Growth is not enough; CMOs must be market shapers

The challenges faced by CMOs are numerous: declining budgets, an ever-expanding scope of responsibility and difficulty proving the value of marketing. Gartner research shows that just 45% of CMOs exceed the performance expectations of CEOs and CFOs, even when marketing is achieving commercial targets and making significant contributions to company growth.

To understand which CMO behaviours drive perceptions of their performance, Gartner asked CEOs and CFOs to evaluate their CMO’s effectiveness across a range of behaviours. This revealed two broad sets of CMO behaviours:

Enterprise operators: CMOs who work effectively across functions to deliver work aligned with strategic priorities.

Market shapers: CMOs with deep customer and market insight along with strong positioning and innovation capabilities.

When CEOs and CFOs evaluate CMO performance, the market shaper profile stands out as vital to success. Some 88% of CMOs who are somewhat effective enterprise operators but very effective market shapers exceed performance expectations. Compared to the average CMO, they are eight times more likely to exceed expectations.

CEOs and CFOs are right to value and reward market-shaper CMOs. Market shapers are nearly twice as likely than enterprise operators to exceed corporate revenue and profit targets. Market shapers excel in meeting their own goals while also making significant, positive contributions to corporate growth.

How to become a market-shaper CMO
Four key market-shaper CMO behaviours make companies significantly more attuned to customers and market conditions. Market-shaper CMOs possess the ability to shift flexibly between behaviours as the situation demands. These behaviours not only solve today’s business challenges but also position the organisation for future success.

Customer influencer: Shape customer preference for your brand over the competition.

Customer advocate: Shape enterprise leadership commitments to the customer.

Market designer: Shape innovative offerings based on real unmet customer needs.

Market wayfinder: Shape enterprise understanding and response to disruptive forces.

Market-shaper CMOs are uniquely skilled analysts and strategists
Being a market shaper starts with distinctive CMO skills that propel marketing leadership and influence over key domains required for enterprise-wide impact. CMOs must hone their personal skills through data-based decision making, strategy management and market knowledge. Critically, market-shaper CMOs apply these skills to customer and market intelligence to maintain an outside-in view.

To start building a reputation for market-shaping skills, CMOs should: diagnose opportunity areas by seeking feedback about leadership blind spots; deepen and demonstrate data-driven decision making by working closely with the marketing analytics team; and hone strategic proficiency and impact by continually aligning with executive stakeholders about marketing’s role in enterprise strategy.

Market-shaper CMOs selectively extend their accountabilities
Market shapers selectively extend their leadership into areas where marketing can have a disproportionate impact. Compared with other marketing functions, those led by market-shaping CMOs are most likely to be accountable for at least one of the following areas: customer experience, product strategy or sales channels.

To begin selectively extending marketing’s accountabilities, CMOs should assess which accountability to earn and exert influence over, based on the strength of cross-functional relationships and marketing capabilities.

They should also influence the CEO and relevant functional leaders to expand marketing’s accountability by framing marketing’s potential impact in terms that matter most to each stakeholder. For example, when speaking to the CSO, highlight its impact on revenue growth.

By shifting to a market-shaper focus, CMOs can transform internal perceptions of marketing and turn marketing into the organisation’s growth engine.

Sharon Cantor Ceurvorst is VP, research in the Gartner Marketing Practice. Join Gartner’s marketing experts at the 2025 Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo, taking place in London on May 12-13  2025