A New Year’s Resolution for CMOs

I just came across this June blog post from Gartner’s Laura McLellan, vice president of research:

“… marketing must develop ways to evaluate and communicate its effectiveness and contributions to corporate goals in terms that are compatible with corporate objectives and relevant to executive management. The goal is for CMOs to be able to communicate clearly what value marketing adds to the corporation and how it contributes to overall business success. In coming years, few marketers will rise to senior levels without deep fluency in marketing metrics and the ability to tell marketing’s story through numbers.”

McLellan is part of a rising chorus of marketing experts urging CMOs to do a better job of measuring the value of marketing.  For good measure, here’s similar advice from Francois Laxalt, director of product marketing at Adobe subsidiary Neolane:

“CMOs are entering an exciting time where the role of marketing is at the forefront of organizational success.  …  CMOs: prove your success to the organization by proving your contribution to the bottom line.”

Start 2014 with this challenge!

I’ve been on the better-measurement-bandwagon, too.  Here’s an example I posted earlier this year. Now I’m going to beat the drum again.  My New Year’s advice to CMOs:  In 2014, resolve to do a better job of measuring the impact (yep, that means dollar value) of what your team does.

Omnience has been helping our clients measure the impact of their event portfolios. Soon we will be introducing technology that will enable marketers to track the performance of every marketing event, similar to how you now track banner ads, search engine marketing, and other digital activities. We’re in the vanguard of making performance measurement happen for organizations that invest heavily in events.

A lot is at stake on meeting this resolution – so get out in front on this one!  If you can’t measure the value of marketing, don’t be surprised when the CFO or CEO steps in and does the measuring for you by setting your budget!

Casey Cote

Casey Cote is the Chief Executive Officer for Omnience. Joining the company in 1995, Casey established its strategic direction as the industry leader in marketing event management and a technology innovator. He launched initiatives that made the company a pioneer in applying technology to the challenges of managing a large portfolio of events. Casey is also actively involved in managing customer relationships, seeking out partners and acquisitions, and directing the company’s expansion into new markets. Previously, Casey managed forecasting and budgets at Sprint.

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