I look at the challenge that marketers often face when it comes to getting their budgets approved by finance and I wonder why does it have to be so hard?
Many financial executives still view marketing as an expense, a.k.a. cost center, rather than viewing it as an asset that creates revenue. Bottom line: it's the numbers. So why not begin with that?
A new report by MarketingSherpa shows that marketers need to do a better job capturing and communicating their value. According to their research, "...only 17% of B-to-B marketers we queried were sure their CFOs understood the value of lead generation programs."
Related post: U.S. Companies Are Severely Mismanaging Lead Generation
Ultimately, if marketers want to win over finance they need to demonstrate that marketing is an asset, not a liability. They need to demonstrate their impact all the way to bottom line sales via "closed loop metrics."
Related post: Closed Loop Feedback: The Missing Lead Generation Huddle
It was interesting to see that according to MarketingSherpa's report, marketers complain they don't have the resources to close the loop on their marketing investments. It seems they would rather spend their budgets on things that drive activity (which is often wasted) over results measurement. A study by the CMO council showed this is a key reason CMOs are losing influence at the executive table.
How about concentrating budget dollars on better measurement tools for sales and marketing, process mapping or outside services to qualify and manage leads and capture and report on results?
I suggest marketers take the following steps:
- Sales and Marketing must collaborate on defining leads and marketing objectives.
- What gets measured gets done. Connect sales and marketing metrics together.
- Focus on the data points you REALLY need to measure in your CRM.
- Close the loop on marketing generated leads via the lead generation huddle
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