3 Reasons Why B2B CMOs Must Lead B2B Digital Transformation

As B2B Marketing Leaders, one challenge is getting “a seat at the executive table.” Digital Transformation (DT) is one of the most important efforts a B2B marketing executive can lead to prove they belong. But how do you convince the rest of the C-suite that this is the realm of marketing. And how do you convince them that you as the B2B marketing leader should own the initiative. Here are 3 reasons to tell your executive peers and company board to have marketing lead the charge.

Digital Transformation is an Outside-In Effort

Digital transformation – if done right – is all about the customer and their experience with your brand. The journey of transforming a company is taking the customer experience, improving it and driving those improvements throughout the organization using digital means. That is, creating the to-be state of the business across positioning, product, gtm, service, operations, etc. and building roadmaps to get the business there.

And who better to coalesce that customer insight and share it with other teams than the CMO. As a good B2B marketing leader you should be spending a solid portion of your time on customer insight. And if your B2B brand isn’t doing that, then you are missing a great opportunity to drive your business forward. My rule of thumb: a larger b2b marketing organizations is to spend at least 15% of your budget on items like, customer research, social listening tools and product usability, and so on.

Digital Transformation is about Data

Data-driven decision-making is key to a successful digital transformation. In fact, it’s the starting point of any digital transformation initiative as can be seen in the chart below. Data-driven insight should drive your digital transformation initiative, in terms of the direction you are to go, and setting priorities, and identify some of the obstacles.

As marketers turning insight into action should be our bread and butter. As marketing leaders, this is a large part of our day to day. We use the same muscles to drive effective digital transformation. That is, thinking modularly, testing and learning, and driving a solution through various parts of the organization. These are all traits of a great CMO.

Digital Transformation is about Agility

Adaptability and agility should be at the forefront of any digital transformation effort. As today’s marketplace shifts rapidly, plans need to change and we need to react quickly to the market.

As B2B marketers, in particular B2B digital marketers, we must be agile to survive. Between real time social, advertising, events, etc., excellent B2B CMOs are masters of agility and adaptability. We are not only reactive, but we are strategically reactive. This is a key to a B2B CMOs success. This is why we need to spearhead digital transformation efforts. We are the most agile leaders in the C-suite.

And for these three key reasons, the CMO should be the B2B executive that leads the digital transformation charge. To drive effective digital transformation, marketers must think modularly, test frequently, learn quickly from their mistakes or successes, and collaborate across the organization. B2B marketers in particular need to have adaptability and agility at the forefront of their plans in order to stay ahead in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. With these traits firmly established it’s no wonder that so many digital transformations fail. The wrong leader is at the helm.

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