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While evaluating a shortlist of CMO candidates, I noticed something interesting. On paper, each candidate had similar backgrounds and seemed like a good fit. Yet when we spoke to each of them, their stories were completely different.
While not shocking, what stood out was their approach to the role and perceived market context. Why such a huge difference? Was it them or the client I was advising at the time? How do we collectively assess suitability to make an offer?
CMO candidates and selection committees don’t have it easy
CMOs have one of the toughest jobs on the executive team. Hiring one can be just as challenging. Companies must triangulate the changing business landscape, the mixed responsibilities of CMOs, and diverse candidate pools. In turn, CMOs must craft a moving target narrative that addresses these evolving expectations.
I have worked with hundreds of marketing and go-to-market leaders. We discovered and used several insights to help us. They are from the investor’s perspective and are part of our larger efforts for sustainable growth and cross-organizational value creation.
Within these engagements, we assessed five CMO roles and one Head of Marketing. Several themes stood out for applicants and selection committees.
1. Ignoring internal candidates
Personally, I tend to look more closely at internal candidates. In three out of five cases, there was a prevailing mindset that a new GTM or brand equity strategy should always be outsourced.
As an internal candidate
Prove that you have taken an alternative approach to your predecessor and can still navigate existing relationships. Most CEOs and boards looking for a new CMO are looking for one who can think differently and execute well.
As a selection committee
Unless the GTM strategy is anchored, look closer to internal candidates. Even those with less experience have more operational advantages. Existing relationships, processes, knowledge and adaptation mean less time for value.
Additionally, you can incentivize these candidates with training and mentoring. It also speaks to a healthy retention culture. If there are no closely qualified internal candidates, then it may be worth reviewing and investing more in retention strategies, talent management and succession planning.
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2. Silated OOP
Silated CMO is a growth inhibitor. The most valuable asset the CMO brings is maximizing the brand value of the product or service in the marketplace. Among many things, modern marketing builds brand equity and stronger market engagement.
OOPs should be integrated throughout as they serve as a conduit of energy and sentiment internally with the brand and market. However, the CMO needs to gain interest and synthesize even more for the rest of the company.
As an internal candidate
You need to understand how other C-suite executives make decisions and deal with challenges. Illustrate this in your interviews.
More importantly, as part of your personal brand, continue to share your curated insights and advice on the matter. They need to tell a story beyond best marketing practices.
As a selection committee
It’s not the job of the CEO and the board to hold the CMO’s hand. But if they show acumen, initiative and empathy for the business, it’s critical to open the doors and smooth out your reactions to their plans.
When evaluating candidates, look for these stories of intrinsic motivation, as well as how this translated into value creation across the organization.
3. CMO evangelists make bad candidates
For one of the companies, marketing was not a priority. They had a “figure” and a narrator. This CMO severely lacked operational and organizational experience. Without an internal connection within the organization, the CMO seemed disjointed and lacking in authenticity.
The CEO must demonstrate the cornerstone of the company’s brand and purpose. Evangelicals are primarily concerned with the market. OOPs mostly own the connecting ecosystem and engagement.
As an internal candidate
I’m a big fan of Evangelicals and behind the scenes I’ve helped build and support Evangelicals. I have seen how their extensive research and experiential insights can be beneficial in conversations at the market level. Additionally, they can provide innovative concepts from industry engagement.
But CMOs whose core talents are on display at events, panels, podcasts and interviews make poor operators and often poor leaders. Too much focus on oneself leaves little light and attention to others.
If you want to change that image, learn the platform, create a valuable use case, and demonstrate it. For services, it’s a little more difficult. Although standout candidates either adapt a version of this or invest time and help deeper into the sales process.
As a selection committee
In addition to listening to the “we” in interviews, I’ve found that the best candidates demonstrate building a culture that encourages ownership, experimentation, skill/experience learning, and collaboration.
Sometimes marketing is less of a priority depending on the headwind. Top candidates in these cases discussed retention, education, partnership and community initiatives.
4. Proper weighing of technical possibilities
Originally a computer and software engineer, I have surprised everyone, including myself, how little weight I place on technical capabilities. Like traditional technology leaders, CMO candidates may not know how to use the latest coding tools and languages, but they can add tremendous value by optimizing and positioning the impact of the stack on the business or ecosystem. “Why” is bigger than “how”.
Value creation is more important than stack perfection.
As an internal candidate
As a CMO, it’s not important to know how to use these stacks. Instead, it’s good to know what’s in your core technology and what the game-changing platforms/tools are.
Be prepared to describe:
- How some major technology initiatives performed at your last/current company, if any.
- How your brand value or performance has improved.
- What enabled the business.
As a selection committee
We have seen descriptions of positions when shooting at the moon. There is certainly no need to filter or give extra weight to a CMO candidate based on the technology they observe in their group. (Once a candidate initially filtered out because of the “tech” mismatch ended up being our chosen candidate.) Another important success factor is how the candidate builds value-added relationships with suppliers.
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5. Be prepared, but not too personalized
While hyper-personalization can be applied to customer relationship tactics, it becomes too creepy in the selection process.
It tends to appear inauthentic, possibly overcompensating and showing a level of insecurity.
As an internal candidate
Key company research is a must. Over-indexing your in-depth and even personal interviewer research can lead to an out-of-context situation or inappropriate behavior. For example, we had two candidates in two separate processes surprise the interviewers with very personal gifts during the interview.
Personalized thank you notes in the context of the interview are still welcome. Stay within these limits.
As a selection committee
The reverse is also true. HR is required to do a background check. However, interviewers who make irrelevant assumptions about an applicant’s background can lead to awkward or inappropriate conversations.
Hobby/interest questions are a good way to learn more about a candidate, but stay within what they provide.
Finding the right CMO role or candidate
There are many criteria that you will use in your unique processes. In our case, the above points helped us distinguish the good from the great candidates. They often weighted (positively or negatively) more than some traditional criteria.
Regardless of the experiences, I am also constantly learning and developing my thinking. I certainly insist on constant curiosity about the role, changing perceptions and value possibilities in an executive team. They will be great additions to your recruitment process and support your business goals.
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
About the author
Anand is an industry leader, builder and consultant in marketing technology and growth strategy. His 15 years include marketing, operations, sales, data, analytics and intelligent systems. It thrives where people, data and money intersect. Advisor to growth leaders and investors. Creator of smart tools enabling smart people. An investor favoring product-led growth (PLG) companies. In recent years, he has been a marketing technology associate with Scott Brinker. He is an advisor to the CDP Institute and co-host of the Talking Stack podcast. Bringing multidisciplinary expertise, Anand founded IntelliPhi to enable growth leaders to navigate complex go-to-market decisions by leveraging data, AI-enabled systems and their expert leadership. Their Apollo platform was recently acquired by a senior management consulting firm. He has worked for growth teams at enterprise companies such as Siemens, Silverpop/IBM, Microsoft, Blackstone, Salesforce.com, Fidelity, NYSE and eBay. With some entrepreneurial wins and losses, Anand is a reserved advisor for startups and investors navigating remarkable returns. He is also known for his ability to identify and cultivate growing sales, marketing and entrepreneurial leaders.
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