Chief Marketing Officer: A Changing Role in a Changing Industry

The marketing world around us is evolving at what seems like lightning speed. Every day there’s a new marketing tool, trend, or strategy that takes the industry by storm and forces us, as marketing professionals, to reevaluate what it means to really work in the marketing world. What traditionally was known as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role has taken on many additional responsibilities as marketing positions continue to evolve in both scope and function. Not only are marketing professionals faced with the burden of keeping up with all digital and traditional trends, but they’re also pressured to perform – and show their teams’ monetary value to companies. 

Is the CMO role a thing of the past as marketing leaders take on new responsibilities that come with the territory? In this blog, we’ll go over the changing role of marketing professionals as well as key roles and responsibilities that are emerging with industry shifts. Let’s dive in. 

The evolving role(s) of marketing leaders

What was once an industry focused primarily on branding, advertising, and reaching audiences through print, direct mail, broadcast, or telephone has undergone a massive shift with the digital revolution. With the widespread adoption of the Internet, the global prevalence of smartphones, and the introduction of social media, marketing has quickly gone from a mostly local to a global stage in a very short period. What was once a focus on small, targeted, regional groups has now become a race to win the attention of a global audience with limitless segments and niches available.  

As brands everywhere rushed to adapt to this new era of digital marketing, no one has had to do more reflection, strategizing, and experimenting than the CMO. As the landscape undergoes more change every year with the growth of various AI tools, social media platforms, and new ways to reach new audiences, marketing leaders everywhere are tasked with not just keeping up with these changes – but getting ahead of them. 

In a very short period of time, the traditional marketing role has continuously expanded to take on many additional skills and responsibilities that reflect overall changes in the industry. Just look at any standard marketing role job posting and you’ll see various areas of expertise across many fields required, some of which include: copywriting, design, website management and design, SEO, HTML, social media experience, data analysis, community engagement, PR, influencer management, operations, scheduling, industry research, project management, client management, brand activations, event planning, and more. 

The marketing professional today is expected to have a comprehensive skill set that touches virtually every part of a company, making it very difficult to answer the question, “So what do you do for work?” As leaders of these teams, marketing executives now must have experience across many different areas, which leads me to the next section: key roles and responsibilities emerging with marketing industry shifts. 

What do marketing leaders do today? 

As the digital marketing industry continuously faces new challenges and rapidly changing best practices, marketing leaders must keep up with the demands and new expectations of the evolving role. CMOs aren’t just working on traditional marketing anymore – they’re taking on responsibilities that span everything from creative design to the newest marketing technologies and AI tools. Here are just a few areas into which marketing leaders are venturing within these roles (which are expected to expand with the adoption of new technology): 

Creative Direction

With the overwhelming success of the influencer industry and content creation everywhere, marketing leaders are tasked with leading their creative teams in directions to help their brands stand out amidst the countless posts and content being produced daily. Not only are they expected to have an eye for overall brand direction, but they’re also given the complex job of predicting creative trends and being among the first to recognize new creative directions and how to capitalize on them. 

AI & Marketing Technology

There’s no question that AI will impact every industry – especially marketing. Marketing leaders are expected to stay on top of the latest emerging tools and learn how to leverage them to streamline work processes and flows. A big part of working with this technology is also knowing how to best track and measure data to judge the effectiveness of campaigns. 

Brand Reputation and Management

At certain companies, the CMO is often referred to as the “Chief Brand Officer” as they take on a central role in making sure that the brand’s reputation stays positive, even as the company grows. In this sense, the CMO is also an expert in crisis management and public relations, navigating the complex task of keeping a brand’s name clean in an increasingly digital world where every comment, post, and note is traceable and potentially incriminating. With a larger audience comes a larger responsibility, and the marketing leader is often tasked with making sure that brands stay consistent, authentic, and genuine in all communications. 

While these are just some areas in which marketing leaders are expected to have experience with, the list goes on. It is also up to marketing leadership to build and grow teams with these diverse skill sets to ensure that results are not just measurable, but delivered effectively with clear gains for a company. 

Conclusion 

As the marketing industry has undergone tremendous shifts in the last couple of decades, so has the marketing professional role. Long gone are the days of traditional marketing duties as marketing leaders are now expected to have experience, if not expertise, across multiple fields and areas. By embracing the continuous change and finding ways to stay ahead of fast-moving trends, marketing leaders can drive meaningful impact for their organizations and industry as a whole. 

If you’re a marketing professional looking to level up your skill set, consider enrolling in an AI course or learning a new tool to measure data – it might just help you stay ahead of the pack.