​CEOs and company principles must accept that their CMOs know best when it comes to transitioning to content marketing and online media.

​With 91 percent of B2Bs and 86 percent of B2Cs including content creation in their 2013 marketing budgets, the role of chief marketing officer continues to change. In fact, the position can look significantly different today than it did just 10 years ago, and many professionals who try and implement strategic shifts fall flat when their employers don’t see customer outreach in the same way.

According to a new survey from recruiter Korn/Ferry, CMOs are among the most often let go executives. The survey, as reported by Media Post, suggests that the failures of these execs lie in the hands of their employers, rather than faults of their own. In many instances, brands let their CMOs go because​ ​corporate officials aren’t as open to strategic changes as they think they are, the report notes.

The survey found that approximately 60 percent of respondents say the primary reason a CMO gets released is that the professional attempted to drive change at the organization, but the company wouldn’t support with the CMO’s ideas. Twenty-four percent of surveyed professionals indicated that the CMO did not agree with the CEO about what success looks like.

“CMOs are hired to drive a change agenda, which is great, but they are not always fully supported,” Caren Fleit, Korn/Kerry’s senior client partner and leader of its Marketing Center of Expertise, said to Media Post. “And one person is not enough to drive change.”

For example, the Content Marketing Institute​ ​found that the average brand uses approximately 12 tactics to reach new and existing customers online. These avenues range from social media marketing to video marketing to infographic marketing, and without the support of the entire company, a CMO will certainly struggle to enact change for the betterment of the brand.

Today’s CEOs and principles must understand that the world of marketing is changing. Traditional media is on its way out, and internet marketing is here to stay. Brafton has covered tips to help marketing directors get more buy-in for their content efforts, but ultimately, upper-level execs need to be open to brand evolution. To continue to serve audiences effectively, a percentage of marketing spend must go toward online initiatives, and brands must trust that their CMOs have their employers’ best interest in mind.

Ted Karczewski is an Executive Communications Associate at Brafton. He works to develop his own voice and apply his passions to the evolving world of SEO and content marketing, but he doesn't shy away from writing for fun. After graduating from Suffolk University, Ted used his Communications degree to test out Sports Journalism before Marketing at Brafton.