We get it – revenue marketing can seem like a nebulous concept that's tough to wrap your head around.
Is it about marketing? Sales? A mix? You might find yourself asking questions like:
- What is revenue marketing?
- What skills do revenue marketers need?
- How do you define a revenue marketer?
- Am I a revenue marketer?
At its core, revenue marketing is about aligning strategies and tactics with overarching business goals to drive growth.
To help demystify revenue marketing, we've tapped some of the brightest minds in marketing today – our 2024 Ones to Watch.
These experts share how they define revenue marketing, along with their top tips for those just embarking on the revenue marketing journey.
Britta Agel, Director of Global Revenue and Product Marketing at Spryker
#1
Britta Agel
Director of Global Revenue and Product Marketing at Spryker
With a journey spanning over a decade, Britta Agel has been fortunate to traverse the intricate landscape of B2B marketing and digital commerce. With her master's degree in International Business, Britta focused early on marketing as her career path.
How do you define revenue marketing?
For me, revenue marketing is most of all a mindset change from demand generation marketing. We still use the same marketing tools, but revenue marketing means coming to eye level with sales.
We are not just a cost center, we contribute to revenue and can influence buyer decisions in every stage of the lifecycle journey. We spend the money where it has an impact and we build our decisions on data.
We don't drop our responsibility once pipeline is delivered, but we hold us and all go-to-market (GTM) teams accountable for acquiring and keeping successful customers.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
For anyone starting in revenue marketing, I’d recommend getting as much understanding of sales teams and their processes as possible. Everything we need to do as revenue marketers connects to sales.
Furthermore, I believe having a really good overview of other marketing disciplines helps to drive success in the easiest way.
Steve Armenti, VP of Revenue Marketing at DigitalOcean
#2
Steve Armenti
VP of Revenue Marketing at DigitalOcean
Steve has held several demand and growth leadership positions and has had the privilege to build and lead some of the best teams ever. His journey with startups taught him how to hustle. He was lucky enough to work with clients like HP, Samsung, IBM, and Verizon to improve their inbound acquisition strategies, where he learned the importance of customer success and how important NPS scores and retention rates are.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing is a verb. It's people, processes, and technology working together to drive growth in the business through marketing strategy and tactics.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Start with the data and don't stop until you have a complete picture of who your ICP is, how they engage with your marketing, how they purchase from you, and if they stay with you. Map the entire buyer journey with conversion data so you can understand where to prioritize.
Jason Brisbane, Fractional CMO at yorCMO
#3
Jason Brisbane
Fractional CMO at yorCMO
Jason Brisbane is a dedicated and results-oriented Product Marketing Leader with a proven track record in driving brand awareness, customer engagement, and revenue growth. His expertise lies in crafting and executing comprehensive marketing strategies, leveraging data-driven insights to optimize campaigns and initiatives for tangible business impact.
How do you define revenue marketing?
A strategic approach to align marketing initiatives to revenue goals. Initiatives that drive growth via attracting and retaining customers.
Successful revenue marketing requires alignment with marketing, sales, and customer success teams.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Join a community of like-minded professionals such as the Revenue Marketing Alliance. Joining a community will set you on a path to learn continuously, and the opportunity to learn from professionals with varying degrees of experience will give you perspective on what works and what doesn’t.
Jessica Brown, VP of Marketing at Builder Prime
#4
Jessica Brown
VP of Marketing at Builder Prime
Jessica is a demand generation expert and leader dedicated to increasing revenue for global B2B SaaS organizations ranging from seed to series D stages by 100% - 200% year over year.
She has built and led integrated marketing teams partnering across the GTM function to exceed targets. She enjoys driving scalable and efficient growth while reducing cost per lead and cost per opportunity through a multi-channel approach.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing focuses on directly impacting and driving the company's revenue. This means aligning all marketing activities with sales goals and measuring success based on their contribution to the bottom line.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Revenue marketing is the best blend of the arts (creative) and sciences (data analysis) so ensure you prioritize both. Experiment often to continuously iterate and improve your strategy!
Aviv Canaani, VP of Marketing and Sales at Datarails
#5
Aviv Canaani
VP of Marketing and Sales at Datarails
Aviv Canaani is a marketing professional and go-to-market leader currently serving as the VP of Marketing and Sales at Datarails, a series B startup that raised $100M. Aviv also teaches a top-rated course on Startup Marketing at Reichman University. He is an author and speaker, covering topics such as B2B marketing, startups, storytelling, creativity, GTM strategies, and even propaganda.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue Marketing is a strategic approach where marketers ensure their work is closely aligned with sales objectives, contributing directly to a company's financial growth, especially crucial in startups.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
As a beginner, focus on being involved in projects and roles where you can demonstrate a positive ROI for your company, and avoid simply following what everyone else is doing.
