Revenue Disruption: Game-Changing Sales and Marketing Strategies to Accelerate Growth

Chapter 13

Marketing Is Not a Cost Center . . . It Is an Investment in Growth

Conventional wisdom, at least within the business community, sees a company’s sales organization at the heart of where revenue is created. It is therefore often treated with deference. However, that’s not the case with marketing. Instead of being seen as an integral part of the revenue process and an essential investment in growth, marketing is frequently considered to be a cost center—a dark hole into which dollars are thrown and from which decorative artwork sometimes emerges. It’s easy to see why that perception persists, even to this day.

The number one topic of discussion at executive staff and board meetings is almost never the upcoming marketing campaign or new brand strategy; it’s the last quarter’s numbers or the next quarter’s sales forecast. The head of sales invariably leads the discussion with little or no input from the Chief Marketing Officer. So it’s no wonder most executives think of marketing as a cost center and not a central part of the revenue team.

My colleague, Jon Miller, the VP of Demand Marketing at Marketo, has observed that “when it comes to building credibility, marketing is its own worst enemy.” Sadly enough, he has a point. Marketing executives too often sound like creative types when it comes to communicating with fellow executives, especially those from the C-suite. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being creative; it is an important part of marketing and business ...