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Chief Marketing Officers have a lot on their plate. It’s their responsibility to grow a business, create a competitive edge, stay ahead of the latest trends and innovations, and establish a successful brand. Especially in a modern age, there’s a lot a CMO has to do in order to ensure success.  With 90% of searchers not having made up their mind before starting their search, there are ample opportunities for CMOs to grab new consumers. However, that’s a lot of work – even for a seasoned CMO with years of marketing experience behind them. That’s where a digital marketing agency can swoop in to provide some much-needed assistance. First, it’s important to understand the key challenges a CMO faces in 2019.

5 Challenges for the Modern CMO in a Digital World

1. The Push for Innovation

It’s no surprise that innovation is one of the biggest CMO challenges. A smart CMO knows they need to stay ahead of the game, pushing themselves and their team members to try new things, coming up with new methods to get their brand in front of their audience, and captivating consumers.
This could entail a new, immersive experience to pull your audience in – through virtual reality exhibitions, augmented reality integrations, new software, content creation in many different social media platforms and  targeted campaigns.

2. Emerging Technologies and Shifting Digital Trends 

Getting the right content in front of consumers isn’t easy. However, the success of these digital marketing campaigns rides solely on the back of the CMO. Some key challenges to this success include the new technologies that change how marketers interact with consumers, the shifting trends that dictate what consumers actually want, and the channels and consumers themselves.
In order to make an impact, CMOs need to know exactly what message will resonate and the right medium to get it there. That requires a deep understanding of the brand, product, and consumer online preferences that can change daily.

3. Driving the Growth Agenda – Tough Targets for CMOs to Reach

Another challenge for CMOs is that other marketers on the team don’t have to worry as much about the growth agenda. There are certain KPIs a CMO has to reach, a quota for growth that puts pressure on a CMO and limits their ability to truly thrive. This need to succeed can put undue pressure on a CMO, making it harder for them to create lasting impressions through their campaigns and initiatives. 

4. Strict Budgets and the Need to Measure the Impact of Each Dollar Spent

Budgets are also a challenge for CMOs. These hard limits make it difficult to experiment with new technologies or tactics that other companies could be learning about and perfecting. That definitely puts a brand behind the competition – but for many CMOs, they have no choice but to comply and be ready to calculate the ROI and provide the proper justification for every dollar spent.

5. Competition from Savvier Digital Colleagues

Lastly, the competition is a huge challenge that CMOs constantly face. Maybe a competitor is better at navigating the digital market, able to swiftly and easily establish a digital presence through emerging social platforms, innovative campaigns, and content that makes an impact. In other situations, a competitor might have had the technical abilities to integrate the latest technologies into their overall campaign in a way that the CMO’s company can’t. Either way, the need to constantly compete, defeat and overpower a competitor puts stress on a CMO that is hard to shake. Even with these CMO challenges, however, the fight isn’t over. A great digital marketing agency can bridge the gap between the campaigns and the goals of a CMO to get them right where they want to be.

How a Digital Marketing Agency Can Solve CMO Challenges 

1. Strategic Insights & Hands-On Knowledge

The best digital marketing agencies have hands-on knowledge from past experiences, the ability to understand a business holistically and propose solutions that can address the strategic needs of the CMOs. They understand channels and platforms innately, taking some of the pressure off CMOs and marketing teams to continuously push themselves to try new things.

2. Cutting-Edge Tools, Analytics, and Measurement Methods

From social media marketing platforms to customer relations management portals, SEO crawlers, analytics and more – digital marketing agencies have access to the tools that can help shape & measure  a marketing campaign. 
With these tools, digital marketers can quickly identify what is working within a campaign and what isn’t based on data – from click-through rates to email opens, impressions and more. 

3. Extreme Digital Expertise

Digital marketing agencies house professionals that eat, sleep and breathe digital marketing. This is a relief for CMOs who might have a team of marketers new to the industry. 
Therefore, working with a digital marketing agency is a great way to ensure campaigns are built with the expertise of someone who knows all about the specific requirements and limitations of a campaign – whether it’s on social, SEO or it's part of a wider content campaign to raise awareness.

4. Digital Implementation Capabilities 

The best digital marketing agencies also have the implementation capabilities to launch a number of campaigns at once across channels and mediums. They aren’t limited by platform and have the creative capabilities to integrate video, VR, and more to really wow audiences.

How CMOs Can Leverage Digital Marketing Agencies

A CMOs job is never done. There is always something new to learn, a campaign to develop, and a variety  of challenges to overcome in the digital sphere. However, those challenges bring stress, complexity and limitation, but digital marketing agencies have the ability to alleviate some of those issues to ensure campaign & business success. 

If you want to learn more, check out how you can better boost your digital success!