BEYOND TECH

HOW TO CREATE
THE REVENUE
MARKETING
ENGINE
BY LJUBICA RADOICIC

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Marketing teams, across many and diverse
organisations, fundamentally operate through
similar assumptions. There is demand for high
growth, yet marketing is viewed as a cost centre
that is still expected to show revenue. There is
a lot of talk about the customer, but at the end
of the day product is king. Marketing activities
deliver mediocre results and struggle to
demonstrate tangible value to the organisation.

In this all too common scenario, a marketing team will search for a way
to get out of this vicious cycle. New techniques will be tried, and many
of them will fail. Fundamentally, the approach to marketing must be
reinvented with a view towards what an organisation can do to better
meet customer needs, while maintaining profitability.
As a response to these challenges, an emerging practice has started
to take the marketing world by storm – this is revenue marketing.
Revenue marketing comes in different shapes and forms: some of
the practices were introduced by marketing automation platforms,
others come from marketing consultancies. There are also concepts
like growth hacking, driven by tech start-ups and the need to achieve
double or even triple digit growth.
Regardless of origin, revenue marketing is revolutionising how
marketing teams function, with many teams seeing marketing
contribution to opportunity generation grow between 30% and over
100% year-over-year.
While revenue marketing is by no means a panacea, it can offer a
different or complementary angle to your current practices and inspire
you to build and evolve your revenue engine.

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REVENUE MARKETING
DEFINED
Revenue marketing comes in different variations, but a good beginning
definition comes from Paul D’Arcy who runs the Science of Revenue
blog. He argues revenue marketing has, at its core, three tenets:
• Repeatable programs
• Predictable ROI
• Links plans to outcome
The Pedowitz Group expands this definition, contending that to achieve
the transformation from cost centre to revenue marketing, there are
three key areas that need to be addressed. These are:
Digital transformation: The need to digitally transform marketing
channels to meet the buyer where they are. Put simply, marketing in a
digital world vs digital marketing. Simultaneously digitally transforming
your marketing operations, while building a tech stack to drive
improved insights and inform strategies.
Customer focus: Going beyond the creation of buyer personas and
buyer journeys and bringing the voice of the customer into the
organisation. Marketing is the custodian of the customer experience.
Revenue accountability: Marketing needs to evolve beyond just veneer
metrics, like MQL and CTR, to speak, think and act like sales by being
accountable for the contribution to the bottom line. No longer can
marketing ignore metrics like ROI, pipeline velocity, or customer
lifetime value.

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STATE OF REVENUE
MARKETING
REVENUE MARKETING GAINING SLOW TRACTION

According to Rise of The Revenue Marketer (Debbie Qaqish, 2013),

revenue marketing organisations enjoy competitive advantage, higher
revenue, faster growth, and improved client acquisition and retention.
Since revenue marketing is such an important focus area for marketing,
let’s look at the latest research into B2B organisations in Australia and
globally.
The latest B2B marketing research from Green Hat and AMI highlights
that revenue marketing is gaining slow traction in Australia, with
sales alignment, reporting, and overall perception of marketing being
challenge areas. Of organisations surveyed:

17% 32% 53% 32%

clearly achieved viewed marketing as have a documented

communicate ROI objectives a support function lead gen strategy &
agreed lead definition

On a global level, according to a report from SFDC on B2B Marketing

Trends, sales and marketing alignment, collaboration, and communication
remain significant challenge areas. Of B2B marketers surveyed:

55% 53% 51% 46%

feel empowered to feel empowered say there is a free have a completely

collaborate with sales to share goals and flow of data between unified view of
metrics with sales their sales and customer data
marketing teams sources

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BUILDING THE
REVENUE ENGINE
There are two functions in any organisation that directly impact and
drive revenue: sales and marketing. When thinking about evolving
marketing from a cost centre to a revenue engine, changes in
marketing cannot be viewed in isolation and need to expand across
both sales and marketing operations, otherwise true synergies cannot
exist. When marketing organisations adopt tools and technologies,
like marketing automation, they rarely get the full benefits of such
technologies because changes only relate to training of operations or
campaign teams, lacking the deep transformation necessary to realise
true business value.
According to The Growth Engine, there are 10 factors that impact an
organisation’s ability to generate revenue, thereby transforming the
sales and marketing organisation. These elements go beyond the
typical factors that are addressed in change management – people,
process and technology – to take a more holistic and organisation-wide
approach.

