Shrinking Marketing Tenure & Must-Know Trends

From the Q to You! From Marketing technology innovations, thought leadership analysis, to several hot new job listings we have a lot Q’d up in this edition!

News & Analysis

CMO tenure has been declining since 2009! What’s more, the CMO role now turns over more often than any other C-Suite position. In B2B SaaS the situation is even more dire. This is raising real questions about the pressures and challenges facing marketing leaders in SaaS companies and what can be done to help overcome and reverse this alarming trend.

The tenure of marketing professionals, not just CMOs, is shrinking across the board. Major agencies went through their own house cleaning over the past year, “right-sizing” to address the Pandemic. This trend is driven by several factors, including the increasing pressure for immediate results, rapid technological advancements, and a strong emphasis on data-driven marketing strategies. In particular, the fast-paced nature of industries like B2B SaaS exacerbates these challenges, resulting in higher turnover rates. Additionally, the high expectations from venture capital funding and frequent misalignment with organizational goals further contribute to the declining tenure of marketing roles​.

Check out our deep analysis on this topic in our last blog. 

Big Players Jumping into the AI Marketing Tools Market: We’re seeing AI increasingly transforming marketing with improvements in performance analytics, personalized experiences, and automated campaigns. Likewise, leaders like HubSpot and Salesforce are launching new AI solutions that boost efficiency and effectiveness. AI’s ability to learn and adapt means more precise targeting and personalization. Pro tip: As AI technology advances, its potential to drive innovation and streamline marketing processes will become indispensable, however there’s a lot of AI hype, so perform an extra level of due diligence when assessing these solutions, ideally in the form of an extensive POC.

Privacy laws Fueling The Importance of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): The CDP market is experiencing significant growth due to the need for personalized customer experiences, data privacy compliance, and the increasing volume of customer data. As businesses focus on digital transformation and data-driven marketing, CDP adoption is accelerating. MarketsandMarkets projects the global CDP market will grow from $2.4 billion in 2020 to $10.3 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 34.0%. Companies like Insider and Boomreach are leading the way, offering comprehensive views of customer journeys that enhance satisfaction and ROI. Pro Tip: CDPs are essential not only for seamless customer experiences but also for navigating complex privacy and compliance issues in marketing and sales.

Voice Search Optimization: With the rise of voice-activated devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, optimizing for voice search is crucial.  In fact, Adobe released a study suggesting that around 48% of consumers are using voice search for general web searches. And SEO optimization software giant Moz published an article offering  insights and best practices on how to adapt your text-based SEO strategies for voice search. Pro Tip: Voice search optimization is emerging , but its importance will grow rapidly.  Thus, marketers who get educated early on will be better positioned in the future.  

Thoughts on the Thought-Leaders

Sam Jacobs pulls no punches with his claim that if you’re a CMO and you’re not seriously investing in brand (perhaps as much as 40% of your budget), you’re losing market share. He goes on to state that in non-competitive categories, you can invest exclusively in Demand Generation, and you’ll be doing your job. But everywhere else, you’ll need more than just bottom of the funnel demand capture. Because at any given time less than ⅓ of your buyers are actually in market.

Airtable recently released its 2024 Marketing Trends Report revealing key insights into the current state of marketing. Some key takeaways: 

• 88% of marketing leaders are now accountable for meeting revenue goals, a significant increase from last year.

• Despite an increase in campaign and content volume, only 25% have extensive visibility into ROI, stressing the importance of connected data for prioritizing impactful initiatives.

• Challenges like Martech overload and data duplication persist, with 73% of leaders seeking information from 5 to 15 sources and 81% encountering notable data redundancy.

• AI and no-code tools are driving marketing efficiency with 96% of leaders leveraging AI for various tasks and 59% of efficient teams using no-code tools regularly for streamlined operations.

• Teams with efficient workflows tend to have high ROI visibility, with 97% reporting moderate to very high visibility, underscoring the significance of aligning marketing strategies with revenue goals.

Dave Gerhardt responds to the common question, “do you have a 30-60-90 day plan as a new VP of Marketing?”. He states that while he can understands asking for a 30-60-90 day plan, there is never going to be a template for this because it's really so dependent on the company and stage. Instead he advocates for evaluate the company and what they need with marketing now and build YOUR 30-60-90 day plan. What needs fixing? What do you need to learn? What goals should you have?

Dave also provides some excellent resources that can help guide the process:

1. CMO Scorecard - Google "Tim Kopp CMO Scorecard" this is a document I reference often and share with many first time marketing leaders.
2. Listen to episodes 76 (Kyle Lacy on his first 90 days as a new CMO) and 82 (Jon Miller on What a Great CMO Does) of the Exit Five podcast.
3. Get the book "Next CMO" by Peter Mahoney -- some really good templates and frameworks in there for strategy and planning.

Marketing Career Opportunities

Are you ready to take the next step in your marketing career:

Director of Growth Marketing | Onit | Remote

Digital Marketing Manager | runZero | Remote $125-145K yr

Vice President Marketing | Tessolve | California

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) | Yeager AI | Remote

Director, Product Marketing Firework | San Mateo, CA | $150-175K yr

Head of Marketing Strategy | Uber | New York, NY

Marketing Coordinator | SAB Capital | New York, NY | $55k - $68k yr

VP, Marketing | Relyance AI | San Francisco | $182K to $298K yr

Until Next Time

That's it for this week’s Through the Funnel. Until next time, keep an eye on the latest and greatest marketing career opportunities at Marketinghq and follow us on Linkedin.

For 1:1 assistance with finding your next role, or help with excelling in your existing one, check out our career coaching services here!

Happy hunting!

- The MarketingHQ Team