CMOs are facing major challenges during the pandemic. From the rapid changes in channels of engagement and ways to connect with customers to vanishing budgets marketing departments have been turned upside down. Here are three perspectives on the challenges CMOs are facing and some insight on how to meet these challenges.

Making Marketing Budgets Sustainable in the Face of Upheaval

Gartner’s Ewan McIntyre is on the frontlines of understanding the challenges that CMO’s are facing during the pandemic. As vice president and analyst at Gartner for Marketers he’s talked to, interviewed, and surveyed many of America’s leaders CMOs about how the pandemic has turned everything upside. “According to Gartner’s 2020 CMO Spend Survey, 44% of CMOs expected an in-year budget cut of more than 5% as a result of COVID-19.” But despite the significant budget cuts, McIntyre encourages CMO’s not to become reactive but to chart a course that is future-focused.

Ready to learn how to avoid the top three mistakes CMOs make when “tackling budget challenges”? You can read the McIntyre’s thoughts here.

Is Hiring a Mercenary a Good Choice for a CMO?

There are many radical steps a CMO can take during a period of fiscal restraint, but is hiring a mercenary one of them? This is just one of the pieces of advice that Postclick CMO, Eric Eden, and his peers from leading analyst firms and brands, recommend in a new eBook. The 10 strategies they share are designed to help marketers navigate the 2020 budget planning process and set the stage for success in 2021. While some may seem self-evident – such as building a growth strategy that focuses on your existing customers – others are frankly unexpected – like hiring cloud mercenaries.

Ready to hire some cloud mercenaries? You can find the pros and cons here.

Prioritizing Innovation Under Pressure

For Sitecore’s CMO, Paige O’Neill, the focus of this unprecedented year shouldn’t be on what a CMO can’t do, but rather on what they can do to continue to connect engagement to demand.

In a conversation with Modern Marketing Today, O’Neill noted that the pandemic had driven five years of digital maturation compressed into five months. “In the middle of March, literally overnight, brands had to react to having little, if any, in-person contact with their customers and pivot to a digital strategy,” she explained. “Combined with the steady rise of consumer expectation about digital experiences and engagement, this was a lot for brands to take on and drive success.”

And yet, as O’Neill goes on to explain in this, and other articles on Modern Marketing Today, many brands have risen to the challenge.

Curious? You can read more here.