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Are you qualified for the hottest jobs on the market?
LinkedIn recently revealed the 25 fastest-growing jobs in the United States. Like many other areas, marketing and sales are changing.
But are these the same old jobs wrapped up in a fancier, buzzword-laden title? Or do these roles have new features that didn't exist 10 years ago? And finally, how does this all fit into the trend towards brands without a CMO?
Let's explore the answers with Robert Rose, CMI's chief strategy advisor. Check out his opinion or read on.
It's Groundhog Day and in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, a wild rodent named Phil will once again emerge from his burrow to see if there are six more weeks of winter ahead of him. The profession has existed since the late 19th century, but the title “Phil” was not introduced until 1961.
But the jobs and skills you need to pursue are changing rapidly. Let's look at some trends to help you assess your capabilities and consider what preparations you need to make.
Disappearance of CMOs
The first trend is that the Chief Marketing Officer position is retiring. Stories about the end of the CMO position are not new, but logistics company UPS made headlines in December when it eliminated the position.
Or is it? Effective immediately, UPS has created the role of Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer to oversee marketing, revenue, product management, strategy and transformation.
Doesn't that make you scratch your head?
Also in December, Etsy, the online arts and crafts marketplace, eliminated the CMO position and transferred responsibilities to the head of operations. And Walgreens laid off 5% of its corporate employees — including the CMO — and shifted responsibility to others within the company.
For at least a decade, debates have raged every few years about the true nature of the CMO role — and whether the job is too big for one person. In 2021, the big retirement sparked conversations about new titles in marketing that brought sharp elbows into the boardroom and took over the boss name – Chief Experience Officer, Chief Customer Officer and even Chief Digital Officer.
Fastest growing job vacancies
This time, however, the main marketing conversation appears to be different, and that brings up the second trend, as reflected in LinkedIn's recent article on the 25 fastest-growing jobs in the United States. It speaks volumes about the astronomical growth of artificial intelligence.
Five of the 25 roles – or 20% – are located directly within the sales, marketing and communications departments. This includes the Chief Growth Officer (not really a new trend; see the 2021 topic above), but also the Director of Revenue Operations, the External Communications Manager, the Influencer Marketing Manager and the Head of Partnerships.
Increase, not decrease, the value of modern marketing
But look at these features of the fastest-growing roles that LinkedIn has identified, and you'll see that they're just new titles for chief marketing officer responsibilities. The five fastest-growing sales, marketing and communications roles merely mix the traditional marketing functions that are changing, not the job itself.
Going back to the exciting UPS story, the new Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer oversees marketing, revenue, product management, strategy and transformation. Put simply, UPS isn't saying the CMO job was too big; She believes it wasn't strategic enough.
Many interpret the trend of CMO job cuts as an indicator that the top management (CEOs and boards) do not consider marketing worthy of inclusion in the C-suite. On the contrary, the leadership of UPS and other brands recognizes that marketing is, as the amazing Peter Drucker used to say, the only innovative function in the company.
All of these new, fastest-growing roles simply repackage classic marketing functions in new and certainly different ways.
According to LinkedIn, chief growth officers “develop and implement a company’s strategies to increase revenue, expand market presence, and ensure sustainable growth.” That just sounds like someone who is now responsible not only for the tactical elements of marketing, but also for product and strategic market development.
Directors of Revenue Operations “help oversee the company's revenue generation practices and work closely with sales and marketing teams to optimize business growth and ensure overall efficiency.” Long a customer's journey, the art and science of revenue management lies today the responsibility of marketing. They see the value in strategically managing pricing and sales and ensuring the right product gets into the right hands at the right time.
Finally, LinkedIn says that influencer marketing managers “coordinate partnerships with influencers and celebrities and develop corresponding marketing campaigns to increase profits and brand awareness.” Let’s change it and add “in-house subject matter experts.” However, this description describes a classic marketing role that has become much more important as independent content creators have grown and marketing has become more of a media operation rather than a traditional sales promotions department.
Work for your professional future
Why does this all matter? You need to remember these trends when you see the influx of jobs with fancy new titles and the headlines about replacing your roles in marketing. You need to have a healthy dose of side-eye toward those who conclude that marketing is losing respect or that companies simply don't get the job. You'll have to wring your hands less.
Now not all companies get it. Some companies are still making short-sighted mistakes, and some may be rearranging their marketing functions in stupid ways. But these new jobs and changing roles mean marketing is becoming more strategic, not less strategic.
The roles and functions change fundamentally, but do not disappear. The job of marketing, as Professor Philip Kotler would say, continues to be to create, communicate and deliver value to a target market at a profit.
You need to realize that the responsibility for who does these things shifts under different names and titles, but the role does not. When navigating your marketing career, your goal should be to learn how to understand and implement all of these things.
It is not enough to just understand media. It's not enough to just understand technology. It's not enough to just create great copy. Marketing today is about mastering all the integrated functions that bring prosperity to the company.
Whether you're a practitioner, middle manager, or C-level, your future isn't about understanding the one thing that might be your job today. For your future, you need to understand what marketing means to a business. Learning these things will help you tackle anything tomorrow.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
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