The pressure for CMOs to prove their value in the C-suite multiplies every year. In fact, 62 percent of CMOs report feeling pressure from their CEO or board to prove marketing’s value, and none of them expect that pressure to subside. Add to that the fact that the CMO’s role is evolving rapidly across industries, making it hard for CMOs to understand or predict exactly how they fit into the C-suite.

Where can CMOs make the biggest impact? Customer experience. Customer experience is quickly climbing to the top of executives’ priority lists, and with good reason: Gartner found that 89 percent of companies expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience this year, and it is expected to become the key brand differentiator by 2020. Below, find three ways forward-thinking CMOs can leverage their skills to improve the customer experience and bring expanded value to their organizations.

  1. Become a corporate message champion. As owners of the corporate message, CMOs have valuable insight into customer behaviors, challenges and pain points. They are uniquely positioned to ensure that a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message, anchored in the Corporate Messaging Platform, is strategically and intentionally deployed across all communication channels to engage customers in a meaningful and relevant way.
  2. Act as a cross-functional strategic partner. Forward-thinking CMOs must go beyond historically defined boundaries to take on a wealth of new roles and responsibilities. Their insight and expertise enables them to reach across the aisle and act as expert customer experience advisors to other members in the C-suite and all functional areas of the business.
  3. Infuse messaging into the company’s DNA. A company should never neglect its most powerful communication channel: its employees. CMOs should leverage their insight and partner with HR to design an Organizational Change program that creates a cognitive connection and infuses the corporate message into the hearts and minds of employees. This transforms employees into company advocates, and ensures that customers hear a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message throughout all three phases of the customer experience.

The days of CMOs having little influence are long gone. Now more than ever it is important for CMOs to assume a prominent seat at the decision-making table, and use their deep customer knowledge and insights to improve the customer experience and future business performance.