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Your organization could be seeing a new C Suite member soon – Chief Marketing Technology Officer. Titles such as VP or Director of Digital Marketing, and Digital Marketing Manager are not uncommon these days – and not just in technology related fields.
The classic alphabet soup of the business hierarchy has consisted of the CEO, COO, CFO, CMO and CTO, Chief Technology Officer, with organizations seeing the need. The C Suite can differ from organization to organization but the first four are staples in most businesses.
Is it possible that your new CMO will need a technical background?
- The CMTO’s Role
- What does a CMTO Look Like?
- CMO v.s. CMTO
- Added Benefits
Also See: The Top Resources for Marketing Training
The CMTO’s Role
It’s hard to ignore the growth of marketing and digital technologies. New technologies are allowing for better measurements on marketing strategies. Marketing departments are expected to outspend IT in 2017 on new technologies – if some aren’t already. This has created a merging of marketing and the IT departments, leaving many organizations confused as to who’s responsible for implementing and keeping up with marketing data. That’s where the CMTO steps in.
The CMTO, like a traditional CMO, is responsible for marketing strategies, the organization’s message, brand image, and many other aspects of marketing. The only real difference is the CMTO is thinking about all of those things in terms of digital strategy instead of through traditional media, like print.
If you think your CIO or IT department should be able to leverage all your digital and marketing technology needs – you’re wrong. Truth is, unless the CIO or IT department takes a special interest in marketing they don’t care about data on customers or running nurture campaigns through CRM. It’s irrelevant to them because they have other things to worry about, like ensuring technologies are running properly or routine maintenance on those technologies.
What does a CMTO Look Like?
A CMTO has the creativity of a marketer with the ability to understand and interpret data, and a passion for learning how technologies can benefit marketing strategies. Truly great CMTOs can visually conceive how the digital marketing landscape aids in their strategy. They also know it is important to leverage and understand technologies already in place before pursuing new ones -knowing when to not chase the new shiny digital marketing tool.
They can make inferences based on data, keep up with trends, and experiment with their strategy. CMTOs must also be flexible in their digital marketing strategy with the landscape changing constantly. According to a Forbes article, “71% of emerging market CMOs say they would take on the digital transformation of their businesses versus 42% of their counterparts in mature markets. The following graphic compares methods CMOs consider for attaining their strategic marketing objectives over a two year time horizon”.
CMO vs. CMTO
According to Gartner for Marketing Leaders, in 2013 70% of organizations currently had a CMT (Chief Marketing Technologist). If your organization is in desperate need of a CMTO but already have an awesome CMO, there’s no need to look for a new hire; just invest in your CMO, and turn them into a great CMTO!
Professionals are willing to learn if they are given the opportunity. Send senior marketing staff, like your CMO or VP of Marketing, to symposiums and training. Allow them to take online courses or programs. It’s well worth the cost and time.
Another option would be to hire a Digital Marketing Manager, someone who has the skills and experience and reports to the CMO. If someone in your organization has shown interest in digital marketing empower them with the necessary knowledge to impart on your organization, promoting from within. This may also mean sending them to training or paying for courses.
Added Benefits
CMTOs add value to an organization. They do this by giving guidance to the marketing department on digital strategy and being cost efficient since many organizations outsource digital marketing capabilities for lack of know how. Many of the goals that markers have for their organization line up with digital strategies, therefore it would be in the organization’s best interest to invest in a CMTO.
Much of the information that organizations have on customers is due to digital marketing efforts such as email marketing and website views.The graph below is from Accenture and shows the results of surveys completed by CMO’s on their thoughts and expectations of digital marketing this year. One important factor is the 37% of CMOs who believed digital marketing would account for 75% of their budgets.
Why is this important? Someone has to have the capability to leverage that technology and know which are right for their organization. Your organization can’t afford to be reliant on your CIO or IT department. You need someone who’s willing to dive into learning marketing technologies.
Don’t be surprised to find more and more of your professional peers working in marketing fields with words like digital or technology in their titles.
Also see: Marketers, Beware: Don’t Chase the Shiny Object
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