The role of marketing continues to expand and so too does the role of the CMO. Previously, marketers were often siloed within their organization, but the recent workplace changes have driven marketers outside of their silos and enabled them to effect business-wide change, championing customer engagement and retention. CMOs comprehensively influence customer acquisition, retention and revenue generation for a business, all while championing the next level of marketing professionals. And there is a certain skill set that’s required to achieve success at all levels.
In my experience, all successful marketers have these three traits in common: an unrelenting sense of positive curiosity, mental elasticity, and an urgency to adapt to new technologies.
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Positive curiosity
CMOs need to be constantly curious about uncovering new opportunities as the world is continuously changing. They should always be asking themselves, “How can I better serve my customers? How can I better take care of my marketing team?” Looking at what kinds of positive impact can they create both internally and externally.
A good marketer will be endlessly curious about how customer behaviors are changing, understanding what motivates new preferences and demands. They will also anticipate how shifts in customer sentiment open up new market segments and opportunities. Today, delivering an optimal customer experience is a real competitive differentiator for companies, especially as customer expectations continue to soar. The best marketers listen to the space in between what customers tell them through vast amounts of data generated in every interaction. From that data, you need to find the white space in order to stay in front of the market, find new ways to add value to the customer and anticipate what customers want, before they even realize they want it.
Mental elasticity
This pandemic has taught us that the market can change in an instant, and the ability to adapt to that change has never been more important. Thanks to technology, there’s also a wealth of data available to marketers about customer preferences and buying behaviors. This wealth of knowledge is often sitting right at marketing teams’ fingertips. Successful marketing leaders are agile and quick to view their organizations – and their marketing audience – from all sides, meaning they’re able to understand their big picture strategy, what’s going on at the ground level and what is happening in between so they can affect change quickly and with precision.
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Adapting new tech
Lastly, successful marketers are usually on the leading edge of technology. For example, while it’s natural to be cautious of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – how can you trust that algorithms are giving you the right insights to be able to make the right decision? The reality is that marketers who are not looking at how AI can support their marketing efforts to drive faster, more profitable growth are doing their organization and their customers a disservice. AI can help refine customer experience more quickly than previously thought. Marketers must set aside budget, time and resources to figure out how best to take advantage of emerging technologies like AI, to make sense of the wealth of customer data available now, in order to stay ahead of the competition.
It’s an exciting time to be a CMO, and with these three traits together: positive curiosity, mental elasticity, and an urgency to adapt to new technologies, their value to a business is obvious. CMOs and marketing leaders are the gatekeepers and facilitators for creating a customer base that is happy, with a high renewal rate, wherein customers become proactive advocates for the business. CMOs are also the key to creating a positive work environment, fostering talent and progressing the future of the industry. Without the relationships, data, and propensity to drive engagement and change, businesses’ ability to delight customers, secure revenue and retain talent, would most certainly be at risk
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