Plan Like a Sales Leader, Market Like a Visionary
As the Year Wraps Up, Where Do You Stand?
For most marketing leaders, this time of year means one of three things:
a) You’ve crushed your 2024 revenue goals
b) You’ve… fudged the numbers (we’ve all been there), or…
c) Worst case: you didn’t own revenue contribution at all in 2024.
Wherever you find yourself, this post is for you.
We’re diving into how top marketing leaders smash revenue goals, whilst creating powerful brand campaigns.
Here’s how they do it—and how you can too.
The Power of Owning Revenue Numbers (and the Planning Behind It)
For those who’ve hit their targets (congrats, by the way!), it’s not just luck.
When we talk to successful marketing leaders, we notice a pattern: they plan for growth with data-driven precision.
Let’s break it down:
- Revenue Goal for 2025: Let’s say it’s $10M from marketing.
- Historical Data:
- Leads generated
- MQL conversion rates
- SQLs and Opportunities conversion rates
- Number and value of Paid Opportunities.
From there, they reverse-engineer success.
If you need $10M in revenue, you’ll know exactly how many leads, MQLs, and SQLs you need to hit the revenue goal. Is your CRM failing to collect these data points? Contact Us.
Identifying the Key Levers: What You Can Control
Great marketing leaders don’t leave growth to chance. They identify the levers they can influence:
- Increasing lead flow by X%
- Optimising conversion rates at every stage (website conversion rate, Lead to MQL%, MQL to SQL%, SQL to Opp %, Opp to Paid %).
For example, if you aim to increase lead volume by 15%, you’ll also know how much traffic you need to drive to your website, how that converts, and what budget will support that traffic.
Channel Strategy: Playing the Short, Medium, and Long Game
Astute marketing leaders know it’s not about going all-in on one tactic. They use a mix of channels:
- Fast-speed channels (deliver results in 1 month)
- Medium-speed channels (deliver in 6 months)
- Long-speed channels (deliver in 1 year or more)
This balance ensures they see immediate wins while nurturing long-term growth.
Here’s a Question for You:
Do You Have a Healthy Mix of Fast, Medium, and Long-speed Channels?
Drop a comment below or reach out to discuss strategies that can get you there.
Execution and Tracking: Dashboards Aren’t Optional
What separates good marketers from exceptional ones is their obsession with tracking performance.
These leaders don’t just track leads and SQLs—they also track pace.
Pace is a line chart showing your target vs. actual results by month or by quarter. If you know your pace, you can adjust before it’s too late.
Top marketing leaders have dashboards tracking:
- Leads
- MQLs
- SQLs
- Opportunities
- Value of Opportunities
- Paid Revenue vs. Target
Do you? If not, this is where you can immediately step up your game.
The Marketing + Sales Dynamic: Working Together with Forecast Confidence
Now, let’s talk about the Sales relationship. Exceptional marketers don’t just track pace—they also collaborate with Sales to ensure pipeline confidence.
Using tools like Salesforce Sales Cloud, Hubspot, or Dynamics 365, they categorize deals by forecast likelihood:
- Closed Won (100%)
- Commit (90%+)
- Best Case (70-75%)
- Pipeline (10-69%)
This allows marketing leaders to present pipeline data confidently and clearly to both sales and the C-suite. Having this insight helps avoid surprises and allows for course corrections when needed.
Ready for 2025? Plan Like a Sales Leader, Market Like a Visionary
The best marketing leaders plan like salespeople, and they market like Steve Jobs.
Which side are you on?
The exceptional marketing leaders who own the revenue conversation, or the ones who rely solely on storytelling without data?
Let’s Make 2025 Your Best Year Yet
Where are you falling short? Let’s discuss a strategy to make up the gap in 2025.
Final Thought:
Ask yourself: What’s the one metric you need to track better in 2025 to confidently drive revenue?
Contact Us to start the conversation. Let’s make this year your biggest success yet.