I definitely agree that the Chief Influence Officer needs the appreciation of analysis currently held by data analysts. Today’s CMOs by and large do not yet see the big picture here, and the vast majority of marketing and PR professionals do not only lack the understanding but don’t yet know that this is an important gap to close.

However, saying a Chief Influencer Officer needs the expertise of a data analyst is not the same as saying a Chief Influence Officer role could be filled by a Web analyst. I would say that this role is up for grabs, and it will be interesting to see which is dominant… data analysts building out their skillset to include expertise in the marketing disciplines, or traditional CMOs building out their skillset in analytics and visualisation. Having found myself with a foot squarely in both camps, I see that both parties must traverse huge gaping chasms.

However, my bet is on the traditional marketers getting analytical rather than the other way around. Why? Organisational psychology. The Chief Influence Officer role will be seen to be more naturally the next step on from a CMO and not the next step on for the analysts, in much the same way CFOs ended up with responsibility for IT because IT was about accounting.

The exception to this forecast might be with the rapidity with which this transition takes place. The faster = the more opportunity for analysts to step into the breach.