Data-Driven CMOs Are Key to Marketing Success

The role of the CMO is rapidly evolving in today’s digital, data-driven market. And if your CMO isn't using data to drive their marketing strategy, you may be missing revenue opportunities.

Steve Olenski of Forbes interviewed Deloitte Digital’s CMO, Alicia Hatch, to get the low-down on the changing responsibilities and increasing importance of the CMO in today’s competitive marketing world.

“For decades, the CMO was the C-suite member evaluated by his/her perceived creativity—a soft skill indicated by an undefinable combination of curiosity and inspiration—and tasked with spearheading initiatives to build brand awareness and shape brand identity,” explains Hatch, “However, as digital continues to transform business models, both B2B and B2C CMOs have to take on a more complex role—one that lies at the intersection of data, technology, creativity and customer service.”

This evolution of the CMO from largely brand marketer to the main driver of business growth has fueled the switch to more data-driven marketing technologies and strategies. Hatch emphasizes the importance for CMOs to be not only “data-informed” during strategy development, but also “data-driven” during optimization in order to respond to changing consumer behavior and ensure the long-term success of marketing campaigns.

Ultimately, Hatch states that “CMOs of the future will be highly data-driven, very tech-savvy, and will speak the language of business. These are the CMOs who will lead customer-centric businesses, and be next in line to be the CEO.”

Check out the full interview on Forbes for more details on how data-driven CMOs are integral to a successful modern marketing strategy and business growth.