82 percent of CMOs — compared to 71 percent three years before — say their organizations are underprepared to capitalize on the data explosion, said an IBM survey.
94 percent of CMOs said advanced analytics will play a significant role in helping them reach their goals, IBM said in its global survey of 500 CMOs from 56 countries and 19 industries.
The IBM study — Stepping up to the challenge: How CMOs can start to close the aspirational gap — noted that high-performing CMOs are integrating internal and external data to garner deep insights that, in turn, provide them with a much deeper understanding of their customers.
“After speaking with CMOs around the world, it became evident that more companies across all industries are striving to integrate their physical and digital presence in order to provide a more integrated, seamless customer experience,” said John Kennedy, vice president, Marketing, Global Business Services, IBM.
In response, the enterprise IT vendor launched the new IBM Interactive Experience to help CMOs and other C-suite leaders design and build rich, data-enabled experiences for their customers and stakeholders.
The study identifies three types of CMOs: Traditionalists (37 percent), Social Strategists (33 percent) and Digital Pacesetters (30 percent).
IBM said Digital Pacesetters are more likely to be financial outperformers and are characterized by their preparedness for the dramatic growth of data, social and mobile channels; integration of physical and digital sales and service channels; and regular use of advanced analytics to extract insights from customer data.
63 percent of CEOs involve the CMO in formulating the organization’s overall business strategy, second only to the CFO (72 percent). The study underscores the need for CMOs to collaborate more closely with the rest of the C-suite in making strategic decisions that are supported by data and analytics.
When a CMO has a close working relationship with the CIO, the enterprise is more likely to perform better. High-performing CMOs have a stronger working relationship with CIOs than those identified as financial underperformers.
66 percent of CMOs feel underprepared for the growth of social media. The study found that CMOs today are less concerned with both monitoring their brand via social media and trying to monetize social media.
94 percent of marketing leaders believe that mobile applications will play a significant role in helping them reach their goals over the next three to five years, which is up from 80 percent three years before.
Digital Pacesetters are well along the path of executing a mobile strategy, with 58 percent able to conduct business regardless of location or device.
