From CMO to CEO? Yes, You Can!
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From CMO to CEO? Yes, You Can!

18 October 2024 / Article

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Chief marketing officers’ (CMOs’) increasingly broad responsibilities and business expertise have enhanced their career opportunities, including as candidates for CEO and the board.

This article describes CMOs’ growing CEO/board qualifications, hiring trends for CMOs, and career advice for CMOs based on insights from interviews with CMOs, CEOs, and executive recruiters; a roundtable with CMOs; a survey of CMOs; and third-party sources.

This article is part of a series of insight articles on the CMO role.

Key Insights

  • CMOs’ broader responsibilities make them more suitable for CEO and board roles, but it is still not a typical career trajectory and many CMOs do not aim for these positions.
  • Higher pay and a bigger title can be tempting, but marketing executives should assess new CMO opportunities by looking at senior leadership’s support of the function before accepting a new CMO position.
  • While traditional CMO roles are now gender balanced, men dominate revenue and digital marketing leadership positions, which are often hired externally for their specialized expertise.

Chief marketing officers’ (CMOs’) increasingly broad responsibilities and business expertise have enhanced their career opportunities, including as candidates for CEO and the board.

This article describes CMOs’ growing CEO/board qualifications, hiring trends for CMOs, and career advice for CMOs based on insights from interviews with CMOs, CEOs, and executive recruiters; a roundtable with CMOs; a survey of CMOs; and third-party sources.

This article is part of a series of insight articles on the CMO role.

Key Insights

  • CMOs’ broader responsibilities make them more suitable for CEO and board roles, but it is still not a typical career trajectory and many CMOs do not aim for these positions.
  • Higher pay and a bigger title can be tempting, but marketing executives should assess new CMO opportunities by looking at senior leadership’s support of the function before accepting a new CMO position.
  • While traditional CMO roles are now gender balanced, men dominate revenue and digital marketing leadership positions, which are often hired externally for their specialized expertise.
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Author

Denise Dahlhoff, PhD

Denise Dahlhoff, PhD Denise Dahlhoff, PhD

Director, Marketing & Communications Research
The Conference Board

Read Bio

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