How CMOs can master marketing metrics in the language of the C-suite

"CMOs today are under immense pressure to prove marketing's value to the board - yet, according to The Drum research, linking marketing directly to business growth has been a top challenge for them this year. That, along with finding growth in an uncertain environment. With this pressure, the role of the CMO is changing: today's CMOs must be strategists, change-makers and effective communicators, especially when addressing the boardroom."

"Heni Hazbay, director of digital marketing for Sainsbury's, Argos, Habitat, TU and Nectar, kicked off sharing how brands have faced a "perfect storm" of regulatory changes, stricter data privacy measures, and operating systems this year, hampering their ability to measure marketing success with accuracy. "We were suddenly unable to match our digital marketing efforts with the bottom-line results as we used to, and that raised eyebrows in the boardroom," Hazbay explained, noting their main question being: "Where is the revenue you promised or forecasted?""

"This pressure to deliver concrete financial outcomes highlighted the need for better ways of translating marketing performance into business terms that resonate with non-marketing leaders. He emphasized that CMOs must work across departments - legal, engineering, marketing and data protection officers - to address the root causes of measurement challenges and deliver clear business cases to secure buy-in and unlock more marketing investment."

Chief marketing officers face intense pressure to prove marketing's value to boards while linking marketing to business growth and finding growth amid uncertainty. Regulatory changes, stronger data privacy rules, and shifts in operating systems have created a measurement 'perfect storm' that hampers the ability to tie digital marketing to bottom-line results. The inability to demonstrate revenue impact raises boardroom scrutiny and demands clearer translation of marketing metrics into business terms. CMOs must act as strategists and communicators who collaborate cross-functionally with legal, engineering, and data protection teams to fix measurement gaps, build business cases, and unlock further marketing investment.

Read at The Drum