From Cost Centre to Revenue Engine: Marketing Teams – Which One Are You?
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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A marketing revolution is underway. The debate: how do we shift marketing from cost centre to revenue engine?
Lisa Eaton, the visionary Founder & CEO at Fabric, joined our very own Richard Lane on the Insiders podcast. Their discussion? The critical shift in perceiving marketing as a commercial function.
A Partnership, Not a Handoff
Marketing and sales must break out of their silos.
The old model – marketing generates leads, sales converts them – breeds inefficiency and friction. Instead, businesses should foster collaboration between marketing and sales, ensuring both teams share revenue targets and work towards a unified customer journey.
Actions:
- Establish shared KPIs for marketing and sales teams.
- Ongoing communication is essential to ensure a consistent strategy.
“The best organisations don’t see marketing and sales as separate functions – they see them as partners working towards the same commercial goal.“
Lisa Eaton
Founder & CEO, Fabric
Defining and Qualifying Leads
Inbound leads: define clearly MQLs and SQLs to avoid team confusion.
Marketing: filter out unqualified leads before passing to sales. Ensure buyer intent.
Actions:
- Define clear criteria for what makes a lead marketing-qualified and sales-ready.
- Implement a feedback loop so sales can report back on lead quality and improve targeting.
Speed to Lead
A slow lead response destroys conversion rates.
Today’s buyers research extensively before contacting sales, making your immediate response critical to success.
Actions:
- Ensure inbound leads receive immediate responses with automated workflows and dedicated SDRs.
- Track response times and optimise processes to shorten the gap between inquiry and engagement.
From Vanity Metrics to Revenue Impact
Marketing must be measured against commercial outcomes to be recognised as a revenue centre. Stop focusing on vanity metrics like shares, likes and website visits.
Start tracking metrics that drive revenue: marketing-sourced pipeline, conversion rates, and customer lifetime value. Align marketing KPIs with sales targets to demonstrate direct contribution to business growth.
Actions:
- Educate leadership teams on marketing’s role in business growth, using data to showcase results.
- Track revenue-focused KPIs instead of engagement metrics to measure marketing effectiveness
“If marketing is only measured on clicks and impressions, it will never be taken seriously as a revenue driver”
Richard Lane
Co-Founder & CCO, durhamlane
Demand Generation Over Lead Generation
“Marketers need to shift their mindset from chasing leads to creating demand – otherwise, you’re just adding names to a database, not driving real growth.” – Lisa Eaton
Stop filling your pipeline with useless leads. The traditional lead generation model is dead in today’s B2B environment. You must focus on demand generation now.
Build awareness and credibility that makes customers come to you when they’re ready to buy. This strategy delivers higher-quality leads, shortens sales cycles, and maximises revenue efficiency.
Actions:
- Create thought leadership content that builds credibility and trust.
- Focus on long-term brand building rather than short-term lead capture.
Effective CRM Usage
Many businesses fail to leverage their CRM properly, leading to lost opportunities and poor decision-making. “If it’s not up to date, you’re making decisions in the dark”. – Lisa Eaton
Actions:
- Regularly audit and clean your CRM data to ensure accuracy.
- Train teams on the importance of keeping CRM records updated.
- Use CRM insights to inform marketing and sales strategies and personalise outreach.
- Consider appointing a CRM manager to maintain data quality and streamline reporting.
Marketing Takes Its Seat at the Table
“Marketing should sit at the boardroom table, not just the campaign planning room”. – Richard Lane
Marketing is a commercial function, not a creative afterthought. Businesses must involve marketing in strategic decisions, set revenue targets, and give marketing leaders board-level influence.
When recognised as a revenue-generator rather than a cost centre, marketing receives the investment and authority to deliver measurable business impact.
Actions:
- Ensure marketing leaders have a sit at the table for strategic business discussions.
- Set clear revenue objectives for marketing to position it as a driver of commercial success.
Marketing Beyond Acquisition: Customer Centricity (a Non-Negotiable)
Lisa Eaton leaves us with a powerful thought: “True marketing-led growth comes from knowing your customers better than they know themselves.” This isn’t just about acquiring customers – it’s about creating advocates who will sing your praises from the rooftops.
Marketing’s job doesn’t stop once MQLs are passed, and deals are closed. To drive sustained revenue, marketing must play an active role in retention, expansion and customer advocacy.
A customer-first approach – rooted in real insights and ongoing engagement – turns satisfied customers into loyal advocated and recurring revenue sources.
Actions:
- Invest in customer research to truly understand pain points and motivations.
- Develop content and campaigns that address real customer challenges.
- Support customer success teams with tailored communications that encourage upsell, cross-sell and re-engagement.
- Build structured customer advocacy programmes to amplify brand loyalty and referrals.
The Takeaway: A Revenue-First Mindset
If marketing is to be taken seriously as a revenue centre, businesses must rethink its role, match it with sales, and measure it against commercial outcomes. By shifting from lead generation to demand generation and ensuring marketing has a voice at the highest levels, companies can unlock new growth opportunities and position marketing as a key driver of revenue.
Want to hear the full conversation? Listen here
Sales and marketing shouldn’t be working in silos. Let’s fix the gap!