In a previous post (If it’s called Marketing Automation, Why does Sales want it?), we’ve discussed how marketing automation has become more of a sales tool, even though demand generation is typically in marketing’s domain.

In this post, I’m going to move that theme further and discuss how demand generation is moving toward revenue performance because of marketing automation.

Today’s marketing automation systems do such a great job of aligning marketing with sales that demand generation is no longer just an activity to reach prospects and drive awareness and interest.  It can be used to automatically score, rank and route B2B leads to the assigned sales rep. With that in hand, marketing now (can) have a direct hand in generating revenue.

Of course, sales still has to propose good solutions and close the deals, but with this helping hand from marketing automation, revenue can actually be impacted in a meaningful way.

This is great and gives marketing a seat at the table when it comes to deciding manpower and resources. Sales can spend more time selling, and less time cold calling or chasing unqualified leads.

Management could then view marketing as a revenue center rather than a cost center.  This will elevate marketing and ensure their participation is as important as sales. Marketing automation makes this possible by integrating demand generation, lead management, and CRMs so that marketing activities directly link to revenue performance.

It won’t be long before the infamous ‘should marketing have a quota’ discussion crops up again!