CMOs: 3 Great Ways to Maximize Your Digital World

As a CMO, you know that search engine marketing and big data are greatly impacting the marketing landscape as they are becoming more and more essential to your company's success. As an undergraduate student at Northwestern University in the Medill Integrated Marketing Communications Certificate (IMC) program, I have found two articles you will find both interesting and informative.

The first article titled “7 Things CMOs Need To Know About Search Engine Marketing” by Scott Rayden published on April 15, 2016 discusses how search engine marketing (SEM) is rapidly changing. As a CMO, you should understand where SEM stands in the world of marketing. The seven tips the article states CMO’s must know include: today’s funnel is longer and more complex, not all funnels are created equal, re-marketing pays off at almost every level of the funnel, online and offline work together better than ever, SEM is your ultimate testing sandbox, you don’t have to spend thousands to benefit from attribution, SEM can sort of be used for branding. The article is not recommending that CMO’s spend their entire budget on SEM, but rather be aware of the SEM landscape, what it is capable of, and how it could benefit your company specifically.  

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The second article, “Three Big Data Mistakes That Make a Big Impact” by David Lydston addresses the power of big data as it is “buzzworthy at best” for marketers. In their efforts to use big data, marketers make mistakes, miss opportunities, and don’t allocate budgets efficiently. In an attempt to teach marketers and CMO’s how to use big data most effectively, the article lists the three biggest mistakes marketers make in regard to big data and how they can be avoided. The key takeaways are as follows: investing in a stable infrastructure is a top priority, you need to first establish a specific goal and then decide what data you need according, and past numbers and results are predictive of future results so taking a dedicated and focused approach is key. 

Based on these two articles, my undergraduate studies in the Northwestern Medill IMC program, and my interest in digital marketing/advertising, I have found three action items all CMO’s should consider in their digital efforts.

• Be Insightful—Know what is going on related to marketing and capitalize on the ways in which things like search engine marketing can further help you engage users, promote your message, and achieve your goals.  

• Keep Ahead—Be fully aware of the ways in which digital and social are constantly changing and how big data and SEM are impacting the industry and can positively impact the ways you conduct your day-to-day business.

• Be Focused—Make sure you are setting specific goals and focusing on what matters most.

In the future, I encourage you to think about these three action items as they are key to maximizing your digital universe.


About the Author:

Kyra Hurwitz

I am currently an undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Communication Studies, minoring in Business Institutions, and completing the Medill Integrated Marketing and Communications Certificate. I am graduating in June 2015 and starting as an Account Executive at DigitasLBi in New York in September 2015. Please feel free to share your feedback with me and/or connect with me on Twitter @kyra_hurwitz or Linkedin.