Data-First Marketing

CHAPTER 5Step 1: Marketing-Business Alignment

First and foremost, achieving data-first marketing requires aligning marketing's strategy, goals, and objectives with those of the business. All too often, however, the CMO may not be involved in setting these organizational goals. In part this may stem from a marginalization of the marketing team as merely a cost center rather than a revenue-generating arm of the company. To rectify this situation requires relationship-building with the key stakeholders in the company, including the CEO, and the sales, finance, and IT leadership.

In this chapter we'll address the first step in the data-first marketing process: aligning the marketing team with strategic business teams and partners. These partnerships will not only help us to understand the goals of the business but also strengthen marketing's voice and help provide access to the data we need to evaluate marketing performance against business goals.

IS MARKETING A COST CENTER OR A REVENUE CENTER?

What is the perception of marketing in your company? If you polled your company today, would the CEO and other C-suite executives perceive marketing as a cost center or a revenue center? A cost center is a department often viewed as a necessary business expense – but it remains an expense – whereas a revenue center is perceived as a department that generates business income. For many organizations, there exist only tenuous ties between strategy, performance metrics, and justifying marketing ...