What are marketers actually worried about these days?

If I was a marketer…

If I was a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) I’m pretty sure I would be thinking constantly about results (i.e. the bottom line), and because I would be constantly thinking about results, I probably wouldn’t sleep at night.

In all honestly, if the results issue didn’t reach some sort of resolution in my mind and on paper, I would also start worrying about my job and then that would keep me up at night.

The real stressor

Turns out what CMOs are really tossing and turning over at night is the whole customer relationship experience. In past years, it was social media listening, but competitive brands are getting ahead by offering a superior experience in a sea of subpar experiences (we’ve all been on the receiving end of that).

In fact, a survey by the marketing research group Korn Ferry Institute revealed that more than one-third of US CMOs and marketing leaders said that “creating sustainable and engaging customer relationships and improving the customer experience was a primary objective that keeps them up at night.”

Creating sustainable and engaging customer relationships is what puts money in cash registers for the long term. It’s not so much about hooking new customers, as much as keeping the old ones coming back.

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Repeat business is king.

And beyond customers

And as long as we’re talking about not sleeping at night, I suspect that figuring out a way to fire-up lower-tier employees (like sales people for example) so they are share-holders in the company dream would also keep me up at night.

You may be the most enthusiastic manager/boss/president of all time, but if your staff doesn’t share your vision (and in this case, the vision is great customer service that keeps them coming back for more) then sooner or later, the sign in the window that says “Open” may well say “For Sale.”

#MarketerStressors