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STRATEGIC ORIENTATION
Orientation refers to an organisation’s and marketing team’s
commitment to long-term strategy and success, aligning different
functions around the long-term vision for the company. This vision will
drive strategic and tactical goals and priority setting across different
functions, including sales and marketing.
CUSTOMER
Customer focus and customer centricity are critical to the success of
any organisation in today’s buyer market. Underpinning a successful
customer strategy is an organisation with a deep understanding of who
their customers are. Companies need to undertake a regular review
of their segmentation strategy to understand emerging trends and
influences, especially in this age of digital transformation.
PEOPLE & SKILLS
People are the heart of any successful organisation. It is important
to assess people and how they support the long-term strategy for
success. This can include assessments such as skills matrix.
JOB DESIGN
All too often great strategy is derailed by poor execution. There are
many contributing factors to such failure and people always introduce
the possibility of human error. However, one aspect that is usually
neglected by top management is the possibility that their organisation
is designed to fail! Key roles that are not optimally structured to
support business performance often lead to poor operational and
revenue results.
BUDGETING
A study into budgeting has shown that budgeting has a significant
impact in the financial performance of organisations.
CULTURE
Culture is the “what and how” of your organisation: how things get
done, how things are decided, what works and what doesn’t, what
gets rewarded and what doesn’t, and how performance is rewarded or
recognised.

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PROCESS
An in-depth study conducted by Vantage Point Performance and the
Sales Management Association revealed that 44% of executives thought
their organisation was ineffective at managing their sales pipeline.
The companies that recorded massive revenue all had a credible,
formalised sales process. This means that their sales team understood
the clearly defined stages and milestones in their sales cycle.
TECHNOLOGY
CRM, Marketing Automation, and BI Technologies are enablement
tools providing organisations with insights about their customers and
prospects. These technologies serve to deliver business intelligence
more efficiently to both front- and back-end staff, allowing them to
better serve customers/prospects’ needs. Disintegrated systems
implemented in different departments not only hinder the customer
line-of-sight but also create barriers to internal communication and
efficiency.
COMMUNICATION
Effective communication is another critical driver of revenue. It can
make or break a company. It keeps internal processes and external
interactions with customers, suppliers, and employees smooth and
productive.
ANALYTICS & REPORTING
To improve your revenue performance, it is critical to monitor relevant
metrics on an ongoing basis.

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PATH TO REVENUE
PERFORMANCE
LOOKING AT REVENUE MARKETING, THE FIRST
QUESTION IS WHERE DO YOU START?

The Growth Engine’s Revenue Generation Maturity Framework

examines progress as an organisation moves from a more traditional
and tactical set up to a sophisticated revenue generation engine. As you
start on the process of transformation, here are some milestone that
you can use as a benchmark.

REVENUE MARKETING MATURITY STAGES

CRAWL WALK
• Traditional marketing (4Ps) • Marketing plan is not aligned with bus objectives and
• Tactical rev goals
• Little data collection • Customer profiles available but not collected
• No customer personas • Marketing Manager with Sales Manager both report to
• Sales and marketing work in silos MD or COO
• Marketing in a “service” role • Marketing structure does not support lead generation
• No clear JDs • Little alignment with sales.
• Few or no processes • CRM not used as a mandate
• Email marketing tool • Marketing automation or email marketing tools used
• Focus on “branding” & advertising for single drop campaigns
Reporting & Metrics: Reporting & Metrics:
Measured on costs & number of actvities # of leads sent to sales

