In the last few years, there has been an increase in CMO/CRO turnover, and sales and marketing have become increasingly intertwined. Marketing has changed: while in the past new customers were mostly attracted by personal contact, events, and media advertising, these methods are no longer effective.
What is a CMO and a CRO? A chief revenue officer (CRO) is a C-level executive responsible for all revenue generation processes in an organization. A CMO (chief marketing officer) is a C-level corporate executive responsible for activities in an organization that have to do with creating, communicating, and delivering offerings that have value for customers, clients or business partners. Marketing and revenue activities are overseen by both the CMO and CRO, making them responsible for attracting and retaining new customers and signups.
Almost no company can afford to be without a digital presence these days. Due to this, digital marketing has gained unprecedented importance as more and more people use smartphones to obtain news, find information, and chat with friends. There is, however, constant change in digital marketing. As such, new customer-attracting ads might not be as effective from one quarter to the next. Consequently, in order to gain new customers, the marketing team should continue to be creative and adapt to the latest marketing trends.
Characteristics of a talented CMO include:
- Serious creativity
- An understanding of the business
- Analytical abilities
Here’s more on each of these CMO characteristics.
Creativity is the key to success.
There is a need for marketing executives to be creative in their approach. When CMOs and other marketing leaders do not have strategies in place to attract new customers, they run the risk of having their company lose revenue to other businesses that are more proactive in attracting new customers. Lack of strategy and organization can be very detrimental to the company’s bottom line.
A key aspect of being successful as a CMO is keeping a close eye on the changes in the advertising environment. The company will want to hire people knowledgeable about the latest marketing and advertising techniques and who can work with them in hiring their marketing team.
Understanding the business environment
CMOs should possess a solid understanding of the business as one of their key characteristics. They need to understand each product and service offered by the company and how each can benefit potential clients. Without knowing what their company sells, a CMO will not be able to attract new customers.
Hiring a CMO with experience working in a company with a similar product or service to your own is advisable. In addition, they can gain a deeper understanding of the products or services based on their experience.
Providing CMOs and their teams with the necessary training is vital if the company is highly technical. It will enable them to explain effectively how products and services work and answer questions from potential customers.
Analytical abilities
Despite its association with accounting and finance, marketing also relies on analysis. An experienced CMO or CRO will have processes in place to monitor the performance of a new marketing strategy as soon as it is implemented.
CMOS should delegate the task of analyzing performance to knowledgeable team members, even though it may take a few weeks to determine whether a new strategy is successful.
New advertising mediums are not the only subject of the analysis. The CMO should monitor customer satisfaction levels to ensure client retention and satisfaction. It is the responsibility of the CMO to determine why customers are leaving and share that information with relevant colleagues if the CMO observes that customers are going.
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