We all need somebody to lean on

Fresh ideas on solving the talent crunch. [View Message in Browser]( / [Add Us to Safe Sender List]( WEEKLY NEWS 1.19.24 WEEKLY NEWS 1.19.24   FEATURED [How To Bring Personality to Your Content and Personas]( By Andi Robinson Developing content requires you to think about the audience. You use demographic data. But have you considered the personality of your audience? Here's how exploring personality types can enhance your marketing strategy. [Read more](  SPONSORED CONTENT Seven in 10 B2B buyers worry about unethical AI. We asked 14,300 consumers and B2B buyers about trust, AI, and the other factors that make them embrace or abandon brands. Find out what they say in our new report. [Get the free report »](  MORE OF THE WEEK'S BEST STORIES [6 Strategies To Convert the Content Clueless in Your Brand’s Leadership]( by Divya Bisht, Annie Murmann, and Jeneanne Ballos Frustrated by executives who don’t “get” content marketing yet? Mix and match these six strategies to convert them into content champions (or at least get them clued in.) [Solo Stove Burns Marketing Team Over Snoop Campaign]( by Content Marketing Institute Team Solo Brand ousted its CEO for a “disappointing” Snoop Dogg smokeless campaign. But the real disappointment stems from two blunders — one by setting the wrong goals and one by failing to build an audience. [Build This New Framework for Agile Content Ops in Talent-Starved Times]( by Robert Rose Budget pressures, unaligned teams, and a stew of content, tech, data, and AI integration challenges have marketers looking for help. Consider a talent cloud approach, which uses external assistance to build internal skills. [ICYMI: 7 Core Roles of a Content Marketing Team]( by Robert Rose How many of these seven content-related roles live in your marketing organization? They can be the differentiators for your overall marketing strategy.  A NOTE FROM ROBERT ROSE We all need somebody to lean on When it comes to managing content and marketing operations resources, 2024 will be complicated. For one thing, marketing budgets will receive plenty of scrutiny (as they always do). In 2023, Gartner research found that [71% of CMOs]( believe they lack the budget to execute their strategy fully. New complexities (data, automation, and AI disruption) only add more budgetary and skill pressures. Yet marketing departments must continue to evolve and expand as company-wide initiatives dominate the needs of the business. Where’s the crunch? What’s not getting done? Well, Gartner reported that [79% of cross-functional leaders]( experience “high collaboration drag,” meaning teams won’t work together. This drag makes them 37% “less likely to exceed revenue and profitability objectives.” That’s challenging enough. But add to this complex stew the ongoing marketing talent acquisition challenge, especially in content, technology and data, and artificial intelligence. The need for niche skills and the scarcity of talent, compounded by uncertain economics, create a problem for marketing and content teams. Marketing teams attempting to evolve new operational models feel this sharply because most lack time, specialty skillsets, or experience. As Sharon Carter, Gartner vice president of research, recently [put it]( “With the introduction of GenAI (generative AI), CMOs’ talent plans are at a crossroads; they must look to adapt and realign roles or risk teams becoming obsolete.” But how should you do that? I’ve observed a trend over the last 12 months: Marketing teams are bypassing the traditional hiring process to meet the speed of change. Even as more brands develop in-house agencies, fractional or semi-permanent marketing roles have increased. But this move isn’t the same as the classic outsourcing to an agency. In many cases, these engagements involve specific skills or leadership positions. This approach gives the company the flexibility to outsource some elements of its strategy or subject matter expertise and the efficiency of engaging one or a few people rather than an entire agency. However, this approach assumes a clear set of tasks can be assigned to the new fractional leader and that the team understands what tasks should be assigned. Yet, one in four marketers say a lack of strategy is one of their biggest challenges, according to CMI’s research. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Almost half (48%) say core team members were [laid off or resigned]( last year, and half (49%) mention they have new team members acclimating to their brand’s ways. Put simply, engaging a fractional leader like a chief content officer, chief marketing officer, or even subject matter expert can work well if you have an existing strategy and process, a need to fill a temporary budgetary gap, or a position that requires only a little time. The fractional model doesn’t help without a foundational plan, cross-functional alignment, or existing workflows. Unfortunately, with no plan, the team can’t even define what it needs in the first place. These challenges and the complexities of managing remote workforces lead to a broader trend: the “taskification” of jobs. In this [task-focused environment]( the classic corporate structures that had teams owning entire areas of responsibility have shifted. Work gets broken down into tasks or workstreams, and individuals or teams own those areas of responsibility. Content operations implementation is a workstream, not a day job. And when you need to change strategies or processes, it’s not as if the content team can step back and say, “While we sort out all these new changes across business lines, can y’all just hold up on new requests?” In [Rose-Colored Glasses]( this week, I explain why companies are seeking different relationships with external resources to help with their talent crunch. They’re not just looking for help with the workstream but also with building their internal team’s muscles to carry out the changes over time. What kind of talent crunch is your team facing in 2024? [I’d love to hear about it](. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute Would any of your colleagues or friends benefit from Robert's weekly updates? Please invite them to [subscribe]( here. MORE FROM CMI Next Week’s Free Webinar: Digital Asset Management Made Better Creating rich content quickly is a high priority for most organizations, but executing that process comes with not-so-ideal side effects. That’s all changing now with the evolution of the DAM. Join us next Thursday, January 25 at 1 p.m. ET, to learn how GenAI empowers you to democratize content creation and generate content variants at lightning speed, inspiring creativity like never before. [Register for free »](  2024: The Year You Become a Content Marketing Master Make 2024 your year for content success. CMI’s new Content Marketing Certification program, in partnership with the American Marketing Association, will give you the content marketing knowledge you need and the endorsement to prove it. What does it mean to earn your Professional Certified Marketer® credential? Watch this video from course instructor Robert Rose and AMA CEO Bennie Johnson to find out. 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