The Evolving Role of the CMO

I don’t need to lecture you on the changes that have taken place in the way we market since the start of the economic downturn. No, you have studied, talked about and pondered those changes at nauseam. You get that your options have changed. (And hopefully you know we would love to assist you in figuring out which options will best help you reach your goals.)

Times are A’changing

What I do want to talk about is how the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Marketing Manager, Coordinator and Associate has changed. Previously, in plentiful times the objectives for marketing included producing qualified leads for acquisition, communicating with the current customer for retention and establishing and maintaining brand recognition among the masses. Delivery fell on the shoulders of operations, while sales was responsible for the hard numbers. If marketing was producing the leads, their job was done. Well, I hate to break it to you, but those days are gone.

The Future is Now

As a marketer in today’s new world, you need to be a businessperson first and a marketer second. Understanding and working in the business from an operations and financial side is imperative for the survival and success of any marketing plan. While “soft” metrics like brand awareness are just as important as they have ever been, they don’t carry the clout in the board room that profitability and ROI metrics do. Marketers are working alongside operations to respond timely to consumer feedback, all the while, following the sales pipeline further than ever before.

The Value of Marketing

These changes can be a real positive within a company and your career. Yes, marketing is now even more accountable for the overall performance of your company. But with accountability also comes the opportunity to prove the value marketing brings to the table. Not to mention, the walls that are being broken down between departments.

So I leave you with this to think about — How has the role of marketing within your four walls changed? Have you and your team adjusted accordingly?

This post was originally published on Deep Ad Thoughts by The Cyphers Agency.

What you see is what you get

I classify myself as a intermediate newbie when it comes to Social Media as a means of marketing. Every time I feel like I've had a break through with this new means of marketing, I find something else that completely knocks me back a few paces. I am not alone though. This marketing with social media is so new, it is changing faster than the technology industry is. Yeah there are people out there that claim to be "experts" and they are peddling "expert advice" for a charge. I'm calling bullshit on these people.


Yeah there are people who may be more advanced in their knowledge of Social Media. But if anyone claims to be a "expert" turn and run! This medium is just too new for anyone to be that educated on it. It is changing daily and over confidence in this arena can be costly. Take for instance this story that, my colleague shared with me yesterday. James Andrews from Ketchum was on his way to FedEx to talk with the corporate communications folks about social media. Needless to say this expert blew it, before he even got there.

I am currently working on launching a systematic social media initiatives for the agency I work for. Our social media initiatives have been very organic in nature in the past. However, I am seeing more and more clients paying attention to what we are doing. I've even noticed a influx of professional relationships who are not only becoming friends of Renegade's Fan Page on facebook but are also friending me directly. This new dynamic that is developing in which my personal friends are being mixed in with my professional contacts, got me thinking...should I sensor?

No, I shouldn't! What you see is what you get. As I read today in my Get To The Point Brief "In all of our excitement over social-media tools—and how they work for us—we shouldn't forget what Twitter and Facebook mean..."

LG