How to Become a Successful Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)?

One of the biggest challenges facing marketing managers is that the success criteria are too many and varied. First of all, marketing managers must have strong qualitative and quantitative characteristics. They must also have an independent, entrepreneurial spirit and be able to work closely with other departments. Apart from these, one of the most important issues is to listen to the voice of consumers. They must also be absolutely conscious of how marketing creates value.
According to a study, two-thirds of marketing managers attribute the criterion of being a successful marketing manager primarily to the return on marketing investment (ROMI). According to the results of another survey conducted with 200 senior marketing managers, the most important characteristics of marketing managers were revealed as follows:
Acquired Traits
• Able to take risks
• Willing to make decisions
• Problem solving skill
• Ability to manage change
• Result oriented
Innate Traits
• Global experience
• Multiple industry experience
• Multiple channel experience
• Focus on digital
• Operational information
Marketing experts George Day and Robert Malcolm have identified five priorities for a successful CMO:
1. Having a vision for the future of the company.
2. Develop adaptive marketing skills.
3. Winning talented marketers.
4. Establishing a close cooperation with sales.
5. Taking responsibility for the return of marketing expenditures.
Considering all these, perhaps the most important task of marketing managers should be to consider the customer perspective in every decision they make. In addition, as mentioned, marketing managers must have global experience. Having global experience is seen as valuable for marketing managers as it will teach different ways of doing business, increase cultural sensitivity and enable them to be more flexible. It should not be forgotten that the way to be a good manager is to understand and manage differences and produce flexible solutions.

References
Kotler P., Keller K.L. (2018). Pazarlama Yönetimi. (İbrahim Kırçova, Çev.). İstanbul: Beta Basım Yayım.

Çağlar KARAKURT
Research Assistant
Istanbul Gelisim University
Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences
Department of International Trade and Business