“It’s critical to align marketing with financial objectives to build trust and credibility,” said Norm De Greve, svp and CMO of General Motors in the report. “I don’t think people spend enough time aligning on the right metrics. I am proactive about sharing what we are doing and how we are driving ROI.”
Misalignment on Metrics
A CMO’s ability to translate performance metrics such as brand awareness and web traffic into financial metrics like sales and market share is critical.
70% of CEO respondents said they measure marketing’s impact based on year-over-year revenue growth and margin. However, only 35% of CMOs surveyed track that as a top metric.
This also creates a gap between the CMO and CFO, with one CFO from a global gaming company telling McKinsey:
“Once we as a C-suite-including the CMO agree on company goals, strategies, and business metrics we’re trying to achieve, I expect the CMO to tie marketing metrics and connect marketing activities to that big picture. I don’t want to hear about brand awareness if that’s not what we agreed upon as a company goal.”
CMOs are increasingly struggling to understand their impact on growth. 79% of respondents say marketing KPIs were aligned with overall growth KPIs, a 9% decrease from last year. Only 30% believe there is “a clearly defined view” on what constitutes marketing ROI.
Key takeaway
“If you want to create value for your investors, you need growth, and CMOs can and should be at the center of how you think about [that],” said Stewart III. “Customer centricity, no matter what industry you’re in, is at the very core of growing a successful business. CMOs should sit at the heart of [that] because they are the ones that actually own and understand the customer journey.”
