As cloud-based software and social media increase the technology intensity of marketing, new skills are needed. Marketing needs to master analytics and systems thinking, as well as become more agile. And now that almost every aspect of marketing is entangled in new software and platforms and creative technology, marketers need a more holistic integration of the technology into their world. If they outsource the technology to the IT department or a third-party, will they lose something in the translation? Has the time come for marketing to have its own chief marketing technologist?

Key Takeaways

• Marketing is becoming more technology-driven; marketers use technology to manage marketing operations, reach target audiences, and deliver the benefits from products and services. Marketers must master new skills in the technology-driven marketing organization: systems thinking and agility.
• Marketing must take ownership of its technology; one option is a marketing department chief marketing technologist reporting to the CMO.