Chief Marketing Officer
Key facts
Chief marketing officers manage the high level marketing operations in a company. They coordinate all the efforts related to the marketing, promotional, and advertising activities across units or geographical areas. They make sure that different activities aimed at creating awareness of products are profitable for the company. They take decisions and prepare reports on marketing projects and the costs they entail.
The chief marketing officer (CMO) is a senior leadership role responsible for the overall marketing strategy and execution within a company. Daily responsibilities involve analyzing market trends, developing marketing campaigns, managing budgets, and overseeing a team of marketing professionals. You'll work closely with other departments, such as sales and product development, to ensure alignment and maximize impact. This role demands strong analytical skills, creative thinking, and the ability to make data-driven decisions.
- • Developing and implementing comprehensive marketing strategies aligned with business goals.
- • Managing marketing budgets and ensuring efficient allocation of resources.
- • Overseeing all marketing activities, including advertising, public relations, digital marketing, and content creation.
Where this occupation is in demand
Reported labour shortages and surpluses, by year. Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
Deeper colour: reported the same way in more consecutive years.
Figures cover Administrative and commercial managers — 69 jobs including this one.
In shortage: Belgium, Italy.
Longest-running shortage: Italy, 3 years.
Select a place on the map to see its figures.
About this source›
Source: ELA/EURES labour shortages and surpluses. Readings are published at occupation-group level, and cover Europe. Editions differ in annex layout and country coverage, so a change between years does not always mean the labour market changed. Countries in grey were not reported, which is not the same as being in balance.
What these words mean
The four things this section reports
- Reported demand
- Whether employers report needing people in this job — a judgement published by a national or EU body, not a count.
- Where it is heading
- Which way employment in this job is expected to move over the coming years, from an official projection.
- Openings
- Roughly how many openings arise — from growth and from people leaving the job.
- Typical pay
- What people in this job typically earn where the source publishes it. Blank does not mean unpaid; it means nobody publishes it for that place.
A measure is left out when nobody publishes it for that place, rather than shown as zero.
Which way the market leans for you
- In your favour
- More openings than people looking — employers are competing for candidates.
- Balanced
- Openings and candidates are roughly matched.
- Competitive
- More people looking than openings — expect to compete.
- Mixed evidence
- Sources disagree, or the same occupation group is short in one part and oversupplied in another.
Every source resolves to one of these four, so there is a single vocabulary to learn. What differs is the evidence behind it, which is printed underneath each verdict — a measured ratio of openings to jobseekers, or an assessment published by a national body.
How this job compares with other jobs in the same country
- Strong
- Among the strongest in that country
- Good
- Stronger than most jobs in that country
- Mixed
- About typical for that country
- Weak
- Weaker than most jobs in that country
This is a rank within one country, not a score you can carry across borders — the registers behind two countries count different people, so the same number means different things in each. It is also why a job can be among the strongest in a country and still show as Competitive: it leads the field in a market that is crowded overall.
Where these come from
Every figure is published by a national statistics office, a public employment service or an EU body, and each card names its source and the period it covers. Some places are counted monthly, others assessed once or twice a year, so two places on the same map can be describing different moments — the date is always shown.
None of this predicts one person's chances. It describes a market.
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Future Outlook for chief marketing officer
The outlook for chief marketing officer reflects a balanced mix of automation exposure and durable, human-led work.
How are these scores calculated?
The Resilience Score (0–100) estimates how structurally protected this occupation is from automation and AI disruption, based on task-level analysis. Higher scores mean more human-judgment-intensive tasks. AI Exposure shows the estimated percentage of task hours that current AI capabilities could affect. These are model-derived structural indicators, not predictions about individual job security.
How could chief marketing officer change as AI adoption grows?
Several task areas may shift toward AI-assisted workflows, so reskilling becomes more important.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
Several task areas may shift toward AI-assisted workflows, so reskilling becomes more important.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
How AI may change this role
Deterministic, model-based interpretation of current role signals — not a guarantee of replacement.
What still depends on people
- align efforts towards business development
- liaise with managers
- plan marketing strategy
Where AI may become a co-pilot
- evaluate marketing content
- interpret financial statements
- use analytics for commercial purposes
Tasks most exposed to automation
No single task here is highly automatable yet.
Vital Signs & AI Vectors
AI Exposure Vectors
0-100%Exposure to workflow automation, decision-support software, and process digitisation
Exposure to AI-assisted analysis, pattern recognition, and predictive modelling tasks
Exposure to content generation, creative augmentation, and large language model tools
Exposure to physical automation, robotics, and sensor-driven task displacement
Technical Details
NexFuture v3.0 estimates automation exposure natively from ESCO essential-skill groups, weighted by skill mass and calibrated against expert anchors. Scores are probabilistic estimates, not guarantees. See the NexFuture Methodology White Paper for full details.
Measures automation exposure. It does not measure pay, demand, or how many jobs exist near you.
What people in this role usually do
Marketing & Sales
A typical day as a chief marketing officer
09 09:00 · Morning analyse work-related written reports
10 10:30 · Mid-morning align efforts towards business development
12 12:00 · Midday analyse consumer buying trends
14 14:00 · Afternoon analyse external factors of companies
15 15:30 · Late afternoon analyse internal factors of companies
17 17:00 · Wrap-up create annual marketing budget
Task order is illustrative. Individual days vary.
What you need to do this work
The skills, knowledge and tools this role calls for — and the traits and rewards that come with it.
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plan marketing strategy
Determine the objective of the marketing strategy whether it is for establishing image, implementing a pricing strategy, or raising awareness of the product. Establish approaches of marketing actions to ensure that goals are achieved efficiently and over a long term.
