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Marketing Executives Are Going Extinct, and Here’s Why

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Traditional Marketing Executives Are Dropping Like Flies

I recently read an article that marketing executives are getting a new role – the Chief Growth Officer. It means the average marketing executive job description has changed, and there are plenty of references to back that up. Sure it’s been mentioned over the years, but now CMOs and marketing leaders are being held just as accountable for revenue growth as sales teams.
Forbes has gone over this evolution, stating the CMOs that have a “traditional” approach, are already being left behind. In fact, marketing leaders hold one of the highest position turnover rates in both corporate and startup companies. Why is that?
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The Role of the CFO’s is Changing: What CMO’s Need to Know

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The role of the CFO is to maximize stakeholder value and marketing data is the best place to start.

Chief Financial Officers (CFO’s) are looking to maximize the company’s profits, and one fertile area is marketing data. Salespeople Only spent One-Third of Their Time Selling Last Year – What?

The CFO has noticed and is concerned with the sales and marketing teams From field sales reps to operations to sales leaders to marketing managers, everyone is on the hook for revenue growth and flawless execution.

So what’s driving these trends to move toward a new modern sales methodology?

33% of a rep’s time is actually selling

  • Are you getting enough qualified leads to reach sales projections?
  • Are you struggling to close the gap between your forecast and sales reality?
  • Can you find active buyers vs. passive buyers?
  • Is it possible to know what customers need before they do?

In a world where 77% of B2B purchasers said they would not even talk to a salesperson until they have done their own research what should a CFO do?

According to the study, 31% of reps’ time is spent searching for or creating content, and 20% on reporting, administrative, and CRM-related tasks. Only one-third of their day is spent selling.

See the infographic in the sidebar, it summarizes the research and covers how much money companies typically spend per sales rep. to improve productivity, and what department (if any) owns productivity initiatives.

It is no wonder that with such low sales productivity than 79% of companies’ top priority is to improve the productivity of existing sales representatives to achieve sales targets. Sales productivity is a pretty broad objective. Let’s drill in, to break the problem apart, as identified by this research, and identify possible solutions.

 A Letter to the CMO of a Software Firm from the CFO

Dear CMO,

I’m writing you this letter to be sure we are all on the same page. Our firms, as you know, operate within the very competitive software industry, then you know how much things have changed in the past five years, two years, six months and how much more things will change. The marketplace dynamics are:

  • SaaS adoption is rising tremendously as the businesses are continuously looking forward to the third-parties for managing their software applications.
  • Making better management decisions as business algorithms crunch big data.
  • Enabling new business or operating models, such as peer-to-peer product innovation and upstart disruptors.

My concerns regarding sales and marketing are:

  • Our sales and marketing expense is just too high for the revenue we’re generating; I know we can’t cut our way to revenue growth, but we’ve got to improve the return-on-investment (ROI) before spending any more.
  • We need to increase our revenue per employee, and particularly our revenue per salesperson.
  • We need more sales and marketing productivity (read more).

As the CMO of our company, you are closer to the terms and meaning of brand awareness, followers, etc.  Together we need to discuss the financial advantages of our marketing initiatives and developing a concrete road-map towards efficiencies and profitability.

As the CFO of this software company, it’s my job to safeguard the company’s future. I’m focused on watching the money and helping the company maximize shareholder wealth.

I don’t understand marketing terms such as brand awareness, impressions, or followers. The moment you use those terms, you’ll put me on edge because I can’t figure out how to attribute those terms to how profits, revenue, and growth are generated. Do you see where I’m coming from?

I’d like your thoughts over lunch this Wednesday at 1:00 pm? My treat.

Cordially,

CFO, Tech Company

Final Takeaways for Role of the CFO

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Get to know each other. CMOs (Chief Marketing Officer) and CFOs (Chief Finance Officer) may have more than a language barrier but distance as well. The CFO and CMO may be floors, buildings or even cities apart.