RUN LEAP
• Annual marketing plan aligned with bus plan limited • Marketing plan aligned with business planning
alignment across revenue • Quarterly campaign plans are aligned with
• Quarterly campaign plans in place revenue objectives and ROI expectations
• Marketing Director reports to CEO in parallel to other • CMO is on the leadership committee.
functions • The team’s compensation is based on revenue
• Roles and responsibilties well defined and marketing performance
• Sales and marketing have a “revenue” relationship • Processes are well defined
• Staff compensation is not aligned with revenue • CRM, marketing automation and business intel
performance systems exist and are integrated
• CRM and marketing automation tools are integrated • Repeatable, predictable and scalable
• Multi-channel integrated campaigns programs
Reporting & Metrics: Reporting & Metrics:
% and $ of leads provided to sales cost per lead Reporting is focused on revenue metrics: CLV,
retention rate, churn, conversion rate, cost to
acquire, ROI, etc.

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The crawl stage is the more traditional view and mode of operation.
In this stage marketing is viewed as a service provider to sales and
the business, has few established processes, and limited or no use of
technology. Marketing efforts are focused on creating awareness and
advertising.
Performance is measured based on cost and number of activities.
In the walk stage, marketing is not aligned with revenue goals, there
is awareness of customer demographics, and CRM is in place but not
used as a mandate by sales. Email marketing is used to push out single
drop campaigns.
Performance is measured based on number of leads supplied to sales.
When in the run stage marketing plans are aligned to business goals
with annual and quarterly campaign plans. The marketing operations
are well designed, but staff compensation is not aligned to revenue
targets. CRM and automation tools are in place.
Performance is measured by cost per lead, percentage, and value of
leads provided to sales.
Finally, in the leap stage, annual plans are aligned with business plans
and quarterly campaigns are aligned with revenue objectives and
ROI expectations. Compensation is based on revenue and marketing
performance. Processes are well defined. The adoption of Martech
goes beyond simple automation and there is extensive data collection
and predictive analytics.
Performance is measured based on CLV, ROI, and conversion rate.

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INSIGHTS FROM
BUILDING THE ENGINE
In applying revenue marketing principles, marketing teams have seen significant
improvement in their efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to revenue generation.
The below case studies showcase how marketing teams evolved from cost centres to
revenue engines.

CASE STUDY: GLOBAL IT&T COMPANY

ONE YEAR LATER

STATE OF MATURITY: CRAWL STATE OF MATURITY: RUN
THE CHALLENGE
This IT&T organisation operates in a dynamic environment driven by digital
transformation of the industry, evolving customer needs for operational excellence
and new sources of competitive advantage. The marketing organisation was viewed
as a cost centre and followed a very traditional model at the Crawl stage of maturity.
It was focused on sales support, managing events, corporate communications and
PR. CRM was in place but not used as a mandate by sales and marketing. In order to
meet growth expectations and changing market conditions, the organisation needed to
transform its sales and marketing functions.
SOLUTION
Development and implementation of a holistic change management program
founded on key principles of revenue marketing. This organisation saw significant
transformation of its marketing operation in a short time frame (12 months). Some of
the implemented changes include:
• Re-alignment of the sales and marketing organisation around the customer
• Aligning business, sales and marketing plans and targets
• Introduction of agile marketing practices as part of managing marketing programs
• Marketing objectives aligned around revenue targets
As a result, marketing evolved from Crawl to Run stage of maturity, experiencing 50%
YOY growth in marketing generated opportunities.

