| Danielle Capriato 
As marketing has been transformed by the digital revolution, so has the role of the Chief Marketing Officer. Marketing executives are called upon to lead their teams through rapid changes, adjust to evolved buyer behavior, and drive growth for their organizations. The CMO must find ways to be relevant not only to the business as a whole, but to each customer through authentic and personalized experiences. Ken Wincko (), SVP of Marketing at PR Newswire, discussed marketing executives’ evolution during The CMO Council webinar CMO Rising: Reshaping the Role. "In the era of mass advertising, when traditional broadcast was very effective in reaching consumers, CMOs spent a lot of time and energy on branding and communications," states Ken. "While having a clear, compelling story for the marketplace is still very important from a branding and communications perspective, in the digital era other complementary skill sets are required—such as application of technology, analytics, and operational processes." If the role of the CMO is to champion growth and the customer experience, how does a marketing executive get there? Here are four skills a CMO must employ if they want to succeed. Speaks the Language of Data Traditionally, marketing has been focused on the creative. And while there will always be a need to create compelling content, the digital age requires marketing executives to be data-driven. Because today's CMO might not have started in the data and financial world, there's an urgent need to learn how to generate revenue and prove marketing's value. This requires a language shift as marketers seek to demonstrate bottom line impact to the rest of the C-suite. "Marketing leaders need to become data-driven decision-makers and utilize insights to optimize buyer experiences," explains Ken. "To maximize marketing impact, your strategy needs to incorporate a holistic approach to effectively engage buyers—spanning data, people, processes, technology, and content. This will enable you to clearly articulate the impact marketing activities have on buyer behavior." According to a recent study from Forrester, 61% of marketers are using predictive analytics. This data helps CMOs gain greater insight on buyer behavior, and how to run their teams more effectively and efficiently. It also leads to a rise in expectations, authority, and opportunity. Data-driven marketing leaders who deliver growth are often called upon to lead broader initiatives in areas outside of marketing, such as product, operations, and customer service. Creates Exceptional Experiences The intelligence a marketing executive gleans from data will also be instrumental in creating more authentic customer experiences. It's not enough to make grand, sweeping assumptions about your audience and call that personalization. To ensure frictionless interactions, marketers need a deep understanding of their buyer personas and what makes customers tick. 
"Ultimately, our marketing success at PR Newswire has been based on transforming the way we go to market, with a buyer-centric philosophy that helps meet the changing expectations of our clients," says Ken. "We have worked very hard to produce compelling content that helps educate marketing and communications professionals on the best practices they can use to drive better results. We then share this content with buyers through an integrated, multichannel experience based on their unique needs, and optimize it based on data and analytics. This has resulted in a double digit increase in qualified leads and closed deals, as well as shorter sales cycles." Leverages Technological Innovation and Channel Convergence As Amanda Hicken wrote in The Future of Content Marketing: Creating Contextual Connections, the "phygital" revolution is upon us. Thanks to the introduction of wearables and the Internet of Things, the merging of the physical and digital worlds has opened new ways for marketers to connect with buyers. Because of this, CMOs must develop marketing models that are informed by and include these emerging information and commerce channels. "Connected devices, wearables, and virtual reality will enable more opportunities to create valuable experiences," states Ken. "Marketers need to understand how to utilize and integrate different technologies to craft compelling and relevant buyer interactions across channels." At minimum, today's marketing executives must adapt to rapid buyer adoption of mobile technology—and design contextual and interactive experiences with that environment in mind. "By the end of next year, Forrester forecasts that smartphone subscribers will represent 46% of the global population," says Ken. "One third of transactions will have a mobile cross-channel component which will generate $140B+ in phone/tablet commerce. Yet, today just 18% of companies surveyed are mobile-first and using mobile to transform the entire customer experience." Welcomes the Unknown Effective CMOs know how to evolve and encourage others' evolution through collaboration. "It’s all about how agile you are and how fast you can move," states Ken. "In today's multichannel world, marketing executives must innovate and anticipate market disruptions to survive." For instance, as adblockers and a general over-saturation of the online marketplace continue to impact results from paid advertising, marketing executives need to increase focus on an earned media approach. According to Ken, it's critical to invest time and resources in building relationships with trusted experts and customer advocates. As buyers turn to search and social, the voices of their peers will help shape their opinions and drive action. Above all, Ken says, forward-looking CMOs are willing to take risks — and they do so with the customer in mind. "Focus on customer wants, not just needs. Think outside of your own boundaries to identify new possibilities. Determine how you will deliver a profound experience. Do these things and you'll distinguish your brand – and yourself – from everyone else." Ken will discuss marketing executive best practices in more detail next week at CMO Council’s CMO Summit, where he will present with executives from Visa, TE Connectivity and Intel during the panel “Assess Where You Need to Progress in Digital Marketing: Creating Better Value + Return From Marketing Technology Investments.” Visit cmosummit.org for details about the summit and download our executive white paper The Modern Marketing Fulcrum to learn more about balancing big data and content to power PR and marketing results. Author Danielle Capriato is the manager of strategic communications at PR Newswire. Follow her on Twitter @dcapriato. | 
