Where Should the CMA Function Sit in Organization? | Asha May

CMA expert, Asha May, explores how the organizational placement of CMA—whether in Marketing, Customer Success, Sales, or as a standalone cross-functional team—can significantly influence its impact, visibility, and long-term success.

Purpose of the CMA Function

The CMA function—Customer / Community / Customer Marketing Advocacy—is about building programs that inspire and empower customers to share their stories, provide references, and engage with your community. These advocates become an integral part of go-to-market and growth initiatives. Organizational alignment is key. The CMA function must be positioned to have authority, visibility, and the resources it needs to succeed.

Where the CMA Function Can Sit

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Asha outlines four common models—each with unique strengths and trade-offs:

Marketing / Product Marketing

Focuses on customer stories, advocacy content, and demand generation—leveraging advocates to build awareness and influence the sales pipeline.

Customer Success / Post-Sales

Centers on engagement, retention, and expansion by cultivating relationships and driving product adoption among current customers.

Sales / Revenue Organizations

Ties advocacy directly to revenue—using references and proof points to accelerate deal cycles and improve close rates.

Independent or Cross-Functional Team

Functions as a shared service across marketing, sales, product, and customer success to ensure alignment and prevent silos.

Determining the Right Placement

The right home for CMA depends on your organization’s goals and how advocacy fuels business outcomes. Asha recommends considering:

• Where are advocates created and used?
• If advocacy supports demand generation and awareness, align with marketing or sales.
• Where is adoption critical?
• If advocacy drives engagement and loyalty, customer success may be the best fit.
• Avoid silos and weak oversight.
• Advocacy must be visible, strategic, and connected across functions.
• Define governance and KPIs.

Establish clear metrics, goals, and executive sponsorship to ensure accountability and impact.

Strategic Considerations

• If under Marketing: Track leads influenced, awareness growth, and content sourced from advocates.
• If under Customer Success: Measure retention, upsell revenue, lifetime value, and advocate activation.
• Executive sponsorship is essential—to ensure advocacy is viewed as a growth driver, not a “nice to have.”
• Invest in governance, process, and technology to measure advocacy performance and link it to business results.
• Remember: The department matters less than the influence, authority, and visibility the function receives.

Key Takeaways

• CMA drives customer-led growth through storytelling, engagement, and advocacy.
• Placement should align with your highest-impact business goals.
• Executive sponsorship and cross-functional visibility are critical to success.
• Focus less on “where it sits” and more on giving it the power to perform.

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