This article comes from Kevin Lau’s talk, ‘Seven steps to a CMO-approved customer marketing charter in 2023 & beyond’, at our April 2023 Customer Marketing Summit, check out his full presentation here.
Tired of excuses and empty promises when you advocate for customers? Learn how I transformed customer marketing into a core growth strategy.
Early in my career, I struggled to garner executive support for customer marketing programs. Despite innovative ideas and passion for the customer, my charters seemed to land with a thud.
But over the last 9 months, things changed significantly when my team and I cracked the code to elevating the customer's voice within our organization.
Now our quarterly planning has customer obsession as a core pillar of leadership priorities. As such we’ve had significant resources shifted to fund our new initiatives that drive loyalty and retention.
What changed? I developed an executive-approved customer marketing charter that aligned directly with the C-suite agenda and metrics for success.
From my experience, this takes patience - but keep the end goal in mind. With increased budget and resources, you’ll drive greater results and returns for your team.
Let's get your well-deserved seat at the table together!
Step 1: Start with the right questions
When I approach a new program or charter, I always start by asking myself:
- What business problem are we trying to solve?
- What do the CMO and executive team care about most?
- How can I make my boss’ job easier?
- What’s achievable in a 90-day window to demonstrate quick impact?
- Who can I partner with internally to deliver results?
- How will we measure marketing’s contribution and return?
Getting clear on the purpose and priorities upfront ensures your initiatives ladder up to company goals. It also identifies key stakeholders to enroll early on.
