Top 4 Concerns Keeping Your CMO Awake At Night

No, we didn’t have a night cap with your CMO.

Recently, Korn/Ferry International, the world’s largest executive search firm released the findings of their inaugural Marketing Pulse Survey that polled 124 CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) and marketing leaders from their database of top U.S. companies.

The focus of the Korn/Ferry survey was to uncover the top concerns of CMOs that worry them even when they are out of the office. From the final results of the study, there is no question that keeping up with the latest innovations and advances in the field have taken a toll on today’s CMOs and marketing leaders.

Here are the top four concerns keeping CMOs at night:

Customer Engagement (52%)

Yes, the majority of CMOs and marketing leaders are up at night worrying about customer engagement. In breaking down this broad category, we find out that 30% of CMOs are concerned about establishing long-term and engaging customer relationships while 22% are enthralled in finding new ways to enhance the customer experience.

Another interesting finding related to customer engagement is how CMOs see this responsibility distributed between marketing and sales. According to the survey, 35% believe marketing is solely responsible for creating an engaging customer experience while 31% believe it is a joint effort between marketing and sales.

Staying Ahead And Taking Advantage Of Digital (29%)

It would be interesting to find out how the CMOs surveyed define “digital” since it can indicate how CMOs are comprehending new advances in the field.

What seems to be certain is that CIOs are now transitioning more in marketing departments with some overlap with CMOs and marketing executives. 87% of CMOs and marketing leaders say they expect their company to increase the use of predictive analytics and big data tools which will undoubtedly require a CIO’s expertise.

Acquiring Digitally Savvy Talent (11%)

With marketing departments set to become more technical in roles and responsibilities, there is a major concern in dealing with “specialists versus generalists.” When CMOs were asked how they plan on transitioning employees and new talent within marketing, 74% say they plan to give employees goals beyond their specialization while only 26% say they plan growing employees vertically.

The plan a CMO follows can affect how future talent will be hired and placed within the marketing department. And on the other side, CMOs must become more aware of the demands of different roles as more technical positions require knowledge of specific programming and development areas.

Budgetary Issues (9%)

From balancing the departmental budget to distributing funds, CMOs and the marketing department are no strangers to dealing budgetary contraints.

According to the survey, 85% of CMO currently allocate funds to digital advertising and 69% of CMOs allocate a substantial portion of funds on mobile-only programs.

Source: Korn/Ferry International