Sajag Chikarsal, VP of Marketing at Celona
#6
Sajag Chikarsal
VP of Marketing at Celona
Sajag is a marketing leader with over 17 years of experience in the technology industry. He has a proven track record of building and leading high-performing teams at companies such as McAfee, Zscaler, and Google.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing is a strategic and holistic approach that transcends traditional marketing practices, embodying a comprehensive, customer-first approach that directly influences and is accountable for the revenue growth of the organization.
This philosophy extends beyond merely generating Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) or marketing-sourced opportunities. It integrates all marketing activities and other GTM into a unified plan aimed at providing a seamless, enriching customer journey.
This approach ensures every marketing effort can be directly linked to the bottom line, transforming marketing from a traditional cost center into a valuable investment that consistently drives predictable revenue.
It is essential for the sustained growth and scalability of a business, ensuring that marketing efforts are not only seen as a tactical tool but as a strategic partner in achieving overall business objectives.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
For those embarking on their journey in revenue marketing, the key is to be customer-centric in all endeavors. Prioritize understanding and meeting customer needs where they currently are, rather than trying to fit them into preconceived strategies.
This approach not only fosters stronger customer relationships but also enhances the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Embrace data and analytics robustly, as they are crucial in identifying trends, predicting customer behavior, and making informed strategic decisions. Collaborating proactively with GTM leaders from the outset is essential for aligning marketing strategies with broader business goals.
This alignment is vital for creating cohesive, effective marketing campaigns. Additionally, cultivate a data-driven culture within your team, ensuring that all decisions and executions are grounded in solid data analysis. This comprehensive approach will position you well for success in the dynamic field of revenue marketing.
Annie Furlong, VP of Engagement (B2C) Marketing at Carrum Health
#7
Annie Furlong
VP of Engagement (B2C) Marketing at Carrum Health
Annie Furlong is VP of Engagement (B2C) Marketing at Carrum Health. Annie brings 15+ years of experience as a B2C, B2B2C, and B2B marketer and people manager to health tech and employer benefits markets.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing traditionally refers to working closely (as marketing) with sales and the broader commercial organization to ultimately reach revenue goals, with marketing generating leads and sales ultimately taking it from there.
However, for me, in a B2C and B2B2C leadership role, it’s about partnering with client success and creating a robust and thoughtful B2C lead-generating and nurturing strategy.
Working with employers to ensure they help get the word out and drive awareness and utilization is critical to getting the end-user on a platform (to ultimately drive revenue and reach your goals).
💡 What skill sets are essential for revenue marketing?
💡 What do revenue marketers need to be focusing on in 2024?
💡 What’s your greatest revenue marketing achievement?
And more!
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Ask lots of questions! Ask lots of questions internally of your team and colleagues (and leadership!) but also seek outside information – it’s important to learn what others are doing.
What one company or industry does could be applied to so many others. Listen to webinars and podcasts, take classes (there is a TON of free content out there), get official certifications, and network and talk with others about what you’re doing and what they’re doing.
Islam Gouda, GA/RA Supervisor at the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communications of Florida State University
#8
Islam Gouda
GA/RA Supervisor at the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communications of Florida State University
Islam has a marketing-focused business experience with a strong analytical ability to use available market data for strategic marketing, business development, and product development purposes along with the identification of new business opportunities and measurement of ROI.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing is a strategic approach that aligns marketing efforts directly with driving revenue and business growth. It’s a methodology that focuses on generating measurable and attributable results, tying marketing activities to revenue outcomes.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
For those starting their revenue marketing journey, I’d suggest focusing on understanding the customer journey, mastering marketing analytics and attribution, continuously learning about emerging technologies, and collaborating closely with sales teams to align goals and strategies.
Heather Hurd, Senior Director for the Global Content Studio at FIS
#9
Heather Hurd
Senior Director for the Global Content Studio at FIS
Heather Hurd is an inclusive senior marketing leader with more than a decade of experience in both agency and in-house marketing. Skilled at enhancing the content marketing process from start to finish, she leads dedicated, loyal, and passionate teams as the Senior Director for the Global Content Studio at FIS.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing is all about reforging the connections between marketing and sales so that marketing eases the pathway for sales and drives revenue growth more directly.
With a better alignment between sales and marketing – instead of the age-old tension – it’s easier to maximize ROI by leveraging open communication and data sharing. Revenue marketing allows teams to align with common goals and create a more seamless customer journey.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Ask the questions – all of them, all the time. There’s no better way to learn, so start building your network of experienced revenue marketers who are ready to help you make sense of this new world.
Make sure you’re seeking out organizations who are willing to give you not just a seat but a voice at the table – new people may not have all the experience, but they do bring a new perspective to the work and can be a great source of innovative ideas.
Finally, never stop learning. There is so much changing in marketing every day – there are always new things we can be trying or doing to make our work more impactful, so keep seeking out new opportunities.
