I’m not at all surprised that the role of Chief Marketing Technology Officer has emerged in recent months. It’s a damn shame, but I’m not surprised.
Too many marketers are either afraid of technology or just don’t understand it. And we all start there. But what’s worse, those same marketers pretend that nothing is changing, that the new technology isn’t necessary, that they can keep doing their jobs the “old way” and be just fine.
That, of course, is a path to irrelevance. If you’re that kind of marketer, you will increasingly be marginalized in your organization. You will increasingly be farther and farther away from driving meaningful, measurable revenue.
Technology is replacing media as the primary tool by which marketers drive performance and results. Technology is a competitive advantage for organizations that adopt and optimize it with their customers, prospects, partners, influencers and more. The core role of marketers – to condition the market and drive demand – isn’t changing. But the means why which marketers do this has, and will continue to, change dramatically.
And if your organization is considering a Chief Marketing Technology Officer, please know that this isn’t an additional leadership position. This is YOUR leadership position. As the CMO, if you’re not playing the “CMTO” role moving forward, you will soon be looking for a new job, in a market that’s increasingly looking for different skills than what you bring.
The only thing that surprises me is that you are the only person who has caught on. Technology has been touching all the functional areas of the organization so why is it that marketing suddenly needs a new role when operations, finance, and even HR have already figured it out. There is even a field called HRIM yet I never heard of a CHRT role.
The reason why this issue exist is simple, marketing people have been running from technology, math and all problem solving since college. Many marketing people chose marketing in college because they believe they are not good at math and therefore consider themselves “creative”. They have since been given an out each time any real problem is required. The CMTO is the naturally progression. The CMTO will exist in the short term to close this gap. But I assure you that marketing people will soon be expected to rise to this challenge; else make room for someone younger and less expensive who will.