• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 24, 2021

Some 86% of senior marketers worldwide believe lack of leadership and capabilities has resulted in missed revenue, growth and customer acquisition opportunities when it comes to implementing multichannel campaigns.

The findings are part of a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council study released this week.

The research -- based on a global survey of 150 CMO Council members -- uncovers gaps and deficiencies across key functional areas in the office of the CMO. More than half of marketing leaders surveyed say they struggle to effectively execute multichannel campaigns.

One-third of senior marketers surveyed in early 2021 acknowledge a lack of resources, capabilities and effective leadership in key functional areas that “consistently” impair the performance of their team. More than half say this is an “intermittent” problem.

About 43% of CMOs find it very difficult, time-consuming and always challenging to find experienced, proficient and knowledgeable leaders and direct reports, whereas 40% say it’s “moderately difficult.”

Most senior marketers face challenges to properly recruit senior leaders to run teams. More than half of survey respondents said the process takes three to six months, and another 15% said it can take more than six months.

In a twist that should help companies close the gap and properly execute multichannel campaigns, the CMO Council -- which has 16,000 members in 10,000 companies -- partnered with Chief Outsiders to offer members on-demand outsourcing of senior marketers on a contract or interim basis.

While respondents say sourcing permanent employee talent is complex and time-consuming, only about one-third have retained experienced contractors or part time staff at the director level or above.

Despite gaps in leadership, 41% of CMOs said they have not used contractors, while 25% say they are evaluating this option or plan to do so in 2021. 

Top five areas where CMOs see gaps include:

• Customer journey, acquisition and conversion
• Segmentation and personalized messaging at scale
• Actioning on customer data insight
• Demand generation and pipeline
• Campaign execution and measurement