Few CMOs think their marketing investments position them properly

The report, titled ‘Marketing & Finance: Fuelling Innovation or Falling Behind?’ examines the marketing and finance relationship, and how marketing leaders can achieve a higher level of confidence in their investments. 

Different metrics and goals

It says challenges to better collaboration between the marketing and finance departments include differences in metrics and goals, priorities and incentives, and risk-assessment strategies.

The researchers believe that what’s needed are stronger connections between budgeting, marketing planning, execution and performance. Achieving this will give greater visibility across marketing and finance teams.

Among the findings:

• Only 10% of marketers strongly believe their marketing investments position them to emerge from economic turmoil ahead of the competition.

• Nearly 4 in 5 CMO-CFO partnerships lack willingness willing to collaborate on investments, goals and metrics.
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• Among CMO-CFO partnerships that are indifferent or hesitant to collaborate, only 27% are satisfied with their ability to innovate.

“If marketing and finance wish to successfully navigate economic headwinds, they’ll need to redefine their working relationship and align on financially responsible growth strategies that prioritise smart, realisable [and] innovative investments,” says Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director of the CMO Council.

Unlocking innovation

Unlocking innovation in marketing strategy requires alignment and collaboration between marketing, finance and other C-suite peers. To strengthen the CMO-CFO partnership, CMOs should:

• Show how investment in their marketing strategy will drive value for all functions of the business.

• Integrate customer data across marketing, sales and finance, and leverage customer data as a common language.

• Identify and prioritise steps to improve four core capabilities: innovation, agility, collaboration and performance.

“A strong relationship between marketing and finance has become even more crucial in the current socio-economic environment to ensure an organisation’s effective targeting, clear ROI, and transparent budgeting,” says Jason Galloway, Customer Advisory Lead and Marketing Consulting Practice Lead at KPMG.

“A clear view into the marketing plans and a deeper understanding of current performance, allows for better overall buy-in from the finance team that ultimately has the final say on budget. Smarter and timely marketing investments can lead to greater profitability and allow organisations to stay ahead of the competition.”

You can find out more about the report here.