With 2015 galloping forward, we have cumulated what we believe to be the most pertinent predictions for CMOs this year. These predictions have been curated from the most trusted minds across industries, viz. Forrester, IDC, marketingtechblog.com and marketingland.com, amongst others.

Prediction 1: CMOs Will Cement, Not Just Declare, Their Position on the C-Suite

CMOs have been working hard to assert their positions and consolidate their standing as the voice of the customer. As referenced by Forrester Analyst Sheryl Pattek, 2015 is the year the CMO’s voice regarding customer insight, market changes and competition will be fortified and will unquestionably influence the CEO’s office.

Prediction 2: CMOs Will Create Customer-Centric Eco Systems

CMOs will be seen mobilizing the entire organizational framework in order to bring them into perfect cohesion; creating eco-systems that are customer focused and customer driven is a strong prediction for this year.

Prediction 3: The CIO - CMO Cooperative

Forrester Analyst Sherly Pattek also predicts that the CIO-CMO dynamic will become a strong cooperative; attacking challenges arising out of big data management and exploring cutting-edge ideas in the digital marketing space will be a team effort in 2015.

Prediction 4: Pursuing Personalization

MarketingTech Blog’s predictions for 2015 emphasize that marketers using personalization techniques see a 19% uplift. IDC predicts that “by 2017 15% of B2B companies will use more than 20 data sources to personalize a high-value customer journey”, as elaborated by John Ellot (CMO Network, Forbes 2015). This emphasizes the bearing personalization will have on the CMO’s journey in 2015.

Prediction 5: Integrating Mobile Technology

Taco Bell Corp’s CMO Chris Brandt asserts, “In 2015, I believe that mobile will continue to elevate the consumer retail experience and will put more control in the hands of consumers…” He echoes the thoughts of various others such as Deputy CEO of Guardian News & Media - David Pemsel, Dan Robbins, VP Corporate Marketing, FOX, and the like. However, interesting to note is Forrester’s prediction that by 2017, 70% of B2B mobile customer apps will be unsuccessful in generating ROI, thereby throwing light on how integrating mobile technology in a manner which feeds the right information to the customer in the right manner is paramount.

Prediction 6: Marketing Analytics & ROI

From 2014 to 2017, CMO Survey has predicted that there will be a whopping 75% increase in the percentage of marketing budgets being allocated to marketing analytics. While demonstrating the growing importance being given to “data-driven” decision making, this also brings to light how the marketing analytics budget will be utilized. To ensure a strong ROI, Marketing Analytics in 2015 will seamlessly receive, understand and act upon the previously disjointed data points.