The Skills & Experience to Look for When Hiring Your First CMO

An experienced CMO adds an important strategic (market and competitive) dimension to the leadership team.   The scope of the CMO role is very broad and requires a unique set of skills to manage/prioritize a complex mix of marketing programs in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

The competencies and experiences of the ideal CMO differ based on company stage/size (startup or well established supplier), industry sector (Banking or Telecom), market focus (B2B or consumer), product category (software or hardware), and sales approach (direct or channel). Relevant experience in one of these areas is no doubt the #1 defining criteria for a marketing leader.

But these are not the only criteria. Beyond product and industry experience, there are specific marketing skills and disciplines that should be considered to align with your company and go-to-market strategy.

Marketing, especially in companies that have not yet invested in marketing, is often misunderstood. It isn’t uncommon in early stage ventures and small companies for operating executives to think of marketing as a single discipline; like advertising or development of a website or the production of sales literature or public relations.

Each of these activities requires a set of unique skills. In more mature companies these functions often reside in separately managed teams. In small-to-medium size companies these roles are often combined.

Whether a big company or small venture, you should strive to hire a CMO that has had direct experience managing 5 unique functional disciplines.

1. Product Management – Primary audience is the product team with responsibilities that include:  product strategy/road-mapping, business planning (i.e. market penetration and revenue expectations), category/competitive positioning, industry analyst relations, packaging and delivery.
2. Product Marketing –  Primary audience is the prospect/customer with responsibilities that include: product launch, value proposition/ROI, pricing, industry positioning, customer/departmental messaging, thought leadership.
3. Marketing Communications – Primary audience is the industry with responsibilities that include: off-line and on-line digital media, corporate positioning/messaging, advertising, public/investor relations, events (industry, user groups).
4. Marketing Programs – Primary audience is marketing/sales with responsibilities that include: lead generation and nurturing, tactical event logistics, production of sales/marketing literature, social media participation and monitoring.
5. Sales Enablement – Primary audience is sales/channel partners with responsibilities that include: integrated sales/marketing campaigns, delivery of sales tools, assist with objection handling, monitor direct and/or channel pipeline, coordinate sales training initiatives.

Of course there is more to hiring the right executive than experience and disciplines. For example, any executive should possess excellent team building, personnel management and written/verbal skills.

In my experience, every individual leans on a core competency or a specific marketing discipline they gravitate to. This doesn’t mean they aren’t good in other areas, but they do exhibit a higher degree of interest and skill in their core discipline. In my case, I entered marketing from the technology side; starting in software development, moving to product management and spent the last 3 decades in full-on marketing roles. So, I like to focus on the product, the technology behind the product, competitors and problems/pains the product addresses.

As you begin a search for your first CMO, determine which of these 5 disciplines are most important to your organization today and in the near future. As you interview candidates, ask them what they see as their core competency and explore the experience they have had in each of the other areas.

The ideal candidate will be able to cover all these disciplines and will know how to lead and hold the individuals accountable for their functional area.

Finally, not all companies need a full-time CMO. Startups and 1-product companies cannot utilize the full set of skills an experienced CMO offers. You can gain a great deal by hiring an interim or fractional CMO. You can acquire the needed skills faster, at lower cost and gain immediate results without performing an exhaustive search for the right candidate and making a long term commitment.

What is your point of view?