Five questions for our new CMO, Shafqat Islam

Alex Atzberger: Now that you simply’ve stepped into the CMO position, what are you wanting ahead to?   

Shafqat Islam: It’s wonderful to tackle this position at each a class creator and chief. What number of manufacturers generally is a chief in nearly each class–assume Experimentation and CMS–that we play in?  

And we’ve a lot to sit up for and construct on. We have now an distinctive crew of selling leaders and practitioners. They’re fiercely clever, optimistic, and care deeply about what our merchandise can *do* for our prospects. Not only for the individuals who will encounter the advertising, retail, and product experiences that we help, however for the individuals who construct them. As any individual who has each constructed merchandise and been deeply immersed in advertising, I really like the attitude that our crew has.  

Alex Atzberger: What makes Optimizely distinctive?   

Shafqat Islam: First off, we’re class creators in experimentation and content material administration, each CMS and CMP. Entrepreneurs know this, and analysts understand it, as one thing like 7 main analyst experiences will let you know.  

Martech is a crowded subject, so it’s true that there are numerous corporations whose territory overlaps with a few of ours. However present me one other firm that may deal with the complete content material lifecycle like we will. Or present me one other firm that may do each function flagging and experimentation.  

We even have a legendary legacy within the martech world. Earlier than I joined, I knew that A/B testing and Optimizely have been synonymous, and that the corporate’s roots go all the way in which again to the origins of the follow. And that’s one thing that’s like widespread folklore in advertising and expertise.  

And greater than something, the 1500 individuals who work listed here are world-class. 

Alex Atzberger: Being a CMO speaking to different CMOs and advertising leaders is a bonus. You already know the shopper. However you’ve additionally constructed tech merchandise. How does that have an effect on your work now?  

Shafqat Islam: I’ve spent nearly all of my grownup life constructing merchandise for entrepreneurs. So I’ve been fortunate to spend a lot time speaking to CMOs and entrepreneurs in nearly each kind of firm everywhere in the world. Because the founder/CEO of Welcome, my method was to unravel marketer challenges by constructing merchandise. However now as CMO, I get to make use of the merchandise we construct.  

We’re practitioners of all of our personal options, so along with the pure empathy I’ve for entrepreneurs, I’m additionally near the job’s distinctive challenges every single day. There’s nothing like that to maintain you sharp and maintain you near the shopper.  

As a product builder, I knew we should at all times converse to enterprise outcomes. However as CMO, I really like that we aren’t simply speaking concerning the options – we’re residing them, too.  

As a result of I used to be an entrepreneur for therefore lengthy, I additionally convey one other distinctive view – my willingness to take good dangers. I like to strive issues, even when (particularly if?) the outcomes are typically stunning. Relating to experimentation, there aren’t any failures, solely learnings. 

Alex Atzberger: What are the most important challenges you’re listening to from our prospects, present and future?  

Shafqat Islam: Progress, particularly given how powerful it’s on the market for therefore many industries. The stakes are very excessive with regards to creating experiences that may win and retain prospects. That’s what all of our prospects–particularly the retail heavyweights-are desirous about.  

And advertising and expertise leaders want to do that with leaner budgets. Effectivity issues so much proper now, and meaning not solely decreasing the prices you possibly can see, like the worth tag connected to software program, but additionally the prices you possibly can’t see straight away, like how a lot money and time it takes to handle a set of options. With that stated, in powerful instances, I feel the strongest manufacturers cannot simply survive but additionally thrive. I additionally assume when others are fearful, that could be the time to speculate aggressively. 

And within the background of all this, there may be nonetheless the ever-expanding listing of buyer touchpoints. That is concurrently an thrilling problem for entrepreneurs and an thrilling alternative. Extra knowledge means simpler storytelling– if you need to use it proper.

I additionally hear entrepreneurs once they say there’s a necessity for a shared area for collaboration amongst us. The position of the marketer is expansive, and it’s solely getting extra difficult. Constructing a group the place we will come collectively and admire our shared objectives is troublesome, however I’m optimistic that we’re transferring in the proper route.  

Alex Atzberger: What’s subsequent in our area? What is going to advertising and expertise leaders be speaking about six months from now?  

Shafqat Islam: Trying round now, it’s clear that 2023 would be the yr that AI-generated content material goes mainstream. We’re simply beginning to see the makes use of and the results of this. There’s already buzz about ChatGPT and its capabilities, and platforms are already making area to combine AI performance into their choices. It might be an thrilling manner for customers to turn out to be higher geared up to create and share high-quality content material.  

Clients even have gotten very used to personalization. Each display they see every day is customized, whether or not it’s their Netflix account or social feeds. So, once I see a web site that isn’t customized, I form of scratch my head and marvel, why? With personalization now the norm, expectations for digital creators are sky-high.

Learn the official press release.