The Hunt

As a hiring manager, the biggest mistake you can make is to prioritize the wrong skills, experiences, qualities, and credentials. When this happens, you set out to find an orange, when you should be looking for an apple. And when you do make a hiring decision, you’ve basically doomed that person to fail and put your company in a vulnerable position at the same time. So, the next time you’re evaluating CMO candidates, do NOT look for the following qualities:

The Same Qualities as Your Departing CMO

It is always tempting to replace a departing executive with a carbon copy. But that is both an ineffective strategy and a missed opportunity. Your departing CMO is leaving for a reason – either they are not good enough at their job, too good at their job, or too old for their job. In any circumstance, they are the wrong person for the job, and trying to clone them will only create friction. Plus, recruiting someone totally different is an exciting opportunity to bring in fresh ideas, perspectives, and strategies.

An Emphasis on Customer Acquisition

More than one CMO has fallen into the trap of making customer acquisition their first-and-only priority. Sure, the numbers look great at the start, but in practice this strategy leads to short-term highs and long-term lows. Customer acquisition is important, but not more important than customer retention. And if you’re not laser-focused on keeping your current customers happy and eager to return, you will quickly comprise your revenue base and damage your brand image. Look for a CMO candidate who is eager to engage the customers you already have.

A Creative (Rather than Analytic) Mind

In the past, most CMOs started out as copywriters or designers and rose through the ranks-thanks to their creative successes. Once they reached the executive level, their job was basically to marshal creative resources to serve business interests. But the role of today’s CMO is a lot more about collecting and analyzing data than coming up with taglines and logos. In fact, in many enterprises the CMO is replacing the CIO as the major consumer of technology and information. You don’t want a CMO who is strictly nuts-and-bolts, but they must understand the importance of data and be excited about using it in bigger and better ways.

This list may have given you a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, especially if you have been actively recruiting for a CMO. But it’s always better to delay the hiring process than to make a bad hire. And if you have the right resources at your disposal, you can be selective without limiting your choices. Find those resources by working with Artemis Consultants.