Take time to meet for morning coffee, scheduled lunches, even grab a drink after work. Personal relationships matter when organizational challenges occur.

When I worked together with the CFO, we often met briefly in the mornings we talked about business, but our personal lives too. We found that we shared a passion for finance, the stock market, innovation, business, and marketing.

Talk in financial terms. In the traditional financial sense, an asset is a building or machine. In inbound marketing, the content you create is an asset, just like the blog post, landing pages, and the workflows you create to go with them.

Inbound marketing methodology creates assets that have a compounding effect because they continue to generate value (leads) over time without additional investment.

Inbound marketing has a compounding return. Compound interest is interest added to the principal of a deposit (or loan or credit card) so that the added interest also earns interest from then on.

The compound interest effect is a powerful concept you can use to describe the long-term benefits of a successful marketing plan.

  • Explain marketing concepts using the financial language your CFO understands.
  • Talk about high-level strategies and marketing attributes not marketing tactics. (The most successful CMOs recommend no tactical details or your CFO may challenge them.)
  • Understand and be comfortable discussing the high-level goals and metrics you should share: e.g. LTV, CAC, MQLs/month, SQLs/month, and ROI.

Agree on the dashboard. I’ve said over and over again, If all we have is opinions, then my opinion is the only one that counts. If someone has data, let’s look at that. Eliminate the possibility of an opinion meeting by determining metrics upfront.

  • What’s getting measured?
  • How often?
  • Can you track results in real-time?
  • Who reports (and records) results, and when?

The CFO and CMO should work together to define key performance indicators (KPIs) that contribute to the organization’s strategic objectives.

CFO’s need to be mindful to include both hard financial measures and softer, non-financial measures to assess factors such as brand equity.

Understand both sides of risk. Startup disruptors are defeating the slow-moving challengers. Look at Airbnb or Uber. Startups are willing to take more risks.

CMOs and CFOs should think broadly and creatively, not only about the risks of marketing activities but also the risk of not acting.

The role of the CFOs are familiar with a variety of risk assessment tools since the board of directors is pressuring businesses to assess risks better.

With their help, CMOs should perform a risk analysis of marketing strategies and become comfortable with the appropriate analysis tools.

While CMOs are often not as adept at assessing risk, CFOs are often not as comfortable at assessing the risk of not acting. By collaborating on both sides of risk, it is more likely that the organization can make a more effective decision.

Wrap up on Role of the CFO

The role of the CFO’s is changing. Today, the role of the CFO has become more strategic and growth-oriented, as opposed to being a sole accounting perspective.

In the finance function, I have seen it become more integrated into the sales and marketing side of the business. With help from the CMO, Finance needs to be more engaged in strategic planning and market orientation than ever before.

We’re listening.

Have something to say about the role of the CFO? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Let me know what you think and don’t forget to share!

7 Ways Outsourced Marketing Can Elevate Marketing Leaders

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Outsourced marketing is being used by more and more small businesses.

They are using outsourced marketing services because of the shortage of digital marketing talent.

Think about it. If there is a lack of talent, who creating digital marketing strategies?

As a marketer, you are always trying to execute new and innovative ideas that will help a business grow.

And with so many moving parts in each successful marketing campaign, it’s no surprise that marketing leaders often reach out for extra help.

Did you know despite the challenges of finding digital-savvy agency partners, business is outsourcing at record rates?

According to Accenture’s “Turbulence for the CMO” report, CMOs are turning to a large mix of agency partners and marketing service providers, outsourcing “between 45 percent and 75 percent of marketing activities.”

You want a marketing agency that has superior knowledge and expertise in high-demand areas like SEP, SEM, social, content marketing, and technology.

Do you think your local traditional marketing firm can handle your digital marketing and get you where you want to go? Before, you engage to have them show you what they do to market their firm.

Outsourcing Marketing Service can help you plug the gaps in your digital marketing strategy and scale quicker than building it all in-house.