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INSIGHTS FROM
BUILDING THE ENGINE
CASE STUDY:
GLOBAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT COMPANY

18 MONTHS LATER
STATE OF MATURITY: WALK STATE OF MATURITY: RUN
THE CHALLENGE
This Information Management organisation faced a very challenging internal and
external environment in a mature industry. The broader industry was going through
a period of significant change due to digital transformation, erosion of margin and
competitiveness, disruption and emergence of new business models. The organisation
had a strong mandate for growth coming from shareholders. Marketing was at the
Walk stage of the revenue generation maturity framework, viewed as a cost centre
with a significant part of the operation outsourced to low cost centres. To deliver on
shareholder and customer needs, marketing needed to re-invent itself through a
comprehensive change management program focused on revenue marketing.
SOLUTION
An audit was conducted with an 18-month change management program delivered
based on the principles of revenue marketing. The program resulted in greater
customer focus by re-aligning marketing efforts around the customer experience.
Below are examples of changes implemented:
• Introduction of a voice of the customer program
• Sales and marketing realignment around customer segments
• Marketing goals are tied to financial targets
• Marketing takes on a revenue function mentality: everything has a revenue measure
Implementation of this change management program saw improvement in marketing
effectiveness with 30% growth in marketing generated opportunities, coupled with
improved in lead quality and win rates from 5% to 15%. The marketing team went from
Walk to Run stage of maturity.

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THE B2B MARKETING
PLAYBOOK
A marketing organisation committed to revenue marketing, customer
innovation and adoption of good practices, needs to constantly evolve its
operation as the learning marketing organisation. The B2b Marketing
Playbook is designed to outline operational excellence frameworks
and promote clarity internally and externally. The playbook outlines the
What, Who and How.
OVERVIEW OF PLAYBOOK CONTENT:
• Introduction & Purpose of Playbook
• Role of Marketing
• Business & Marketing strategy
• Revenue Marketing Plan
• Team Management & Ops
• Operational Framework
• Continuous Improvement – The Learning Marketing Organisation

The Playbook is not a set and forget document, but a “living” one which
needs that needs to be updated as the marketing revenue engine
evolves.
To get a copy of the Playbook, please email: [email protected].

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KEY LESSONS
There have been many lessons learned in implementing the revenue
marketing engine across both large and small organisations. Here are some
of the key ones:
Executive buy-in is important and marketing is part of everyone’s role.
We are in the age of the customer and everyone has a role to play.
Creating the revenue engine is a change management process that’s not for
the faint hearted. It can take years to get all the gears moving properly.
A holistic view of the organisation that goes beyond people, process,
and technology is critical.
It’s all about the people! People make and break any organisation and
marketing engine. Ensure the best talent is in place to support future vision
and goals. Resilience and innovation are key.
While revenue marketing is not the sole purpose of marketing –
we cannot neglect the brand. Having said that, revenue marketing is a
priority for a lot of businesses and marketing needs to speak the language of
revenue.
Although the principles of revenue marketing are universal, there are
different contexts and scenarios. Be willing to adapt!

WHAT DOES YOUR REVENUE MARKETING ENGINE LOOK LIKE?

WHERE DO YOU SEE GROWTH COMING FROM?
HOW MATURE IS YOUR REVENUE MARKETING ORGANISATION?
Take the test:
http://www.the-growth-engine.com/index.php/revenue-generation-
maturity-framework-study
A complimentary analysis of your company’s revenue generation
maturity will be provided to you courtesy of The Growth Engine.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LJUBICA RADOICIC
Ljubica is Hexagon PPM’s APAC Marketing Director. Since
joining the organisation, she has revolutionised the way the
company approaches marketing, establishing a revenue-
engine marketing program that has already delivered
significant growth in marketing attributed revenue. Prior
to joining Hexagon, Ljubica led marketing teams at Aconex
(Oracle Construction & Engineering) and LexisNexis Pacific,
where her achievements included launching new products
and services, expanding into new markets, transforming
marketing teams and delivering customer innovation. Her
18 years’ experience in brand building, customer retention,
revenue marketing and new market development have seen
businesses achieve remarkable growth.

CONNECT WITH ME ON LINKEDIN

LJUBICA RADOICIC
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