Demonstrating return on investment isn’t always as simple as adding up figures in a spreadsheet – in fact, for chief marketing officers, proving ROI may feel more like a puzzle to be solved.
In between boosting brand awareness in the market and ensuring sales teams stay up to date on new campaigns and collateral, CMOs are accountable for showing the financial impact of marketing using clear-cut metrics. And in a world where the traditional sales funnel no longer applies and buyer journeys include more twists and turns, that’s easier said than done.
Fortunately, the act of equipping sellers with the content, tools, knowledge, skills and coaching required to optimize buyer interactions – otherwise known as sales enablement – also positions marketing leaders for success.
As highlighted in our new eBook, “How to identify and maximize sales enablement ROI,” the combination of sales enablement strategy and sales enablement technology can help CMOs drive hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. But data points are only one piece of the puzzle. While tangible figures are essential to prove the value of decision-making, recognizing both the quantifiable and unquantifiable ROI of sales enablement empowers CMOs to more effectively assess and apply its full power.
Quantifiable sales enablement ROI for marketing
Marketing’s role as the source of sales content grew significantly in 2019, eclipsing content contributions from sales enablement, product management, sales operations and legal teams, according to CSO Insights’ “Fifth Annual Sales Enablement Study.”
Data from the same study also indicated organizations that develop and implement a content strategy as part of a sales enablement function have 18.1% better quota attainment and 27.1% better win rates than those that don’t. In short, marketing teams are responsible not just for crafting the majority of content used by salespeople, but helping sellers close more deals through their content plans.
A comprehensive sales enablement strategy powered by sales enablement technology is proven to boost marketer productivity, not only reducing the time it takes to create and manage content, but helping marketers identify which assets are most popular among sellers and have the greatest impact on revenue.
These gains in efficiency and effectiveness can be measured using key performance indicators such as:
- Time spent creating sales content
- Time spent managing sales content
- Content usage rates among sellers
- Content usage rates among buyers
- Middle-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel revenue attribution
And while quantitative data concerning how marketers spend their time and its impact on revenue is important, the less tangible benefits of sales enablement are equally beneficial.
Unquantifiable sales enablement ROI for marketing
Alignment between sales and marketing teams is essential to driving results, but all too often falls by the wayside.
For instance, while 59% of marketers think they know what kind of content sales teams need, only 35% of salespeople agree, according to the “2018 B2B Marketing and Sales Alignment Benchmark” from Kapost.
The sales enablement tools and tactics sellers use to engage buyers can be leveraged by marketing teams to understand how content is being used and its relation to revenue. This helps break down silos between teams and facilitates a regular feedback loop that steers the quality of content, increasing transparency and collaboration along the way. And when sales and marketing teams work together more closely, it ensures a higher-quality, more consistent buyer experience.
Better cross-departmental alignment may not be as easy to measure as productivity increases, but the advantages are clear. Organizations with aligned sales and marketing teams not only experience 27% faster profit growth, they achieve 36% higher customer retention, according to “The State of Sales & Marketing Alignment in 2018” from InsideView.
Assessing sales enablement ROI for marketing leaders
Sales enablement addresses the most pressing challenges of marketing leaders, allowing them to both improve the productivity and financial impact of their teams while demonstrating the value of their investments.
But it also helps build a bridge between sales and marketing that results in stronger working relationships and a better buyer experience.
The ROI of sales enablement for marketing can be measured using common KPIs, but the ways in which it empowers CMOs to change how their companies operate for the better surpasses traditional benchmarks.
Download our new eBook, How to identify and maximize sales enablement ROI, to see how CMOs can boost favorable outcomes and ultimately deliver the best buyer experience possible alongside other key business functions.