Here are the top seven ways outsourced marketing can boost the effectiveness of marketing leaders.

1. Increases Morale

A marketing team is typically composed of a wide variety of people who specialize in certain areas. However, many companies have to ask their team members to wear several different hats instead of allowing them to focus on their core strengths.

Outsourced marketing can lead to your team being more productive and less stressed at work because they can focus on doing what they are good at. Learn how to reduce stress in the workplace.

2. Decreases Costs

You might have convinced yourself that paying for outsourced marketing, on top of your payroll expenses, will result in additional costs. But if you hire the right professionals, outsourcing can actually decrease costs while also increasing effectiveness it’s a win-win.

A company can see a 25 – 45% cost savings are immediate.

It’s crucial to build a team with a focused set of skills and you can outsource the rest. Whether you need content creation, more in-depth metrics or access to better technology, you can reduce the expenses of full-time staff while also working with and networking with other leaders in the industry.

3. Helps Grow Revenue

The revenue buck always stops with the marketing team. Increases in revenue are simply expected of you. Don’t let slow sale cycles and marketing plateaus stand in your way. In a real-world example, a company can see a 15 – 25% revenue improvement in the first year.

Reach out to marketing agencies that are experts in how to generate leads and make conversions. Find a team that will leverage the strengths of your team members so you become more efficient and more effective.

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The legalities involved with marketing have become extremely complex in recent years. Outsourced marketing allows you to spread out the responsibility and share your legal risk with other agencies.

Just make sure that each written agreement outlines the legal issues that are important to your company. And, always keep the lines of communication open so nothing falls through the cracks when outsourcing your work.

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5. Creates a Scalable Process

If you’re having trouble scaling your marketing plan, outsourced marketing offers a solution.

Data from our SurePayroll small business customers shows the percentage of their employees who are independent contractors has grown 85 percent from May 2012 to May 2019, rising from 3.33% to 6.26%.

Scalable marketing plans can mean the difference between success and failure. Let an experienced team of professionals show you the ropes of how to build a business that steadily grows with each step.

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6. Improves Sales Funnels through Outsourced Marketing

An effective sales funnel is perhaps the most important, and sometimes the most elusive, part of marketing. Even if your in-house team has constructed a successful sales funnel, there is always room for improvement.

A fresh set of eyes that can pick up any details missed by your team, while also offering fresh ideas, can add substantial value to your company by helping to build a sales funnel that is much more efficient.

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7. Better Ranking in Search Engines

It’s every marketer’s goal to see their content on the first page of search results.

But if you’re not getting the SEO results you had hoped for, reach out to a firm that has a proven track record and is up-to-date with the latest algorithms used by the major search engines.

If you have a great website but no one finds your website, well? How is your website traffic? How are your conversion rates?

You want to see results like this. There are no tricks to doing this. Most small businesses are leveraging outsourced marketing

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Matrix Marketing Group
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Matrix Marketing Group
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The Bottom Line about Outsourced Marketing

As a marketing leader, it’s your job to ensure the growth of any business that you collaborate with. Marketing services like outsourced digital marketing can occur from anywhere in the world. No longer are marketing agencies and clients tied down in the same region.

We recently launched a startup in Switzerland and never met the people in person.

So, it is extremely important to identify any weaknesses in your process and consider outsourcing the tasks that aren’t producing optimal results.

In today’s unpredictable economy, companies are trying to find new and innovative ways to keep the marketing momentum going and growing, while dealing with budget cutbacks and dramatic fluctuations in the market.

Smart companies know that they can’t stop their marketing activities especially if they plan on establishing long-term value in their business.

So, where do they turn when marketing is necessary, but resources, expertise, focus, and funds are scarce? They find the answer to marketing outsourcing.

We’re listening.

Have something to say about your thoughts about outsourced marketing?

Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

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General FAQ’s

What is outsourced marketing?

