For OST – No. 24 on CRN’s Fast Growth 150 and No. 126 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 lists for 2015 – the growth opportunity by acquiring Visualhero and the design expertise of its 12 employees appeared to be too strong to ignore.

“The real growth will come in our ability to leverage and then exponentially grow” the design discipline, Bronk said. “Long range, it will have an exponential impact in the growth of our professional services” business, which provides more than 20 percent of OST’s revenue.

But design alone will not win the day. Web-site visitors increasingly look beyond what they see in search of what they want to buy or read. Here, the CMO’s goal is to keep the customer not only satisfied, but keep him or her on the site as long as possible, and to keep the customer coming back.

Help the CMO do that, and he or she will sleep better, while your business boosts its chances of gaining repeat business – and more revenue.