Good morning, Marketer, may the sun always be at your back and never in your eyes. Marketing is good at selling many things, but not always the value of marketing. At least not to its own organization. As Teresa Barreira points out in her article today, CMOs are being sidelined when it comes to making key business decisions. “Only 5.5% of 600 surveyed executives said it was the CMO who approved investments in digital engagement technologies.” One of the reasons is language. While all business disciplines have their own jargon and terminology, some translate easier than others. We’re used to speaking in terms of engagement, customer experience, the customer journey, touch points, channels, etc. We know those are what drive demand and ultimately revenue. Finance and operations may not get it because those aren’t concepts that exist in their languages. How do you bridge the divide? Data. Facts are facts and they have to be the basis for the internal marketing you absolutely have to be doing. Constantine von Hoffman, Managing Editor |