What does digital transformation mean to the modern CMO? Considering many of today’s most popular and impactful digital business solutions cater to the customer-facing realms of marketing, sales, and customer service, marketing executives are elbows-deep in technology change. Here, we’ll take a closer look at why now is the perfect time for CMOs to learn about cloud-based ERP, CRM, and BI software.
What’s Unique About Today’s CMO?
As we pointed out in Who Drives Digital Change at Your Organization?, CMOs are responsible for the organizational success of digital transformation about 23% of the time. They’re also responsible for driving growth. A study by CMO Council and Deloitte reveals 27% of CMOs today report they’re primarily responsible for developing growth strategies and generating revenue—beating out CEOs as principal driver of revenue by 5%.
The most obvious reason why is the CMO’s proximity to the customer, whose needs and preferences for tech-fueled products and services are driving changes in product development, communications, and the delivery of sales and customer service. From ecommerce to marketing automation (and, as we’ll see, back-office operations), new technology solutions are integral to paving the way forward for many companies, even in the B2B space. Learn more in Consider the Customer When Implementing New Enterprise Technology.
With one foot in the C-Suite and the other in their consumer marketplace, CMOs are becoming the change agents their companies need to introduce new, more effective ways of managing data and improving both customer and employee experiences. Simply put, they’re positioned to make technology “happen.” They understand what customers need and, as natural communicators, can translate customer requirements into the company’s language to achieve executive buy-in and investment.
Technology: Where Challenges Meet Opportunities
CMOs know, sometimes more intimately than any other business leader, that data (and it’s underlying technology) is key to understanding customers, reaching and delighting customers, driving operational improvements, and measuring success—and more. They know that it’s essential to:
- Collect the right customer and operational information—and centralize data taken from various sources.
- Obtain the information employees and executives need to serve customers and make strategic decisions that impact the top- and bottom- lines.
- Provide customers with the digital tools and resources they expect from the brand.
In addition to marketing tech solutions like content management systems, automation software, social media tracking tools, and ecommerce solutions, among many others, CMOs can take advantage of powerful enterprise solutions, namely:
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software:
Today’s cloud-based ERP solutions integrate with a wide variety of applications to give users a 360-degree view of their organization and customers. Many ERP software deployments start off with, or are based on, online accounting and financial management tools, but they expand to include manufacturing, ecommerce, and customer management functionality, bringing more relevant and actionable customer data into the limelight. What’s more, most ERPs easily integrate with other cloud apps used by the enterprise, so even more of the CMO’s key data points are collected, stored, and made accessible to users in real-time from a single dashboard.
Find out more about ERPs in Checklist: What to Expect in a Cloud-Based ERP System.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software:
CMOs are already familiar with and have likely used CRMs to help their sales, marketing, and customer service teams organize and address customer issues. But what not all CMOs know is that today’s cloud-based CRMs have evolved to be more user-friendly and valuable across the enterprise. These CRMs pull together more expansive data sets and enable a level of accessibility that makes each company-to-customer interaction more personalized, timely, and convenient.
Explore this topic further in Why Organizations are Putting their CRM in the Cloud.
Business Intelligence (BI) solutions:
Cloud-based BI software gives CMOs—and the entire executive team—a one-stop-shop for reporting and data visualizations that can bring marketing, sales, and other organizational metrics to life. These solutions help users make the most of the data they’re collecting in their ERP, CRM, and other business systems, while taking the guesswork out of finding answers to critical questions in a hurry.
Take A Look Inside the Evolution of the Self-Service BI Trend for more insights.
If you are looking into implementing new software to enhance your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts, MIBAR has the experience and expertise to support you with the right products and guidance that work for your specific needs. Learn more about our technology solutions for marketing and sales teams and contact us for a free consultation.
Additional resources you may find helpful:
3 Cloud-Based Business Systems That Help You Take Control of Your Workflows
Why Technology is the Secret to Bridging the Marketing and Sales Gap
CRM in the Cloud: 3 Myths vs. 3 Realities
An Inside Look at Sales Force Automation with Microsoft Dynamics 365
