Today, less than 15% of companies have a marketing organizational structure that’s considered modern and up-to-date with all of the changes that have occurred in how we reach customers. That leaves over 85% who are missing opportunities to engage with their key audiences.
The challenge is twofold: first, do I have the right roles and talent in those positions? And second, how do I break down the silos that exist in marketing between disciplines?
This certainly isn’t optimal for the pace at which marketing is evolving. Companies must modify their organizational structures to ensure they’re meeting future marketing goals and to truly adapt to digital – and quickly.
Is Your Marketing Org Chart Missing the Mark?
So, why should you even attempt to change the structure of your traditional marketing team when it’s been doing pretty well so far?
Fifteen years ago, 80% of organizations had the proper marketing org chart with the right people and roles on the team. Unfortunately, that’s not the case anymore. Many of the traditional tactics marketing leaders have used to manage their teams, marketing processes and technologies are outdated and no longer effective. While many organizations have fundamentally made changes amidst the digital evolution, their marketing org chart is still 3-5 years behind.
A lack of a modern marketing department leads to diminished ROI on marketing
investment and less revenue and profit, which leads to you needing a top marketing executive search firm. Rather than reaching out to us for a new CMO, it might be better to enlist our assistance with a new VP of MarTech or VP of Digital Innovation.
The buyer’s journey has significantly changed, feeding into the increasing demands and expectations of customers. To truly tap into the journey and optimize the experience, organizations must be able to understand customer data and analytics. This requires a more sophisticated level of expertise and knowledge that many traditional marketing departments lack.
Marketing’s changing at a faster pace than ever before and the pace of that change is
accelerating. How has your organization restructured its marketing department to better leverage powerful marketing technology and digital developments?
The Breakdown of Silos Can Save Your Marketing
How do brands truly integrate and improve marketing to create better connections with customers?
One of the biggest obstacles that prevent organizations from progressing forward as fast as they should is the silos that still exist within most marketing departments. If your CMO hasn’t broken down the barriers between integral marketing disciplines, this is preventing your team from being connected which makes it very difficult to connect with your customer.
Consumers expect a cohesive and seamless voice from your brand throughout the entire buyer’s journey and through every channel. Core disciplines like digital, CRM, creative, advertising, social media, and content can no longer work in their own silos. An aligned marketing department and communication across these separate areas is critical in creating emotional connections that effectively target your audience.
In order to deliver a superior customer experience, organizations have to focus on how they’re connecting with them throughout all channels and across all disciplines. CMOs must work with other C-suite leaders and push their entire marketing department to work in collaboration. Communication across marketing has to be fixed and organizations need to align their marketing structure to prioritize and focus on the customer before everything else.
Getting Over the Hurdle Successfully
As recruiters, we understand how challenging it is for organizations to make major changes to their org chart, especially when it’s been in place for so long. But the truth is that businesses cannot succeed in today’s digital space without major adjustments made to their team structures.
More often than not, organizations don’t want to disrupt the traditional way of doing things and are hesitant in letting people go. But as a digital executive search firm, we know the opportunity cost of keeping employees who no longer contribute to your bottom line is extremely high.
A major obstacle that prevents organizations from having a modern org chart is a lack of effective marketing leadership. Frankly, a CMO who isn’t a lifelong learner and who’s not abreast of digital trends and developments will hinder any organization from growing. There must be a shift in the perspective of CMOs and their teams to successfully adapt to the changes that have taken place, and the ones that will continue to occur. CMOs who clearly recognize the necessity for a digitally-enabled marketing team are better able to position the entire organization towards growth.
It’s a good idea for your CMO to prepare for major adjustments if he or she hasn’t evaluated the team structure within the past 12 months. CMOs must be able to evaluate the key roles they need on their team (and why) to strategically identify the ideal marketing structure their organization needs. If they aren’t able to do so, they put their own job on the line.
Marketing leaders must commit to change, and be willing to invest in top talent to make it happen. Organizations who have the right team in place will better understand and utilize martech to establish a significant competitive advantage in their industry.
Re-structure Your Team Before It’s Too Late
Before the rise of digital, the CMO may have had 6-8 direct reports under them that were mainly traditional marketing roles. While one person who was tasked with digital marketing may have been enough five years ago, it certainly isn’t enough anymore.
You should already have core roles that handle SEO, content, paid search, analytics and social media fully integrated onto your marketing team.
Today, CMOs should have a minimum of 35-40% of direct reports focused on the digital side of marketing. A few emerging functions that have pushed forward-thinking marketing departments ahead of the curve include martech, CRM, omni-channel, automation, and digital innovation. Specific positions we’ve seen on the rise include:
- VP of MarTech
- Chief Experience Officer
- Chief Digital Officer
- VP of OmniChannel and Experience
- Head of Strategy and Innovation
- Digital Brand Manager
CMOs must pursue marketing talent that is capable of fulfilling these needs to help the entire enterprise understand and adopt a digitally-adept mindset.
Closing Words
Digital is completely transforming the way organizations operate and manage their marketing processes. As a marketing recruitment agency, we unfortunately see how slow companies are in updating their structures to adapt to such changes, and how they’re struggling to keep up in a rapidly evolving space.
The pace of change in marketing over the past five years has been incredibly fast, and it’s going to pick up speed with the introduction of the AI. What marketing teams are capable of today has become quite advanced, but cannot truly reach maximum potential without the proper support in place.
We understand that re-structuring your marketing talent can seem daunting and time-consuming. However, it is one of the most vital changes that can be made to drive long-term growth for any modern marketing organization. To truly take advantage of key influences reshaping the marketing space, marketing executives must take charge in implementing necessary adjustments.
