The role of the chief marketing officer (CMO) has been increasingly scrutinized in recent years. Dozens of CMO positions have been axed from some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including McDonald’s which replaced the role with a new SVP marketing technology position. CMOs who remain will need to prepare to handle even more pressure to prove their organizational value in 2020, says a new Forrester report.

In 2018 Forrester predicted a decline in Fortune 100 CMOs. Since then, organizations have started to part ways with CMOs, reallocating their responsibilities to leaders such as the CIO. 2020 is predicted to be a critical year for CMOs to deliver seamless customer experiences with their martech investments and, crucially, generate attributable revenue from those martech-enabled experiences. 

Martech spend continues to take a solid chunk out of CMOs’ budgets, and while spending slowed this year, the report warns that CMOs approach martech investments cautiously — and more strategically. “Rather than blindly dumping more money into tech spend, we’ve delivered growth with a strategy built around creative engagement with our customers through existing channels,” Chris Brandt, CMO of Chipotle told Forrester.

Let’s get to the math:

The majority of CEOs today – nearly 70% – believe that CMOs should be leading revenue growth.

More than half of this group goes so far as to name revenue growth as the primary mandate of marketing.

Another 23% are on the fence, feeling that, to some degree, marketing should be measured by revenue performance.

This is all according to a report that was co-written by the CMO Council and consulting agency Deloitte.

Focusing on customers = more profitable marketing outcomes.

By embracing new technologies, creating each go-to-market strategy with a fresh approach, taking advantage of the insights that customer data and feedback offers, and connecting with the wider organization in order to direct better business strategies, CMOs are more than capable of driving revenue growth.

The expectations are more dynamic today and yes, the pressure is on to produce results. For marketers who can apply their creativity to coming up with the most impactful ways to utilize all the new and evolving tools at their fingertips through innovative strategies, and who can accept both the power and responsibility of the reborn CMO, driving growth should be a piece of cake.

The report from Accenture Strategy found that 50% of CEOs see CMOs as the primary driver of disruptive growth in a company. But if a company does not achieve that growth, 37% of CEOs said the CMO would be first in the firing line. Chief sales officers at 34% and chief strategy officers at 29% were next in line.

However, despite the fact both CEOs and CMOs believe disruptive growth is crucial for a company’s growth, CMOs only spend 37% of their time on innovation. In addition, while 60% is spend on traditional marketing approaches.

Due to this, more than half (54%) of CMOs feel a large portion of their marketing budget is being wasted and not delivering the results the business expects, while only 30% of CMOs believe they are cutting-edge marketing innovators.