Post by account_disabled on Oct 25, 2023 10:13:25 GMT 5.5
Today’s chief marketing officers are tasked with leading their teams and organizations through daunting levels of change and transformation. Their role is becoming increasingly pivotal to business success and growth, introducing a heightened set of stressors and pressures.There’s a reason the old “CMO narrative” continues to hold sway – it’s a demanding job, now as much as ever.But this is also a time of momentous opportunity and innovation for marketing leadership. Trailblazing CMOs are leaning into the digital revolution, building key cross-functional alliances, and positioning their organizations for long-term success in a tech-driven environment.A review of recent research and studies reveals several illuminating insights about the state of the CMO role today and where marketing leaders are setting their sights strategically.The latest CMO Tenure Study from Stuart Spencer shows that the enduring narrative around low CMO tenures has some validity – though not necessarily a ton. This analysis of Fortune 500 CMOs found an average tenure of 4.2 years in 2022, down slightly from 4.5 years in 2021.
As this chart from Stuart Spencer shows Phone Number List CMOs in general are experiencing shorter tenures than many peers in the C-suite, such as the CEO, CFO, and CIO, but not by a particularly significant degree. As the authors noted, “despite the conventional wisdom that [the] CMO role turns over more often than other C-suite positions, the average tenure of Fortune 500 CMOs is only two months shorter than the C-suite average.”Furthermore,” they explained, “shorter tenure should not necessarily be conflated with poor performance. In fact, it often is a sign of success and elevation to other roles.” These include CMO positions at larger companies and general management roles.Building diverse leadership in the marketing department has been a critical focus in recent years, and the industry continues to make encouraging progress. The CMO Tenure Study found that nearly half of all Fortune 500 CMOs (47%) are women, and that 14% were from historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. These figures were up from 44% and 12% the previous year.
There were even more CMOs who were women (53%) or from underrepresented groups (18%) in the advertising industry.nother way today’s CMOs are dually investing in the success of their companies and their own careers is by developing the skills they’ll need to stay ahead in an evolving professional landscape.
Unsurprisingly, there’s been a big emphasis on growing technical skills in order to best leverage new tools and manage a digitally-driven customer experience. According to the “State of the CMO” survey from CMSwire, three out of four marketing leaders say they've had to increase their technical competencies significantly (29%) or moderately (47%) in the past three years. These competencies include:More broadly, marketing leaders are sharpening their skills to become more well rounded and better suited for the modern priorities of the job. Interestingly, “creative thinking” was listed as the third-most common skill being developed, behind executive leadership and measurement.
As this chart from Stuart Spencer shows Phone Number List CMOs in general are experiencing shorter tenures than many peers in the C-suite, such as the CEO, CFO, and CIO, but not by a particularly significant degree. As the authors noted, “despite the conventional wisdom that [the] CMO role turns over more often than other C-suite positions, the average tenure of Fortune 500 CMOs is only two months shorter than the C-suite average.”Furthermore,” they explained, “shorter tenure should not necessarily be conflated with poor performance. In fact, it often is a sign of success and elevation to other roles.” These include CMO positions at larger companies and general management roles.Building diverse leadership in the marketing department has been a critical focus in recent years, and the industry continues to make encouraging progress. The CMO Tenure Study found that nearly half of all Fortune 500 CMOs (47%) are women, and that 14% were from historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. These figures were up from 44% and 12% the previous year.
There were even more CMOs who were women (53%) or from underrepresented groups (18%) in the advertising industry.nother way today’s CMOs are dually investing in the success of their companies and their own careers is by developing the skills they’ll need to stay ahead in an evolving professional landscape.
Unsurprisingly, there’s been a big emphasis on growing technical skills in order to best leverage new tools and manage a digitally-driven customer experience. According to the “State of the CMO” survey from CMSwire, three out of four marketing leaders say they've had to increase their technical competencies significantly (29%) or moderately (47%) in the past three years. These competencies include:More broadly, marketing leaders are sharpening their skills to become more well rounded and better suited for the modern priorities of the job. Interestingly, “creative thinking” was listed as the third-most common skill being developed, behind executive leadership and measurement.