Marketing can be very busy while the business remains unclear about whether it is actually helping growth. Commercial accountability means connecting activity to a sequence of decisions and outcomes the leadership team can use.
Start with the commercial objective
The objective should not be “do more social” or “improve SEO”. It should be something the business recognises: create more qualified opportunities, improve conversion, increase retention, enter a new market or reduce the cost of acquisition.
Know the numbers between activity and revenue
- How many qualified leads are being created?
- Which sources create the best opportunities?
- How quickly are enquiries followed up?
- What percentage moves to a sales conversation?
- Where do prospects drop out?
- What is the cost of generating and converting a meaningful opportunity?
Reporting should lead to a decision
A useful marketing report should make it easier to decide what to increase, reduce, fix or stop. If the report simply describes what happened last month, it is closer to administration than management.
Someone has to own the whole journey
Paid media may generate the lead. The website may shape the enquiry. The CRM may control follow-up. Sales may determine whether the opportunity converts. Commercial marketing leadership connects those pieces so the organisation does not optimise one part while losing value somewhere else.
That is the difference between marketing activity and a marketing function.