Operations and revenue strategy. Add those skills to the laundry list.

As the roles and responsibilities of the B2B marketing organization evolve, so too do those of their chief officer. Marketing organizations are being given increased responsibility over revenue and marketing operations. These new demands require an updated skill set from marketing leadership.

As marketing budgets continue to rise—up to 12% of revenue, according to Gartner—the scope of the CMO and marketing organization’s role continues to expand. The CMO, more than ever before, is expected to move beyond traditional responsibilities and optimize marketing’s contribution to overall business revenue and goals.

With these new demands comes increased influence in the C-Suite, but also more scrutiny from the CEO and board of directors.

Among their varied responsibilities, CMOs are being asked to optimize sales and marketing alignment, quantify the impact of high-level messaging and branding, report on pipeline performance, supply sales with educational content, and manage full-funnel marketing teams, which extend beyond acquisition to include product marketing—retention, upselling, customer happiness, even user experience.

To accomplish these goals, CMOs will need to spend time and money in 2017 to educate themselves and their teams. Those CMOs who are able to make the shift will see success, while those that aren’t will fall by the wayside: according to Forrester, CEOs will fire at least 30% of CMOs in 2017 for not mustering the blended skill set they need personally to pull off digital business transformation, design exceptional personalized experiences, and propel growth.

64% of CMOs have an no formal process for managing marketing automation. [Thought Process Enterprises]

For “The New CMO,” the scope of the role is rapidly expanding beyond brand vision, people management, creative development, market research, advertising, agency management, and being the voice of the customer in the organization.

The baseline has shifted.

The modern CMO now leads a full-funnel marketing team, responsible for driving not just acquisition, but customer success. In many B2B companies, product marketing, retention, upselling, customer happiness, and even user experience now fall under the CMO’s purview.

68% of B2B organizations have not identified their funnel. [MarketingSherpa]

Technological savviness in 2017 isn’t about digital channels, social media, or interactive experiences. It’s about wrenching accurate and actionable insights from an often unwieldy and complex technology stack. It’s about having the confidence and capability to go beyond steering “marketing strategy” and towards steering “business strategy.”

Aligned companies earned 208% more revenue via marketing. [Marketing Profs]

The technology landscape is evolving so quickly that many senior marketers have never touched key tools in their stack—especially when it comes to analytics and reporting. Having a rich understanding of the character and capabilities, the nuance and nature, of new technology is critical for today’s CMO.

The New CMO doesn’t have to get their hands dirty, necessarily, but they need to be able to work a pivot table, and work it well. He or she cannot command a siloed department, but must be a unifying voice on the executive team.

Finally, the new CMO must savvily handle data—and lots of it.

For more on this topic, check out the 2017 Trends & Tech Guide for B2B Sales & Marketing, a free guide by Prezi, Ambition, and LeadGenius.

--

William Wickey leads Content and Media Strategy at LeadGenius. William specializes in growth strategy, crisis communications, and lean marketing. Connect with William on Twitter.