Do you need Digital Marketing Leadership on your Board of Directors ?  I Love this excerpt from recent CMO.com article.

The Customer Experience Is Digital
CMOs spent more money on customer experience technology than any other IT investment last year, according to Gartner’s 2015 CMO Marketing Spend survey. “If that wasn’t true for your organization, it was probably true for your competitors,” Main said. “Or your business could be getting disrupted by a startup that has invented an entirely new business model with an incredible customer experience. Organizations that thrive in the next five to 10 years are re-orchestrating their people and processes so that digital allows them to connect with customers where, when, and how they want it. If you’re not addressing that, you’re a sitting target.”

Digital marketing is the only way companies can create those differentiating experiences at scale. “The brand is the experience, and the experience is increasingly digital. It’s that simple,” said Mark Taylor, global lead for customer experience transformation at CapGemini Consulting, in an interview with CMO.com. “If CMOs are going to create integrated experiences in that world—and meet customer expectations—they need to have stronger governance and greater integration across channels.”

But there is still a problem.  How can we expect Marketing leadership to have the experience of digital when they may not have grown up believing in it?   Maybe they fought against it and thought traditional marketing and advertising would still win.  (why it was a war I will never understand).  Maybe they were afraid or unable to learn new ways.

But, getting down to brass tacks,  here is how you ensure that your Marketing leadership is doing digital right.  Since there is not enough digital talent to go around,  the easiest way is to add a Digital Expert to your board.  As a board member,  they can contribute enormously to the digital strategy for the company and help ensure execution.  They can also educate others on the board, as well as spend some time with the Marketing leadership one on one as needed.  Digital expertise does not come easily.  You can look like you know what you are doing on the surface,  but truly to be effective, you need to have grown up with it.  It needs to be a part of your DNA.  Great Marketing leaders plan digital first for their campaigns, projects and strategies,  then layer on other tactics to integrate everything into one cohesive customer experience.

Got a Digital expert on your board?  If not,  I’m open to discuss with you.  Small and medium size businesses need this even more.  Don’t wait.

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