Outsourced marketing is a concept that is not new. With the lack of digital talent, small businesses are hiring a digital marketing agency to fill the talent gaps.


Why use outsourced marketing?

Outsourcing marketing endeavors allows employees to work more productively without being sidetracked by?marketing tasks.


How much does outsourcing marketing service cost?

Creating a comprehensive digital marketing strategy for social media, content, email, paid search, SEO, and outsourcing all work costs anywhere from $5,000 – $30,000 per month. A cost for a director of marketing can cost up to $175,000 burdened.


Should you outsource your marketing?

If you’re a company that has primarily been doing traditional marketing and wants to move your activities to digital, you should consider outsourcing your marketing to a digital marketing agency. Before you even consider hiring a digital agency to help with your marketing strategies, you need to know your company goals.

The Chief Marketing Officer Role in Marketing Technology

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It’s critical the chief marketing officer role requires an understanding of technology.

The Chief Marketing Officer role is becoming more involved with marketing technology selection, implementation, and use.

Marketing is becoming one of the most technology-dependent functions in business. Today, a company’s chief marketing officer would be spending more on technology than its chief information officer. That oft-quoted claim seems more credible every day.

Today, technology plays an integral role in nearly every business’s marketing strategy. Without embracing it and optimizing its application, a business risks its ability to effectively compete as well as its connection to a customer base.

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), therefore, plays a major role in the selection and purchase of marketing technology. You need marketing technology if you want to:

  • Test your marketing programs
  • Scale marketing campaigns and reduce customer acquisition cost
  • Track, monitor, and adjust marketing programs

Don’t think you need marketing technology. Try doing it manually. Good luck.

As a CMO, you are in a unique position to best define what technological tools will be needed to better connect with customers and drive growth.

This is because of the intricate knowledge you have about your customers and the relationship they have with your product or business.

This is in addition to the insights that you have regarding future growth plans and the goals of your business.

To be successful with this, you need to analyze key avenues where technology is vital to growth and competition through the lens of your business’s needs.

The Chief Marketing Officer Role is to Gather Information on the Target Market

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Never before has so much information on the customer been instantly available, and information on how to better interact with the customer is key to marketing. Using measurement and analytics, from social media metrics to KPIs to CRM it has never been easier to track customer interaction.

Marketing technologies like IBM’s Watson, Keap, HubSpot, among others.

They can be tracked from the web the moment when they first discover and search for your product or service. They can gather information and build a relationship with a brand. And when they close the loop and buy a product the sales are complete.

Social log-ins are easy and provide the vendor with useful information.

Social media provides information on age, gender, location and more, giving marketing even more information on their key demographic.

Beyond raw information gathering though, technology has the ability to organize this data into patterns that can reveal opportunities for a business to improve itself drastically.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to show promise for chief marketing officers.

The Chief Marketing Officer – Reaching Niche Markets

With technological growth, more channels are available for businesses to reach out to their customers, be seen and build a brand. With careful research, you can:

  • Tap into new niche markets
  • Target your desired demographic
  • Improve conversion rates
  • Build a fan base
  • Create lifelong customers

To do this, an understanding of the current customer base, built through analytics needs to merge with a knowledge of which channels to invest time and money into.

As CMO, you will design this research to understand where future marketing for the business is headed, and which channels are used, in order to build customer-facing technology solutions.

Keeping Brand Established and Networks Synchronized

As the marketing network of your business becomes more niched and spread out, it cannot become fragmented or lose brand identity. It can take a huge amount of time and resources to keep moving forward coherently on a great variety of marketing fronts.

Technology needs to play a role to keep everything organized, updated, and synchronized with the business’s overall message.

As CMO, your relationship with the brand and customers will play a major role in selecting what marketing operations technologies are best suited for managing buyer interactions and buyer intent.

Customer Experience and the Chief Marketing Officer Role

With the world surging forward with new online trends and devices, it’s important to keep up and provide the customer with an experience that is suited to the times.

