Although fundamentally the board will always be concerned with revenue growth, there is a growing trend of investing in long-term value-drivers, the direct outcomes of which are not so readily apparent.
Above all, investment in brand is climbing the list of boardroom priorities. The power of brand may be reflected in: environmental, social and governance commitments; supportive ABM activities; spin-off content hubs and publications; or even in the day-to-day activities of the back office. And it presents the marketing department with a valuable opportunity to increase its influence throughout every business function, as a means of developing and maintaining brand consistency.
This consistent identity will permeate the business and directly affect customer experience. However, CX is vitally important in its own right, and should be a guiding force for every decision that a business makes. A prerequisite for providing an outstanding customer experience will be collaboration and integration across departments, because this is what the customer expects. They expect to interact with a unified brand identity that demonstrates awareness across every touchpoint.
Finally, whether the responsibility lies with a CRO, or is shared between heads of department, there is a requirement for more accurate tracking and measurement of where value is being created within the customer journey, and how that relates to investment. This task will rely on implementing a smarter technology stack that is fully integrated across all departments, which should provide a more effective measure of anticipated revenue than traditional pipeline metrics.
The most important task for marketing to achieve when it comes to board presentations is advocating for – and reporting on – the long-term benefits of investment in brand, efficient pipeline generation and CX. However, these three key areas are not important to the board in and of themselves. Rather, they are important because they relate to one thing: growth. Marketers must, therefore, find ways to deliver results in these areas, and demonstrate how their efforts lead to revenue generation.
No longer will marketers be judged only on their ability to deliver MQLs or other basic metrics. Instead, they’ll be expected to drive growth across – and alongside – the whole organisation.
