By Heidi Barber

What is marketing? Oftentimes, it’s reduced to branding, generating leads, or having an impressive trade show booth. Maybe it’s about crafting killer content for LinkedIn. But those elements are only part of the story. At its core, marketing should be a revenue-driving function.

When marketing is aligned with a company’s go-to-market strategy, it can be a powerful source of growth, whether through event-led campaigns (like trade shows and user conferences), inbound strategies (like search engine optimization, email, and content marketing), or community-led engagement (social media, podcasts, and more).

Here’s the clincher: 70% of a typical business-to-business (B2B) purchase decision happens before a buyer talks to a salesperson, according to the marketing and sales consulting company 6sense. That means your marketing efforts are your first impression — and often your best shot — at moving someone through the sales funnel.

Add to that the fact that it takes a minimum of 8 touches on average to convert a B2B lead into a sales-ready prospect, according to the marketing and sales consulting firm HubSpot, and the argument becomes even stronger. That’s at least 8 moments when your brand, message, and value proposition need to land.

Tracking what works

If you’re not tracking the buyer journey — the digital breadcrumbs of all those engagements — you’re flying blind. Marketing attribution gives go-to-market leaders visibility into what’s working, where to invest, and how prospects are moving through the funnel.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. Revenue leaders have lots of opinions on how to measure attribution, and that’s okay. What matters most is that you’re trying to track it. If you’re not measuring return on investment (ROI) on your marketing efforts, you’re missing valuable insight.

Marketing + sales = growth

Sales and marketing alignment isn’t just a buzzword: It’s a growth strategy. From collaborative customer-relationship-management campaigns and email automations to shared dashboards and regular check-ins, coordination between these two teams makes a measurable difference.

Here’s the big idea: Sales and marketing should be measured by the same revenue goal. If sales has a quota and marketing is only accountable for a small percent of sourced revenue, that creates misalignment. Marketing could technically hit its goal, while sales misses the mark.

Let’s flip that model. Set a shared target and work together to hit it. Then evaluate how marketing contributes to that number and make adjustments together. Are the leads actually qualified? Are deals stalling at a certain stage? Are there trends to act on, or tools sales needs that they don’t have?

Let marketing lead the way

To bring this all together, here’s my challenge: Look at your marketing function with fresh eyes.

• Does your marketing leader have a seat at the executive table?

• Are they involved in cross-functional collaboration?

• Are they talking to customers and representing your brand in the field?

• Do you have the tools to track campaign ROI and effectiveness?

• Most importantly, is your marketing team aligned with your sales team and sharing the same goals?

If the answer to any of these is “no,” consider what small changes could create a big impact. Give marketing the visibility, accountability, and partnership it needs to drive revenue.

Marketing could be one of the most powerful growth levers in your business — if you let it be.

HEIDI BARBER is vice president of marketing at Parker Technology and a founding member of the Parketing Collective. She can be reached at [email protected], while the collective can be reached at [email protected]