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CMOs should be measured by their results, not their spend

Columnist Joe Hyland believes the most successful CMOs aren't the ones who spend the most money; they're the ones who invest in sophisticated martech stacks that produce big returns on revenue in the long term.

Joe Hyland on December 12, 2017 at 2:55 pm

“Budgets recede amid demand for results.” That’s Gartner’s headline on their latest CMO budget research report.

Kudos to Gartner for continuing to track the growth of CMO technology spend and to their PR team for the dramatic spin — but, honestly, who cares? I certainly don’t, and it’s not just because I’ve had to dedicate a good-sized chunk of that “receding” budget to their services.

Gartner’s thesis is that CMO budgets should continue to grow as overall revenue increases and that a dip in the percentage of revenue spent on marketing is a troubling sign. That’s where I call foul.

I realize I’m no economist, so let’s take a moment to understand Gartner’s position.

[Read the full article on MarTech Today.]

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Joe Hyland

Joe Hyland is the CMO of the leading webinar platform company, ON24, where he is responsible for the company’s global marketing, communication and brand strategy. He has over a decade of experience creating and marketing innovative products in the enterprise and SaaS software markets. Before joining ON24, Hyland was the CMO at Taulia, the SaaS market-leading financial supply chain company. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College.