It’s budget season!

I have been both a former high tech CMO for 10 years and my undergraduate was in Finance, a unique blend!  For that reason, I’ve always had a scientific mindset when it comes to managing Marketing.

Argh – the dirty word budget.  Sometimes that can be perceived as an entitlement if not framed properly (‘What’s my budget?’) instead of thinking more around the business (How can I help the business grow so I can figure out what resources to support that growth?)

Here are 10 questions I’d be thinking about in the shoes of a Marketing leader when interacting with my CFO come planning cycles or if I were new to a role at a company?

1. How can I better articulate our marketing objectives and impact in terms of concrete business results rather than tactics or activities?
2. What financial metrics and language should I adopt to better align our marketing data with the financial goals that matter most to our CFO?
3. How can I demonstrate a deeper understanding of critical financial metrics, such as the distinction between gross and net retention, and clearly link our marketing efforts to these business outcomes?
4. What collaborative process can we establish with the finance team to set marketing budgets and goals, ensuring there’s mutual agreement on expected ROI?
5. How can I foster stronger cross-functional collaboration between our marketing and finance teams to better understand and drive business growth together?
6. What common metrics and language can we develop that bridge the gap between our marketing concepts (like brand building and lead generation) and finance’s focus on revenue, costs, and ROI?
7. How can I balance and communicate the value of our long-term marketing initiatives (like brand equity and customer loyalty) with the short-term financial metrics that finance prioritizes?
8. What data and analysis can I provide to quantify marketing’s contributions in revenue terms, helping shift the perception of marketing from a cost center to a revenue driver?
9. How can I ensure our marketing strategies and KPIs are fundamentally aligned with the company’s core financial goals and values from the outset?
10. What strategies can I employ to educate our finance team on the nuances of marketing’s role in driving growth, and secure their buy-in on shared goals and metrics that demonstrate our business impact?

What else would you add to this list based on your experience?