Sometimes chief marketing technologists are baffled when their financial justifications fail to resonate in the C-suite. Even well-reasoned, conservative and attractive ROI projections can be ineffective.

One subtle dynamic that sometimes explains the problem involves the CMO’s role in the company. If a marketing technology budget proposal is inadvertently misaligned with the reason the CMO was hired, then the proposal will encounter opposition. If the C-suite hired the CMO to revitalize tired company brands, then new martech capabilities that enable customer journey identification and enhancement may fall on deaf ears.

Research indicates there are three types of roles played by CMOs in corporations. The most common one is commercialization, or driving sales through advertising, websites, direct mail and so on. The second role is strategic, where the CMO drives growth with product innovation and insights about customer needs and trends. The least common role is where the CMO handles both strategy and commercialization roles across the firm.

Sometimes the true CMO role is described explicitly or can be inferred from the CMO’s position in the company’s organization chart. Often, however, it takes a bit of sleuthing to uncover the true nature of the CMO’s role. Sometimes CMOs are not totally forthcoming about their primary role. They might be uncomfortable saying they were not hired to generate long-term strategic insights.

One tool for uncovering the CMO’s role is to ask: “How is your performance measured?” This question is far more specific and calls for a less subjective response than questions like “What is your role?” or “Why were you hired?”

Once the CMO’s primary role is defined, it is possible to identify specific martech capabilities that are best suited to help the CMO deliver on those requirements. Even better, martech budget proposals that are well-aligned with the CMO’s true role are far more likely to resonate in the C-suite.

Commercialization Role

CMOs responsible for commercialization are often held accountable for short-term (i.e., quarterly and annual) deliverables in three key areas: