{"id":1986,"date":"2025-07-08T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.web-stil.info\/?p=1986"},"modified":"2025-07-09T22:32:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T22:32:35","slug":"how-to-go-from-marketer-to-cmo-5-tactics-that-actually-catapulted-my-career-progression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.web-stil.info\/index.php\/2025\/07\/08\/how-to-go-from-marketer-to-cmo-5-tactics-that-actually-catapulted-my-career-progression\/","title":{"rendered":"How to go from marketer to CMO \u2014 5 tactics that actually catapulted my career progression"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went from marketing manager to CMO in four years. It was fast. It was exciting. And, honestly, it was a little painful. I lost sleep. I lost hair. I made a lot of mistakes and learned most of what I know now the hard way.<\/p>\n

\"Download<\/a><\/p>\n

What I quickly realized is this: Being a great marketer is not<\/em> the same as being a great marketing leader. Especially in a high-growth environment. The skills that got me promoted \u2014 the hands-on stuff, the campaigns, the creative \u2014 weren\u2019t the same ones I needed to lead a team, align with cross-functional departments, or report to a CEO.<\/p>\n

That gap hits you fast once you\u2019re in the hot seat.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2018re on that path, whether you\u2019re newly promoted, leading a team for the first time, or aiming for the CMO role, this post is for you. These are five mindset shifts that helped me make that leap and that still shape how I lead today.<\/p>\n

How to Go from Marketer to CMO<\/h2>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

1. Lead with the story, not the strategy.<\/h3>\n

One of the biggest mindset shifts I had to make as a marketing leader was learning to lead with the story, not the tactical plan.<\/p>\n

Early on, it\u2019s tempting to drive straight to strategy: Which campaigns should we run? Which channels should we optimize? But over time, I started to notice a pattern. The companies that broke through didn\u2019t start with tactics or even traditional strategy. They started with a story: a clear explanation of what was changing in the market, and why their product existed because of it.<\/p>\n

At Drift, that story was \u201cconversational marketing.\u201d It reflected a real shift in how people wanted to buy. No one wanted to fill out a form and wait. They wanted to get answers in real time. That phrase gave our customers language to explain why we mattered. And, it gave our team clarity about what we were building, why it mattered, and how to talk about it.<\/p>\n

Your job as a marketing leader is to define that kind of narrative, and then continuously reinforce it.<\/strong> What\u2019s changing for your customer? What shift are they trying to navigate? And how does your product help them respond?<\/p>\n

When the story is clear, repeatable, and grounded in something real, everything else \u2014 positioning, messaging, roadmapping \u2014 gets easier and more aligned.<\/p>\n

Drift wasn\u2019t the only company to build its strategy around a story.<\/strong> HubSpot did it with \u201cinbound marketing,\u201d and Gainsight did it with \u201ccustomer success.\u201d In both cases, the story came first, and the strategy followed.<\/p>\n

2. Learn how to communicate with your CEO.<\/h3>\n

I used to think the way to show impact was to list everything the team was working on. I\u2019d put together long status updates, filled with detail about campaigns, performance, and team activity. I thought it would show how productive we were.<\/p>\n

But, I quickly learned that leadership doesn\u2019t have the context (or time) to follow the tactical details. They\u2019re focused on two things: revenue and narrative. <\/strong>They want to know:<\/p>\n