Career Progression of a Chief Marketing Officer: How to Become a CMO
For most marketing professionals, the ultimate goal is to become a Chief Marketing Officer. Some organizations may even refer to the same designation as a Marketing Director or a Global Marketing Officer. The difficult question however is how can one achieve this goal? Being a part of the executive team of an organization is one of the highest achievement in the corporate world today. A CXO role in your field of choice isn’t an easy task to achieve and we understand that.
Let’s break the progression down into a step by step guide for you. As the CMO of any organization is expected to fill in multiple roles like overseeing operations for advertising, brand management, product development, market research, customer service, marketing communications, pricing and managing their teams among other roles, it is important that each of these become a part of your career at some point or another. Let’s understand how that can be done.
Specialist/Analyst/Coordinator/Executive
Most organizations use similar jargons for their designations however the exact terminologies can differ. On an average, the entry level job profile for a marketing professional may include any one of the above mentioned terms.
Depending on the domain/industry you choose as the first step for your marketing career, you could have a variety of different roles to choose from. It is necessary to start small with a profession like marketing — especially in the digital age. Here are some of the options for you to choose from if you’re a fresh graduate from college in the marketing industry:
- Account Coordinator
- Social Media Coordinator
- Event Marketing Coordinator
- Marketing Executive
- Marketing Analyst
- Pricing Analyst
- Marketing specialist
You can also find your desired role and save the career progression easily on JobTrees. The information about expected salary, number of years spent in that role on average and core job responsibilities can also be found on JobTrees.
Strategist/Senior Analyst/Senior Associate
Stepping one step ahead from the entry-level role in marketing, the second level includes job roles like that of a senior analyst/senior associate in marketing. This can also be inclusive of multiple different roles. Some companies provide the opportunity to manage small teams of 3–5 people at this level to enable professionals for managing bigger teams eventually.
Another aspect of responsibility at this level of your career can include the direct communication with clients and client managers. Most entry level jobs do not provide this opportunity however sticking to the profession and moving onto a higher role can open those doors for you as well.
Learn more about the roles of senior marketing experts and their average salaries along with potential job opening on JobTrees.
Digital Marketing/Product/Brand Manager
As formulated by most organizations, the third level in any career progression series is the role of a manager. This role is inclusive of responsibilities perfectly correlated to the term ‘manager’. Marketing managers are not only responsible to manage their teams or coordinate with clients, but they are also responsible for creating decks and pitching to new potential clients which gives them the ability to bring in more business to the organization. Additionally, they also handle responsibilities such as overseeing diverse segments of marketing.
We know now that traditional and digital marketing are quite different in terms of the requirement of effort as well as creativity. A marketing manager must be able to bridge the gap to ensure the success of marketing campaigns. Some possible options for job roles are:
- Advertising manager
- Public relations manager
- Promotions manager
- Brand manager
- Sales manager
- Social media manager
- Community manager
- Marketing Manager
Senior Manager/Director/VP of Marketing
As high as the level of a marketing career goes, the role becomes more and more focused towards bringing in new ideas and new methods to the organization. For any marketing director, the most important factor is to offer what is needed in the market in real time. This is done via a flurry of market research reports, analyzing and acting on competitor activities as well as simply thinking outside the box.
A marketing director usually spends anywhere between 6–8 years within the same role as the role is filled with impactful responsibilities and is majorly focused on long term goals like implementing new strategies along with building theories as well. Every organization builds their own level roles and responsibilities for higher levels of job profiles as they are highly dependent on the bigger organizational goal. Some of the designations known at this level of a marketing career are:
- Director of Marketing Research
- Director of Advertising sales
- Director of Media
- Director of Public Relations
- Director of Marketing Analytics
Chief/Global Marketing Officer/Director/President
This role is usually filled by experts who have been a part of the industry for over 15–20 years. This major amount of experience gives them the expertise needed to understand the changing environment of the marketing industry and how new theories are built or implemented. It is the senior-most level in the world of marketing across the globe. Their responsibilities include analyzing and developing all areas of marketing from planning them to implementing them and to finally being responsible for the ROI achieved on the marketing campaigns of an organization.
Although marketing as a whole becomes a part of a CMO’s jurisdiction, it is never a comprehensive role since marketing is a complex and varied industry. It includes expertise for fields like brand management, PR, agency marketers, influencer markets, B2C and B2B marketing needs and a lot more.
It is a complex and time consuming journey yet attainable. A lot of entrepreneurs and renowned organizations are often on the lookout for the right person to fill this prestigious and one of the most important roles in the field of Marketing. If you are someone who aspires to be a Chief Marketing Officer someday or simply want to start your career in marketing as a professional, save your dream roles and read everything you need to know about your dream jobs on JobTrees.
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