Businesses are losing opportunities and eroding their reputations by using outdated websites or technologies that are not device-compatible. You need to be aware of how your customers’ experiences should go, and match those expectations with the right enabling technologies.

Increasing Lead Conversion and Marketing ROI

All of the work and investment to better connect with customers and identify technologies and channels is all an effort in the overall goal of increasing long-term ROI. The technologies selected, whatever their cost, must provide more value in the long-term in order to be successful.

While this always involves some risk, the CMO should be able to select the investments with the greatest possibility, based on a business plan.

When applied well, technology can enable a business to grow in ways that could never have even been imagined without the help of modern tech.

Looking Toward the Future of Marketing Technology and the Chief Marketing Officer Role

Making an investment in marketing technology is not a task to take lightly. With a huge range of technological solutions available, careful research and planning must be done to ensure that money is being spent wisely.

The CMO must take the time to build a map of where the business needs to go in the future. With these specific goals in mind, you can then research which technologies will make that journey easier.

Because you have first laid out a specific plan, you can then view information on each vendor and tech purchase through the lens of whether it is a specific fit.

New skills may need to be developed to fully understand the products that are being reviewed, especially if you are not already very familiar with marketing technology.

This may make the research phase slow and tedious, but this only further highlights its importance.

Careful evaluation during this phase can lead to advantages later on, as the right selections of tech can exponentially boost the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and interactions.

It helps to work with your IT team, especially if you lack experience with technology. However, it is preferable to gain an understanding of technological workings because it will offer you the opportunity to gain an advantage over your competitors.

Putting the Pieces Marketing Technology Together for the Chief Marketing Officer Role

This rise in digital budgets is not merely a migration of spending from traditional to digital media. A growing portion of marketing’s budget is now allocated to marketing technology itself.

A recent Gartner study found that 67% of marketing departments plan to increase their spending on technology-related activities over the next two years.

In addition, 61% are increasing capital expenditures on technology, and 65% are increasing budgets for service providers that have technology-related offerings.

Armed with a base of knowledge and research, you can then evaluate the technology options to see which products fit together like puzzle pieces to help grow your business.

This allows you to create an optimized custom tech solution. A specifically designed system will be more effective than any out-of-the-box generic solution. By investing time and money now, your marketing engine will be running smoothly and picking up speed miles down the road.

At first, glance, selecting the best technology purchases may seem like a task better suited to the IT department. However, as CMO, you hold the key to making the right decisions in this area.

As technology continues to evolve and allow us to better understand and interact with our customers, it becomes the most important marketing tool we have. A CMO who understands this will want to be strategically involved in designing the ideal marketing machine to carry their business forward in its endeavors.

The CMO’s role in technology is vital to a business’s growth. Does your team have the tech skills needed to carry out your vision? If not, there are marketing pros that can help.

Download this free business case on marketing outsourcing, and learn how outside support will help you leverage technology and improve performance.

What do you think? Add your comments below and don’t forget to share!

We’re listening.

Have something to say the chief marketing officer and marketing technology? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Are you not getting the results you had hoped for with your current marketing agency? Let the experts at this digital Denver marketing agency help you generate more web traffic, convert more leads, and close more sales. Our team knows just what it takes to build and maintain a proven marketing strategy that drives high-quality leads. For more information, check out our marketing services or contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs and our services.

General FAQ’s

What is a CMO?

A chief marketing officer (CMO) is a corporate executive responsible for marketing activities in an organization.


What is MARTECH stand for?

MarTech, otherwise known as Marketing Technology, is the word for the software and tech tools marketers use to plan, execute, and measure marketing campaigns.


What is the future of marketing technology?

Marketing technology is making its presence everywhere, as modern markets roll out omnichannel marketing technologies to AI and machine learning. AI is just showing up on the radar of mid-sized businesses and showing promise.

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