If sales and marketing were a company’s children – we could make a good guess on the favorite. Marketing teams struggle to tie revenue to marketing efforts, relying judiciously on social and ad KPIs, website traffic, and conversion rates. So, it’s not surprising that companies are rethinking CMOs in content marketing. We’ll look at how CMO and marketing trends are changing what it means to be a marketer. 

The Not-Surprising Reasons Companies are Rethinking CMOs in Content Marketing

Founder and CEO of the Digital Growth Institute, James Robert Lay, said it best. “Marketing has a marketing problem.” Today, marketing efforts flow up a steeper hill against the competition, making it difficult for executives to see tangible value in intangible brand storytelling. Fortune Media IP Limited talked about several iconic global companies, including United Parcel Service (UPS) and Walgreens, bidding a fond farewell to their CMO positions.

A company’s love for yet underappreciation of marketing and its CMO is a familiar story. CMOs may face higher hurdles in selling their value to other executives in 2024. According to Boathouse’s third annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO, their relationship might be looking up. That same study showed 26% of top US company CEOs surveyed grading their CMO’s overall performance with an “A.” That percentage is up from 16% last year. 

The Marketing Trends Changing Marketing Teams in 2024 – Counting The Ways

There’s good news in 2024 and news that still applies since last year. In a WARC survey on marketing optimism, 61% of global survey respondents feel that business will improve in 2024, and 35% of North American respondents expect budgets to grow. 

CMOs and marketing teams can expect AI technology to influence their creative processes, team dynamics, and content creation approach. Gartner surveyed cross-functional and marketing leaders in July and August 2023 and found that 73% of these leaders have implemented GenAI or are in a pilot period with It. 

It’s not surprising that marketers collaborate on cross-functional projects 17% more than non-marketers. How AI technology will influence this collaboration is yet to be seen. CMO roles and technology might change, but marketing teams telling a brand’s story and creating campaigns are going nowhere. Fingers crossed, business improves, marketing budgets increase, and the love between company executives and marketing increases.

For more about brand storytelling, visit The Art of Marketing’s website.