Analytics and the CMO
February 6th, 2008 by Nan DawkinsA recent article in Investor’s Business Daily opened with the following: “Warning: If you’re seeking job security, don’t think about becoming a chief marketing officer.”
I would revise that warning slightly: If you are interviewing for the CMO job, take a hard look at two things before you accept:
1.) What is the organization’s analytics infrastructure? You can’t consistently score home runs without good data. Unfortunately, while the demands for CMO performance are increasing, investment in the analytics that are necessary to create high ROI marketing programs often just isn’t there. The CEO wants to know why marketing isn’t thinking outside the box, experimenting with the latest and greatest new channel or tactic. Meanwhile, marketing can’t even get budget approval for upgrading their Web Analytics tool to a current version. It’s a train wreck for a CMO.
2.) Is there a “culture of analytics” within the organization? Even when the tools are there, data often gets ignored (turf wars over budget and power, etc.) or someone at the top is too impatient to wait for it. (As the article rightly notes “The Street, CEOs, boards need short term wins…). In other words, intent is different from action; deciding is not the same as doing. CMO candidates would do well to ask a lot of “why” questions about an organization’s current marketing program and results before accepting the job.
It is such an exciting time in the world of marketing and communications. I’m shocked by the amount, quality and sources of data available to drive good marketing decisions (not to mention all the new channels and tactics to choose from). What is perhaps more shocking is how hard it is sometimes to drive adoption (real adoption) of the tools available.
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I especially like what you said about a “culture of analytics”. I think this the hardest thing for marketing executives to deal with. It is just not very fun to actually prove that your marketing dollars are working! Further, they never really had to until recently, so most organizations just don’t have the infrastructure in place to close the loop on marketing efforts. Nicely done!