CGO-led brands are 65% more likely to invest in new marketing technology

A CGO is a growth catalyst who brings together almost every department in a company to stimulate growth, including product development, customer support, sales, and yes — of course — marketing.

But how do they drive growth? And, how different is a company with a chief growth officer than one without?

Here’s three key differences that our recent survey of 700 companies found. CGO-led organizations are investing much more heavily in:

1. marketing technology
2. AI and machine learning
3. digital ads and … marketing events

One of the key differences between companies that succeed in digital marketing and those that don’t is tools. Carpenters who don’t have hammers wouldn’t be very successful in building a wood-frame house, and marketers who don’t have cutting-edge marketing technology are not very successful in driving digital growth.

CGOs and martech

In fact, CGO-led organizations are 65% more likely to invest in new marketing technology.

As our study found, only 28.2% of marketing teams that do not have a CGO are looking to add to their tech stack. But 46.5% of those with a CGO are planning to add new tools in the coming year. That’s important: as marketing becomes more digital, it’s increasingly obvious that those with the best tools generating the best insights for growth achieve the highest levels of growth.

CGOs and AI

New marketing technology often comes with intelligent software, including AI and machine learning features (check here for the top 10 things marketers want to do with AI). So it’s no surprise that CGOs are also investing in artificial intelligence to help them target, reach, understand, and react to customers better.

In fact, they’re almost 50% more likely to be investing in AI and machine learning that non-CGO companies.

30.7% of companies that do not have a CGO say they’re adding AI and ML in the coming year. But 45.5% of CGO-led brands are planning to invest in AI.

And very likely the rest already have.

CGOs and digital ads (and events!)

It may seem contradictory, but CGOs are over-investing in both digital and in-person marketing.

According to our survey of 700 companies, CGO-led brands are 17% more likely to be increasing their digital advertising in the coming year, and they’re 25% more likely to be growing their already-larger teams and adding marketing headcount. In addition, they’re 21% more likely to be planning actual face-to-face in-person events.

It makes perfect sense.

While you can reach the widest audience online, you can impact with the highest fidelity in person. CGOs are feeding the top of the funnel, but not neglecting the bottom of the funnel.

Get all the details

All of the details are available, for free, in our Chief Growth Officer 2019 report on the state of the CGO.

Alternatively, if you’d like a personal demo of the tool that top marketers at companies like Lyft, Rovio, and Wish are using, request one here.