What is a CMO (chief marketing officer)?
A chief marketing officer (CMO) is a C-suite executive involved in the creation, communication, and delivery of the organization’s offerings that carry value to their customers and business partners. A CMO is an expert who has strong expertise in broad marketing aspects. This executive is responsible for developing a fully-fledged marketing strategy that coheres with the customers’ needs and pains. By implementing it, a CMO boosts conversions & sales, customer loyalty, and brand awareness.
What does a chief marketing officer do?
The CMO position title speaks for itself: “chief” implies leadership, “marketing” is marketing, and “officer” suggests a direction.
A CMO plays a key role in an organization and is on the second authority rank, reporting directly to the chief executive officer (CEO).
The marketing guru should be a competent expert in all marketing aspects to be able to launch and manage successful business transformations. In particular, a CMO:
- Designs efficient marketing campaigns and brings them to life
- Supervises market research and analyzes essential metrics
- Manages PR & public-facing communications
- Closely interacts with other C-level executives
- Drives changes in business by integrating new tools and processes, etc.
All the expert marketing activities of a CMO are directed toward driving more revenue for the company. Their spectrum may vary based on the industry, brand recognition, business size and needs, etc.
How to Find a Chief Marketing Officer
Since a CMO is going to be one of the key figures in your company, finding the right candidate is crucial. However, it is
rather difficult to find an expert who’ll be equally masterful in customer acquisition & retention, product &
business development, brand image creation, and all the other aspects CMOs are usually involved in.
So, the first essential tip is: look for the one who’s an expert in the spheres that are key to you and who’s able to manage
other specialists with strong expertise in the rest of the aspects. However, mind that the expert skills of your prospective
CMO are not limited to marketing automation only, or data analytics purely, for instance.
The next step is to study the experience of the CMO candidate. Pay attention to which industry they’ve been into. Try to
get expert recommendations from their previous workplace. Assess their leadership skills and the ability to adapt to
changing circumstances. Plus, mind if this CMO will fit into your corporate culture.
Stage 3. Ask an expert questions related to their style of working: how they are going to implement new strategies, what
tools and techniques they will use, and what sources they need. In short, ask everything you find essential to know before
starting cooperation with the expert.
That’s it! After collecting these necessary details about the candidate, you will be able to determine whether he/she is the right CMO for your company. Good luck in your search!