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define measurable marketing objectives
Outline the measurable performance indicators of the marketing plan such as market share, customer value, brand awareness, and sales revenues. Follow up on the progress of these indicators during the development of the marketing plan.
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plan marketing campaigns
Develop a method to promote a product through different channels, such as television, radio, print and online platforms, social media with the aim to communicate and deliver value to customers.
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integrate marketing strategies with the global strategy
Integrate the marketing strategy and its elements such as the market definition, competitors, price strategy, and communication with the general guidelines of the global strategy of the company.
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use analytics for commercial purposes
Understand, extract and make use of patterns found in data. Use analytics to describe consistent happenings in observed samples in order to apply them to commercial plans, strategies, and corporate quests.
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analyse internal factors of companies
Research and understand various internal factors that influence the operation of companies such as its culture, strategic foundation, products, prices, and available resources.
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make data-driven decisions
Collect data such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for an organisation and use the information to formulate actions and strategies.
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analyse work-related written reports
Read and comprehend job-related reports, analyse the content of reports and apply findings to daily work operations.
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interpret financial statements
Read, understand, and interpret the key lines and indicators in financial statements. Extract the most important information from financial statements depending on the needs and integrate this information in the development of the department's plans.
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analyse consumer buying trends
Analyse buying habits or currently prevalent customer behaviour.
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analyse external factors of companies
Perform research and analysis of the external factor pertaining to companies such as consumers, position in the market, competitors, and political situation.
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study sales levels of products
Collect and analyse sales levels of products and services in order to use this information for determining the quantities to be produced in the following batches, customer feedback, price trends, and the efficiency of sales methods.
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track key performance indicators
Identify the quantifiable measures that a company or industry uses to gauge or compare performance in terms of meeting their operational and strategic goals, using preset performance indicators.
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manage profitability
Regularly review sales and profit performance.
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create annual marketing budget
Make the calculation of both the income and expenditures that are expected to be paid over the coming year concerning the marketing related activities such as advertising, selling and delivering products to people.
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align efforts towards business development
Synchronise the efforts, plans, strategies, and actions carried out in departments of companies towards the growth of business and its turnover. Keep business development as the ultimate outcome of any effort of the company.
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liaise with managers
Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.
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evaluate marketing content
Revise, assess, align, and approves marketing material and content defined in the marketing plan. Evaluate written word, images, print or video advertisements, public speeches, and statements in accordance with the marketing objectives.
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identify potential markets for companies
Observe and analyse market research findings in order to determine promising and profitable markets. Consider the firm's specific advantage and match it with markets where such value proposition is missing.
market pricing
Price volatility according to market and price elasticity, and the factors which influence pricing trends and changes in the market in the long and short term.
services marketing
The set of marketing activities for businesses that provide services to improve brand awareness and raise sales. It focuses on intangible commodities.
customer insight
The marketing concept referring to the deep understanding of the customer's motivations, behaviours, beliefs, preferences, and values that help understand the reasons why the way they do. This information is then useful for commercial purposes.
e-commerce systems
Basic digital architecture and commercial transactions for trading products or services conducted via Internet, e-mail, mobile devices, social media, etc.
neuromarketing techniques
A field of marketing which uses medical technologies such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study the brain’s responses to marketing stimuli.
project management
The discipline of project management, the activities which comprise this area and the variables implied in it, such as time, resources, requirements, deadlines, and responding to unexpected events.
web strategy assessment
Techniques for conducting a deep analysis of a company's web presence.
- brand marketing techniques
- business management principles
- content marketing strategy
- market analysis
- marketing mix
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Scan to continue on mobilePath to become a chief marketing officer
What it typically takes to qualify: education level, where it is a regulated profession, and where to study.
Master's or equivalent level
Real programmes leading to this occupation, by country.
Management and Organizational Theory, Bachelor Course and Thesis
Strategic Marketing Management
International Business Management
Growth Pathways & Similar Roles
Explore typical career progression paths, adjacent skills, and similar roles to plan your next transition.
Where does chief marketing officer fit?
Similarity scores based on skill overlap from ESCO data.
Frequently asked questions
- What skills are most important for a chief marketing officer?
- Beyond strong leadership and communication skills, a CMO needs analytical abilities to interpret data, creative thinking to develop innovative campaigns, and strategic vision to align marketing efforts with overall business objectives. Familiarity with digital marketing channels and emerging technologies is also crucial.
- How does the role of a CMO differ from a marketing manager?
- A marketing manager typically focuses on executing specific marketing campaigns and managing a smaller team. The CMO has a broader, more strategic role, responsible for the entire marketing function and its alignment with the company's overall strategy. They are a key member of the executive leadership team.
- Is it common for chief marketing officers to work as freelancers?
- While primarily an employee-based role, chief marketing officer positions are increasingly available on a freelance basis, particularly for smaller companies or project-based engagements. This offers flexibility but typically requires a proven track record and extensive experience.
- Is there a shortage of Chief Marketing Officer in Europe?
- No. In the 2025 ELA/EURES edition, a surplus was reported in 6 of the 8 European countries that assessed this occupation group: Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, France and 2 more. 2 countries reported a shortage. These assessments are published per occupation group rather than per job title.
- How much does Chief Marketing Officer pay in the United States?
- $161,030 a year at the median, as of 2025-05. State medians run from $79,890 to $212,020. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a United States figure and not a projection for Europe.
Sources: ESCO O*NET ELA/EURES Cedefop BLS Data updated September 20, 2026 About our data