve their own goals and effectively form their corporations‘ public profile, CMOs must be exceptional leaders and assume the voice of the customer throughout the company.
Chief marketing officers typically report to the CEO or chief working officer (COO) and hold advanced degrees in both business and marketing. A CMO who has a strong background in information technology may additionally hold the job title chief marketing technologist (CMT). In some bigger organizations, nevertheless, those positions are separate and the CMT reports to the CMO.
Chief marketing officer job description
More specifically, the CMO is the executive in charge of growing the strategy for corporate advertising and branding, as well as buyer outreach. Because the senior most marketing position in the organization, she or he oversees these functions throughout all company product lines and geographies.
It’s the CMO’s job to:
understand the corporate’s position in the marketplace, utilizing traditional strategies, as well as newer applied sciences comparable to data analytics;
determine how and where the company needs to be positioned in the future;
develop the strategy to drive the organization to that future market position; and
execute on that strategy.
The CMO’s work is expected to produce top-line outcomes, with marketing efforts raising the brand awareness, recognition and loyalty that will in the end lead to elevated sales.
As such, the CMO is predicted to work carefully (or in some organizations even lead) the sales unit.
Salary and pay structure
In response to PayScale, total compensation for a U.S.-based mostly CMO ranges from nearly $eighty five,000 to about $315,000.
The CMO’s expertise level and the geographic location of the position influence the pay, as does the size of the organization.
PayScale puts the median compensation for a CMO in the United States at $one hundred seventy,000.
CMOs make that cash by means of an annual wage, individual bonuses, profit sharing and commission.
Chief marketing officer roles and responsibilities
The CMO has a breadth of roles and responsibilities to help its overall mission. These embrace:
overseeing the development and placement of the creative elements that position the corporate 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 company’s public relations efforts, or working in conjunction with inside and external public relations teams to create a coordinated message.
Why the CMO function 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 achieve prospects and understand their thoughts on products, services and brands.
In addition they have given a new, much more prominent voice to consumers who can instantaneously broadcast their opinions to probably hundreds, if not millions, of people.
On the identical time, CMOs and their groups are able to faucet these technologies to succeed in and influence customers, position their products and problem competitors at the same speed and scale because the customers.
As it has been with different C-suite executives in this new technology-pushed enterprise paradigm, the CMO should collaborate much more extensively with his or her executive peers in order to keep pace. CMOs also must be capable of adaptation and innovation, as applied sciences evolve and markets shift in response.
Qualifications
CMOs, who might also have the title of vice president of sales and marketing, usually have at the least a bachelor’s degree in marketing (though an MBA is commonly choosered, if not additionally required). They generally have a minimum of a decade of experience in marketing and/or advertising and multiple years of experience in a managerial role.
They’re anticipated to have strong leadership skills, expertise in project development, glorious communication skills and a high level of enterprise acumen.
In addition, the CMO position as we speak requires a high level of technical aptitude to maximize the tools and leverage the social media platforms that are essential to marketing efforts.
As an example, CMOs are anticipated to oversee the corporate’s use of analytics platforms to understand buyer preferences, priorities and patterns particularly by way of consumer-generated media and how that insight can drive sales.
They’re also expected to direct marketing campaigns and buyer outreach through present — and rising — social media sites, as well as by means of traditional channels.
To that end, CMOs must be highly inquisitive and modern, able to identify rising applied sciences that might disrupt their business or industry and also then able to respond to that by directing his or her C-suite colleagues on tips on how to reposition the corporate in light of that change.