The Revenue Marketing Report cover image

The Revenue Marketing Report

Why Your CFO Thinks of Marketing as a Cost Center

Apr 23, 2024
Doug Bell, Fractional CMO at Chief Outsiders, discusses the misconception of marketing as a cost center and the challenges in demonstrating ROI to CFOs. The podcast explores the shift towards sales-led strategies, financial modeling in marketing operations, and the importance of quick adjustments in marketing strategies. A humorous take on ROI in marketing is included, along with an encouragement for audience engagement.
12:43

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Marketers struggle to link spend to revenue, challenging perceptions of marketing as a cost center.
  • Transitioning from founder-led to sales-led model requires alignment of sales and marketing strategies.

Deep dives

Finance's View on Marketing as a Cost Center

Many marketers struggle to connect marketing spend directly to revenue generation, leading finance to view marketing as a cost center rather than a revenue generator. The challenge lies in demonstrating a direct correlation between marketing efforts and tangible results in terms of revenue. This difficulty is exacerbated by the complex nature of marketing, where various tactics interact with potential customers over time, making it hard to attribute specific sales to individual channels.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode