Intelligent CXO Issue 43 | Page 25

EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

SHAFQAT ISLAM , PRESIDENT , OPTIMIZELY

Success , to me , lies in the outcomes – clear , tangible results that speak for themselves . In the world of marketing , there ’ s always pressure to prove the value of our decisions internally . But I ’ ve always believed that we should reduce the ‘ marketing of marketing ’ as much as possible . If we ’ re truly successful , our work will speak for itself . The campaigns we run , the leads we generate , the brand impact we create – all of that should be visible in the results .

At Optimizely , we hold ourselves accountable for driving real business outcomes . Whether it ’ s pipeline growth , customer acquisition or improving customer experience – those are the metrics that matter . As someone who ’ s been both on the product and marketing side , I know firsthand how critical it is to align marketing efforts with business objectives .
My journey began by building tools for marketers by co-founding Welcome ( now known as Optimizely CMP ), the market leading content marketing platform . Now , as President of Optimizely , I get to use tools like these every day to drive our own growth . This gives me a unique
perspective on what success looks like – it ’ s not only about how much we ’ re talking about our wins , but how much we ’ re delivering to the business . It ’ s about real , measurable impact .
Experimentation is another big part of success . At Optimizely , we experiment constantly – from optimising content to personalising customer journeys . In marketing , there are no failures , only learnings . Every experiment teaches us something that helps us improve , and that ’ s a key measure of success as well . Are we learning and evolving ? Are we taking risks and pushing boundaries of what ’ s possible ?
Ultimately , if we ’ ve done our jobs successfully , everyone will see the impact without us having to explain it . Success isn ’ t about applause , it ’ s about outcome .
THIS GIVES ME A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE – IT ’ S NOT ONLY ABOUT HOW MUCH WE ’ RE TALKING ABOUT OUR WINS , BUT HOW MUCH WE ’ RE DELIVERING TO THE BUSINESS . www . intelligentcxo . com
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