For a long time, CFOs and CEOs referred to their marketing departments as cost centers that had little to no impact on bottom line results. Although marketing was responsible for developing brand awareness and generating leads, it often played second fiddle to sales. This perception, however, is drastically changing.
In fact, according to a recent study from Marketo and the Economist Intelligence Unit, titled “The Rise of the Marketer,” 80 percent of the 478 CMOs and senior marketing executives surveyed say they will be seen as revenue drivers in the next three to five years. In a supporting study conducted by IBM, 63 percent of the 500 CEOs surveyed said they lean on their CMOs to help formulate business strategy.
Why the big change?
In the past, marketers had no way of connecting marketing results to bottom-line metrics that mattered to the CEO; however, with the emergence of new marketing technologies, such as marketing automation, they are now able to attribute campaign results to revenue and justify spend. These sophisticated technologies also allow marketers to gather massive amounts of valuable consumer data that can be used across the organization to influence positive change.
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What’s more, now that sales agents aren’t being introduced into the buying cycle until the very end, marketers own customer engagement. Case in point, according to the aforementioned Marketo report, a third of all marketers say they currently own customer relationship and engagement, a number that’s set to increase up to 75 percent in three to five years.
Thanks to their deep insights into customer behavior and market trends, marketing departments are able to extend their reach within their organizations and play a critical role in facilitating change; for example, marketing leaders can lend their expertise in developing new products or services that will speak directly to customers’ pain points and challenges.
However, with great power comes great responsibility. To secure their spot at the executive table, marketers must continue to leverage technology to better track campaign effectiveness and prove ROI, as well as invest in the latest marketing strategies—such as content marketing and social media— to generate high-quality leads.
The future is bright for marketers. At the end of the day, however, they still need to prove their worth by contributing to bottom-line growth. To learn how content marketing can help you drive revenue for your organization, check out our catalog of downloadable resources.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
