Sales Enablement

The Changing Marketing Funnel?

As we all know, sales and marketing are constantly changing. Therefore, the sales and marketing funnels are changing. While we might not like it, we have to adapt.

RainToday.com recently published a post on this very topic, featuring our very own marketing automation sponsors, Right On Interactive. Troy Burk, CEO and founder, makes some good points. But there is one insight that is scary for marketers:

sales funnel marketingAccording to Forrester Research, nearly half of all B2B marketers say they close less than 4% of all marketing-generated leads. Furthermore, less than 25% of all revenue is attributed to marketing.

As a marketer, that’s a scary finding. Think about it – it’s our job to create leads and nurture them. If we’re only converting 4%, then our c-level execs are probably not that happy with us and not willing to spend the budget on our efforts. Despite this statistic, this is actually not the case at all.

We are necessary to any and all organizations. In fact, while about 75% of the revenue comes from up-sells and referrals, most marketing budgets are going towards creating and nurturing new leads in the marketing funnel. We are viable! And needed.

The overall problem in today’s digital world is aligning sales and marketing. Traditionally, these have always been two separate departments. Regardless if they are or aren’t in the new age, it’s important that the marketing plans and sales plans coincide and have a formal process in place so that the hand-off is seamless and timely. Marketing automation is a way to do this. Sales sends marketing a new lead’s email address, marketing adds them to the system, the marketing automation system creates and tracks a customer profile, and both parties are now “in the know” about what the prospect is doing and when they are doing it. That’s not always the workflow, but it’s definitely a foundation for what can be a successful roadmap for closing more leads for marketing.

The goals of the marketing funnel and sales funnel might be different, but the calls-to-action and marketing lifecycle are similar, from a digital standpoint. Why not work together?

Marketing and sales are equally imperative to lifecycle marketing – let’s stop fighting and start working as one.

Jenn Lisak Golding

Jenn Lisak Golding is President and CEO of Sapphire Strategy, a digital agency that blends rich data with experienced-back intuition to help B2B brands win more customers and multiply their marketing ROI. An award-winning strategist, Jenn developed the Sapphire Lifecycle Model: an evidence-based audit tool and blueprint for high-performing marketing investments.

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