The New-Age Marketing Executive: Growth Driver to an Orchestrator

More Marketing executives are stepping into their roles as the primary driver of growth and change. They have begun transitioning from product and brand-centric advertising roles to ones with a focus on driving customer acquisition. It’s clear the board expects them to be drivers of growth and opportunity. The new-age Marketing executive must help lead the company’s efforts toward organic sales expansion opportunities through data-driven insights about customers and what drives buying behavior. 

The new Marketing executive requires a deep understanding of business to stay up to date with the ever-changing demands and complexities. The job has expanded beyond simply marketing into multiple other aspects, including sustainable growth, highly personalized customer experiences, and even advanced technology like that used for innovation.

Enabler of organizational agility 

Organizational structures and roles are some of the toughest challenges for leaders globally. To be competitive today, Marketing organizations need to act swiftly. They must have the agility and ability to plan and execute in weeks or even months – and sometimes instantaneously. The “Christmas tree” organizational chart is being replaced by flexible, fluid structures where leaders can assemble teams for specific projects. Teams coming together for a short project may form and disband within weeks or months, depending on the project’s goals.

Growth driver

Today, the role of a Marketing executive is to be both the growth champion and customer experience manager. As the growth champion, you need to understand how your company can win in different markets, i.e., what are its market share rates across geographies? Also, ensure that revenue goals – whether it’s the top line or bottom line results – are achieved by considering competitors’ strategies. Growth should be everyone’s number one metric for success.

Cross-level orchestrator

Gone are the days when Marketing executives’ only job was to understand what their customers are doing or why they’re doing it. In the new milieu, Marketing executives need to communicate that information in ways that inspire people throughout their organizations – from product development teams all the way up through senior leadership – so everyone can work together toward common goals. This requires breaking down silos between different departments within your own company, as well as those outside your organization who may have access to customer insights you don’t. High-performing Marketing leaders do this by working closely with partners across every function to create shared value for both themselves and their customers––whether that’s creating new products or services or improving existing ones based on feedback from real users, rather than surveys filled out by potential buyers who haven’t yet tried them out.

Data champion

The future of Marketing will be data-driven. Technology and social media have made personal information accessible to marketers more than ever, creating new opportunities for them to engage with their target audiences. Marketing executives must anticipate upcoming expectations ahead of time, so they can stay one step ahead while also gaining insight into progress towards goals through measurement tools, such as agile analytics software products. In the coming years, we expect cognitive and predictive technology technologies like AI-augmented customer experience (ACE) platforms to become critical assets for modern-day marketers.

Today’s Marketing executive is a versatile team player who can build and strengthen relationships at the highest level with their understanding of technology while distinguishing between traditional and non-traditional forms of Marketing. They can also lead an entire organization, as they are intelligent decision-makers aware of what works best for organizational success. In short, these Marketing executives ensure everyone feels like part of one team, working towards one goal instead of several groups each trying desperately hard.

Editor’s note: for a deep dive on Orchestration as outlined by Dipalli above, take a look at The Play Metaphor piece by Jon Miller.