Should marketing generate revenue?
Yes.
There we are. Shortest episode we’ve ever done.
Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that.
In Episode 6 of Marketing, Properly!, strategic marketing consultant Sean Makin looks at the relationship between marketing and revenue, and why it isn’t always as neat as the dashboards would have us believe.
Customers have an irritating habit of behaving like human beings. They see an advert, forget it, read an article, ask a colleague, listen to a podcast, visit your website, disappear for three months and then suddenly place an order on a Wednesday morning. So which piece of marketing generated the revenue?
Quite possibly, all of them played a part.
This episode explores why marketing absolutely needs to contribute to commercial performance, but why revenue is ultimately a business outcome influenced by Marketing, Sales, pricing, product, customer experience and operations.
We look at why Sales and Marketing shouldn’t operate as rival departments, the dangers of trying to attribute every pound of revenue to a single marketing activity, and why what’s easiest to measure isn’t necessarily what created the result.
There’s also a look at the commercial role of brand, which metrics actually help us understand marketing performance, and the occasional absurdity of “marketing-influenced revenue” dashboards where almost anything can apparently claim credit for the sale.
Because marketing shouldn’t exist in a comfortable little bubble separated from revenue.
Some marketing captures demand today. Some creates demand for tomorrow. Some helps Sales convert it. Some keeps existing customers. And some builds the reputation that makes everything else work better.
The real question isn’t “Can you prove this specific piece of marketing generated revenue?”
It’s “Can we explain how our marketing contributes to the commercial performance of the business?”
If your Marketing team talks about engagement, your Sales team talks about pipeline and Finance talks about revenue as though they’re discussing three entirely different businesses, this episode is for you.
Marketing, Properly! – practical thinking, straight answers and occasionally the uncomfortable marketing question nobody else wants to ask.
Produced in Scotland.
