What to Look for in a Chief Marketing Officer
After determining when to hire a CMO for your company, you’ve started the search for a new chief marketing officer. But how do you know what to look for in a CMO?
As a purpose based executive search firm, Y Scouts seeks executive candidates who share a company’s reasons for working. A shared purpose is important, but there are many personal attributes you should consider when hiring for your company. To help you know what to look for in a CMO, here are six characteristics a chief marketing officer needs to succeed.
1. Versatility
The best CMO needs to be able to use different online and offline marketing tools in order to execute campaigns. By understanding several ways to spread your company’s message, a chief marketing officer ensures that anyone interested in your company can find whatever information they are looking for – no matter where they look for it.
2. Industry involvement
The world of marketing changes quickly, and it’s important that your CMO keeps track of new innovations in the field. Sometimes new ideas can make your business’ current practices obsolete, and learning new techniques can keep your company on the cutting edge.
If the candidate is heavily involved in the industry – be it through social networks, associations, or continuing education – there is a good chance that her or she will be on top of industry news. An involved CMO can prevent your company from falling behind the times.
3. Creativity
Innovation requires creativity, and innovation is critical in marketing. A chief marketing officer needs to be able to think “out of the box” to create new ideas and drive your company forward. By looking for a CMO with demonstrated creativity, you encourage innovation and set up your company for success.
4. Analytical ability
While creativity is necessary to drive innovation, analytical ability is necessary to ensure ideas can potentially succeed. If a CMO can look at company data and figure out what it means for the business, they can determine which practices need improvement.
Once the chief marketing officer identifies what areas need to be changed, they can set goals for the company. Then, they can use their creativity to meet these goals. Creativity drives innovation, but figuring out where to innovate requires the ability to look at numbers and analyze what they mean.
5. Top-notch communication skills
Since marketing requires spread your business’ ideas with the public, a chief marketing officer must be able to communicate effectively. He or she needs to be excellent at conveying ideas both verbally and in writing. This quality ensures that people understand all of your marketing messages.
In addition, a CMO needs to be able to communicate effectively with his or her colleagues. As one of your company’s executives, the CMO is one of your company’s primary leaders. In order to be an effective leader, they need to be able to communicate with employees at all levels of your organization.
6. Growth potential
As with any executive, a CMO needs to be able to help the company grow. Similarly, they need to be able to grow as employees and better their skills in order to keep your company’s marketing efforts up to date. The ability to better oneself and the company is a critical asset, and an important attribute to keep in mind when determining what to look for in a CMO.
You might be interested in these other posts about hiring a CMO:
– When to Hire a CMO
– How to Hire a CMO
– 15 Amazing CMO Interview Questions
– What to Pay a CMO
On the strategic level of your organization, you have marketing. Your reach—and in connection, your revenues—are dependent upon your ability to market in diverse arenas. Your CMO will need a specific set of skills in order to move your organization forward. Here are ten of the most common chief marketing officer skills you should look for:
- Leadership: CMOs are leaders. They work with people, help motivate them, and coordinate their efforts to achieve results. They also help develop staff for future leadership opportunities.
- Data analysis: Analytical thinking skills are a must for the CMO. She or he will be dealing with marketing and financial data and will have to draw meaningful, actionable conclusions from that information.
- Strategic thinking: The CMO will use data to develop strategies and coordinate multiple marketing functions. This requires strong logical thinking skills.
- Creative thinking: Just as important as strategic thinking ability is creativity. The CMO must constantly adapt to the ever-developing world of technology-driven marketing, and this requires the ability to have new ideas.
- Technical skill: Since so much of modern marketing strategy involves technology, CMOs need at least a little technical skill. They should be comfortable working with social media, SEO, and other forms of online advertising while being able to develop campaigns for each.
- Teamwork: Since there are so many technical elements involved in today’s marketing practices, a CMO will need to be able to collaborate with others effectively. This is especially important in the case of working with IT to develop tech-based strategies and campaigns.
- Marketing: Classic marketing knowledge is, of course, a must for the CMO. However, this knowledge also needs to be adapted to modern methodologies. CMOs need to be able to develop and coordinate numerous marketing strategies in order to be successful.
- Communication: Both marketing and executive leadership involve communication. The CMO will need to be able to communicate effectively with both the target audience as well as with the board.
- Learning: Since the world of modern marketing is constantly changing and growing, a CMO needs to be enthusiastic about learning new concepts and skills. They should be constantly on top of marketing and technological developments in your sector.
- Vision: Above all, a CMO needs vision. If they are not devoted to organization’s mission, marketing campaigns will be lackluster at best.
CMOs use a wide assortment of skills in order to extend the reach of your brand. Not only do they need strong marketing, leadership, and technical skills, but they need to constantly be honing their skills and knowledge to keep up with best marketing practices.
How did you decide what to look for in a CMO? Let us know in the comments.
Y Scouts is a purpose-based, performance-proven leadership search and development firm focused on transforming how people and organizations connect to work that matters. When you’re ready to hire a new leader, Contact Y Scouts. If you are looking for your next leadership role within a purpose-driven, performance-focused organization, please join the Y Scouts Leadership Community.
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