Majority of CMOs Looking at Engagement and Customer Experience for Revenue Growth

According to a new Economist/Marketo study, more than 80 percent of today’s CMOs say they need to restructure marketing to better support the business.

As part of this process, the survey results show that marketing’s role in steering the customer experience and driving brand engagement is going to need to continue to evolve in the next 3 years to make it a successful revenue driver.

Marketing is More Responsible For The Customer Experience

The survey respondents said that the marketing department in their organization is most responsible for the customer experience, compared to sales, customer support, product management, and finance. This trend will only increase in the next 3 years, with marketing being the only department the respondents said would continue to get more involved in the customer experience process. They stated that the other departments listed would become less involved in the next 3 years.

What Does Engagement Mean?

Another aspect of the study shows the CMOs’ take on what the term “engagement” actually means. The number one response was a combination of customer renewals, repeat purchases, and retention, with the other two top answers being brand awareness and impact on revenue.

Most Needed Skills in The Marketing Industry

Finally, the CMOs were asked where they thought they needed more skill development. The findings show a trend of where organizations should focus their employee development and continuing education efforts on.

The top areas identified as needing improved skills and education were digital engagement, marketing operations & technology, and strategy & planning.

This study was originally covered in Forbes and can be downloaded for free as a PDF at Marketo’s site.

All screenshots taken from study Feb 2015