Get on board: what CMOs need to know to earn a place on the board

Built using real-life qualitative insights from current and former CMOs who have or still serve on boards today, the Framework is the first of its kind in the industry. Cheal comments: “We hope the Framework will inspire CMOs to take action, review their career development goals, and begin to build themselves into a board-ready B2B marketing leader.”

Speaking at the panel hosted by The Drum’s co-founder and editor-in-chief, Gordon Young, along with thought leaders who shared how CMOs can demonstrate their board readiness, Cheal revealed that only 2.6% of public or private company boards globally contain a CMO. And only 39% of those who do regularly invite their CMO to attend board meetings.

The research is part of a growing industry conversation around the problem with marketing in the C-suite: The Drum’s own ‘The Great Marketing Makeover’ poll recently revealed that just 20% of marketers believe the CMO role is seen as equally influential as other C-suite executives.

So, what will it take to turn this around?

Develop T-shaped skills

The panelists agreed that CMOs must redefine their roles to align more closely with business objectives and board expectations. This involves not only mastering marketing but also gaining expertise in finance, strategy, and cross-disciplinary leadership. As Raj Pudipeddi, chief marketing officer, Align Technology points out: “Marketers need to portray themselves as strategists and growth drivers, not just executors of marketing activities.”

That means acquiring ‘T-shaped’ skills that build bridges with other key parts of the business, making marketers more versatile and collaborative. And those are the skillsets most lacking in today’s B2B marketing organizations, according to the Transmission research: only 33% of B2B CMOs have T-shaped skills.

Of the 311 B2B CMOs who were globally benchmarked against the Transmission Framework, most are still in the early stages of maturity, with 54% in the ‘establishing’ stage and only 2% in the ‘advanced’ stage.

Use digital to enhance marketing effectiveness

Keeping on top of emerging tech is a massive part of the CMOs role these days. But the digital revolution could be in danger of pushing marketers to focus more on sales and performance to the detriment of other priorities.

NetApp’s chief marketing officer Gabie Boko emphasized the need for marketers to transcend operational roles and engage more with customer insights and business strategy: “Digital has forced marketers into the back office. We must connect digital tools with real customer experiences and pipeline management to remain relevant and strategic.” Tools that track key business metrics such as Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) directly tie marketing’s efforts to business performance.

Taeko Yamamoto, executive vice-president and chief marketing officer, Fujitsu, agrees that, rather than allowing digital to suck them into an executional role, marketers need to leverage digital tools to align marketing with broader business goals. Sharing her own experience, she says: “Our new CEO hired me to integrate technology and data into marketing to drive better business transformation.”

Marketing needs a rebrand

Just as marketers need to redefine their roles and skillsets to themselves and their board, so they need to rebrand the profession within the industry. Boko explains: “We need to showcase marketing as a front-office, strategic function that drives business success. We’re always giving the glory away. I think it’s time to take that back.”

Cheal adds: “If marketers can take back control of product and innovation, we can make the role more appealing and demonstrate its impact on business outcomes.” She also shared a story of three CMOs interviewed as part of the Transmission research who dropped the ‘-ing’ from their job title to boost career success. After they changed their title from ‘chief marketing officer’ to ‘chief market officer’, they found that they were “bombarded” with board invitations as “market specialism and expertise is credibly valuable to a board.”

CMOs who can develop these skills will bridge the gap to board readiness and transform their career trajectories. As the panelists emphasized, their future – and that of the industry - lies in their ability to connect, innovate, and lead at the highest levels of business.