CMOs Look to Hire Growth Marketers Amid Market Pressures

January 30, 2023

This article is included in these additional categories:

Business of Marketing | Customer-Centric | Data-driven | Digital | Return on Investment | Social Media | Staffing

Marketers have had to rework their strategies as a result of inflation, but that’s not the only external market force that’s been an issue for them. A recent study [download page] from Emplifi, conducted by Forrester Consulting, finds that almost three-quarters of marketing leaders have found it at least somewhat challenging to confront changing customer demands.

This has been a struggle for some time, as marketers seek to better understand post-pandemic changes in consumer behavior. Beyond shifts in customer demands and inflation, two-thirds have found it at least somewhat challenging to respond to competitive pressure, while many have also faced difficulties with supply chain bottlenecks (64%), unexpected risks to brand/reputation (62%), and a lack of desired skills (62%).

As regards talent, respondents – consisting of North American marketing professionals in CX, marketing strategy, paid media, or social media marketing – seem to be taking a proactive approach. Some 31% report that they are hiring more growth/customer marketing professionals despite the role already being filled. An additional 30% are planning to hire more for the same role in the next year beyond existing filled roles, while a further 9% have yet to fill the role but plan to.

As such, 7 in 10 respondents are hiring or plan to hire growth/customer marketing professionals, the largest proportion among the various roles listed. That aligns with separate results indicating that two-thirds (67%) measure success via new customer growth, making this the leading metric, ahead of ROI (65%), customer retention (56%) and CSAT score (51%).

Meanwhile, a majority of marketers surveyed are hiring or plan to hire paid media professionals (64%) and social commerce professionals (59%), reflecting the priority that marketers are placing on growing revenue. Brand/reputation managers are also in demand, potentially as a result of the reputation risks that most respondents have felt, while social customer care professionals are also in the hiring plans for many.

In other highlights from the report:

  • Some 36% of respondents are expanding their use of social commerce, and an equal 36% share are expanding their use of social media marketing platforms and suites. By contrast, only 1 in 8 (13%) are increasing their use of live video marketing/shopping.
  • The biggest challenge cited by respondents as they plan their 2023 strategy is trouble integrating/consolidating customer data to create a single view of the customer.

For more, download the report here.

About the Data: The results are based on a survey conducted in August and September 2022 among 154 North American CMOs, marketing VPs, and directors responsible for CX, marketing strategy, paid media, and/or social media marketing.

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This