Marketing at the Crossroads: An Undervalued Function

Marketing holds a unique role, positioned at the crossroads of every organizational function. It’s an essential bridge that connects executives, product development, sales, finance, customer support, and even HR. This placement gives marketing a 360-degree view of both internal dynamics and customer insights—a blend few other functions can claim. 

And yet, as someone recently put it to me, marketing is the most vulnerable function in business. It’s the one that regularly faces budget cuts, endures constant shifts in priorities (often misaligned with marketing’s insights), absorbs the frustrations of sales, and all too often lacks proper recognition for its impact on growth.

But without marketing, it’s much harder for businesses to scale at speed.

So that invariably begs the question - why is marketing still one of the most vulnerable functions in business? And what does it take for organizations to stop undervaluing marketing. 

1. The Cyclical Fallout of Marketing Budgeting

When times get tough marketing budgets are usually the first to feel the pinch. It’s a hefty top-line expense, making it a tempting target. What this decision ignores is that cutting marketing stifles lead generation and marketing teams are left struggling to maintain momentum. Then sales starts pointing fingers when there isn’t enough pipeline for them to hit their targets.   

It's frustrating, especially when you see the ripple effect. Cutting marketing leads to a shortfall in leads, sales doesn’t meet numbers, and suddenly everyone’s scrambling. Kellblog has a great breakdown of the sales/marketing expense ratio that shows just how much this imbalance can skew things. Even when both departments get investments, marketing is often expected to squeeze out efficiencies and deliver higher results, whereas sales tends to escape this same level of scrutiny. Marketing efforts and sales results are inextricably connected. Even more so when new logo acquisition is the primary focus of the organization.

BCG analyzed approximately 150 major U.S. brands across 15 industries and found that companies reducing brand marketing investments during downturns experienced:

• Shareholder returns declined by 6% compared to those that increased brand spending.

• Sales compound annual growth rate (CAGR) were 13% lower

• Market share shrunk by nearly 1% relative to companies that boosted brand spending.

So why does this disconnect between marketing budgets and sales results happen so often in organizations?

2. Marketing’s ROI Can Be Hard to Quantify

Marketing impacts everything from brand equity to customer loyalty, but quantifying its ROI can be challenging. Marketing attribution data has come a long way, yet it remains difficult to track every influence on a buyer’s journey. Unlike sales, where metrics are straightforward (revenue, win rates, deal size), marketing’s contribution is often indirect and cumulative, making it an easy target when budget cuts loom.

When boards and leadership don’t understand how marketing’s metrics translate into long-term business health, it’s easy to see why marketing might be perceived as expendable. That’s why strong marketing leaders need to work closely with finance to establish a system that connects marketing activities with meaningful, business-aligned metrics.

3. Panic Pivots

I can’t even begin to count the number of times my marketing team has had to pivot mid-year or even mid-quarter because of knee-jerk reactions from sales or leadership teams. 

My favorite <sarcasm> pivot? “We just sold a one-off deal to a buyer that was way outside our TAM, so we need to go all-in on that buyer. Marketing - start a campaign stat!”

So many times, there’s either a lack of clarity in direction or there’s competing priorities for marketing to try to navigate - typically with the aforementioned limited budget - so marketing can never really gain momentum. I don’t think I’ve ever had the luxury of focusing on one consistent strategy for more than a year. 

My most frustrating scenario is the lack of focus. Leaders, especially sales leaders are so nervous about potentially leaving money on the table that they end up spreading resources too thin. This is the number one thing I preach to my leadership teams - where can we focus?  Where do we have the most opportunity? If we doubled-down on one area only - where do you believe we can have the most success? Most of the time, I’ll get a list vs. a single clear priority, despite quoting data like this:

• In 2022 Boston Consulting Group found that companies focusing on fewer customer segments saw a 15% increase in conversion rates

• Gartner’s CMO Spend Survey (2023) found that 82% of CMOs observed better ROI when marketing budgets were concentrated on fewer, high-impact initiatives. And, marketing teams that narrowed focus reported a 12% higher growth in pipeline and a 9% improvement in customer acquisition cost

Despite all of the data it continues to be a challenge to maintain consistency or tight focus and thus making it difficult for marketing to deliver impactful results.. 

4. Marketing Does Know What it’s Talking About

CMOs often struggle with imposter syndrome, questioning their capabilities despite possessing deep insights into the business. In fact, they experience the shortest tenure in the C-suite, averaging just 3.5 years, with tenures in B2B SaaS even shorter—typically 2 to 2.5 years. This issue can feel even more pronounced for women, who are often the only female voice in executive leadership.

The visibility and vulnerability of marketing teams amplify this imposter syndrome, especially when CMOs strive to make a significant impact without a traditional background in strategy or finance. Engaging in conversations about broader business strategy or interpreting financial reports may not come as naturally or feel as comfortable.

Ironically, though, marketing is uniquely positioned to understand what resonates with audiences and often detects shifts in the market long before other departments do. Marketing can identify potential stumbling blocks before they show up on a sales or finance dashboard, yet these insights are sometimes dismissed because marketing teams aren’t out in the field daily with clients.

Strengthening Marketing’s Position

So, what can businesses and marketing leaders do to support marketing and protect its place at the crossroads? Here are a few strategies to consider:

• Educate Leadership on Marketing’s Value

  Help executives understand the multifaceted role of marketing and how it directly impacts every aspect of the business, from brand loyalty to revenue. The more cross-functional education there is, the less likely marketing will be seen as  “expendable.”

• Stay the Course

  Being able to run a full-year campaign focused on the same TAM and the same priorities would be gloriously game-changing. It offers marketing the opportunity to build awareness with the same audience (which takes time!)

  
  

  While the data varies slightly, the rule of thumb is that it takes B2B buyers somewhere between 8-12 touch points to establish brand awareness and work through the nurture process. And recognize that in B2B, that could be a year long process. Time and consistency should be the mantra of the day.

  
  

• Promote Alignment with Sales and Product Teams

  Foster collaboration and set shared goals between marketing, sales, and product teams. When marketing is aligned with these key departments, it’s easier to show results and make a case for ongoing investment. If any one of these groups isn’t aligned, Marketing starts to feel like Sisyphus pushing the proverbial rock uphill.

  
  

• Stop Overlooking Marketing

  Marketing can be one of your best resources. They bring technical expertise, client expertise, market expertise, people expertise, and communications expertise to the table.

At the end of the day, marketing is the voice of the brand and the bridge to the customer. Marketing isn’t just a cost; it’s an asset that sits right at the crossroads of everything the company does—and understanding it's unique perspective and the insight that brings is the key to unlocking its full potential.