Sandeep John, Director of Marketing at Prismforce
#10
Sandeep John
Director of Marketing at Prismforce
As Director of Marketing at Prismforce, Sandeep's job is to develop awesome plans to drive company growth and promote the brand as the best in the industry.
With decades of experience leading high-performing teams across various marketing functions, he has honed his skills in field marketing, SDR, campaigns, and regional marketing for companies like Outplay, Freshworks, and Datatracks. One of Sandeep's standout talents is simplifying complex concepts and motivating teams to collaborate effectively.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing is a strategic marketing approach that focuses on generating measurable and attributable revenue for a business.
The primary goal of revenue marketing is to align marketing activities with the overall revenue objectives of the organization, ultimately contributing to the bottom line.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
First, deeply understand your ideal customers – their pain points, processes, and objections – before diving into execution. Resist the temptation to spray and pray campaigns early on.
Second, obsess over the entire customer journey to identify gaps between expectations and reality. Map journeys firsthand through buyer interviews – don't assume.
Third, don't overcomplicate the martech stack early on. Start with essentials like CRM and email marketing focused on engagement and automation. Add tools later to enhance capabilities, but keep things simple.
Fourth, establish SaaS metrics and dashboards to monitor pipelines through sales stages, acquisition costs, churn drivers, upsell rates, and other KPIs critical to revenue growth. Measure what matters early.
Finally, stay nimble and keep testing. Campaign results can be unpredictable. What works today may not tomorrow as algorithms, audiences, and tools change. Agility, creativity, and grit determine who will thrive over the long haul.
Nick Mamouzellos, Director of Demand Generation EMEA at LRN
#11
Nick Mamouzellos
Director of Demand Generation EMEA at LRN
Nick is an award-winning, B2B marketing leader with 10+ years of experience. He currently leads the EMEA demand generation at LRN, the global leader in ethics and compliance solutions, with the goal of maximizing pipeline growth.
How do you define revenue marketing?
The marketing framework, strategy, and tactics that focuses on producing revenue for the business. It’s the epitome of marketing and sales working together to attain organizational revenue goals.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
As revenue marketers, we are in the nurturing game, not the sales game. Given that at any point in the buying cycle, approximately 5% of your audience is ready to buy, that leaves about 95% to still become aware of your business and convinced to buy from you.
Focus on educating and nurturing the rest of the market to move them down the pipeline, and produce the next round of new, warm, ready-to-buy leads. Sales and revenue are the outcome, the game we're at is nurturing; Embrace the process.
Jason Mashak, Senior Manager of Analyst and Public Relations at Runecast
#12
Jason Mashak
Senior Manager of Analyst and Public Relations at Runecast
Jason is a Senior Manager at Runecast, responsible for analyst relations, public relations, and brand communications QA. Before Runecast, he helped to grow Avira and Avast into globally recognized leaders in the security industry.
How do you define revenue marketing?
As all forms of marketing in essence aim to drive awareness and revenue, the term “revenue marketing” serves to emphasize the side of marketing operations that focuses more on connecting meaningful metrics to actual revenue gains.
Some might say this is the less creative side of marketing, but integrating many different data sources to achieve any sort of meaningful visibility with actionable insights often requires a great deal of creativity.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Trust your experience and learnings, but don’t ever start thinking that you know more than anyone else in the business. In more than 30 years of working both directly and indirectly with marketers, I have never seen as much hyper-speed change as I have in the years during and since the COVID pandemic.
Even the adoption of the Internet and companies building web pages was a slower process. If we are to make any sense of what’s going on around us – and respond to it in meaningful ways – then we need to be open to ideas from all directions. Talk to people with completely different skill sets about your challenges and ask for their ideas.
Schedule regular “shoptalk” discussions with peers in other industries. Be transparent with senior management, industry analysts, journalists, influencers, and business partners about your challenges.
Be open and direct; don’t waste time playing communication games or politics. Learn to embrace chaos as the ultimate test of your adaptability to survive as a “marketing species.”
Charlotte Morris, Global Senior Director of Regional Marketing at HiBob
#13
Charlotte Morris
Global Senior Director of Regional Marketing at HiBob
Charlotte Morris is the Global Senior Director of Regional Marketing at HiBob. HiBob is at the forefront of HR innovation, transforming the way organizations operate in the modern world of work with its award-winning HCM “Bob.” Companies using Bob can accelerate hiring, retain the best talent, upskill staff, and elevate employee experience.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Keeping it simple – any marketing that can be directly tied to the bottom line – and in partnership with the sales organization. Revenue marketing involves leveraging insights, data, analytics, and targeted campaigns to drive customer acquisition, retention, and overall business growth.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Find someone you look up to – be it in the company you currently work for, or someone on LinkedIn or elsewhere in your network. Reach out, ask them for a coffee, and find out how they got started, what they value, and how they might be able to help you – even a signpost to something small can be the start of something bigger.
Lee Oakley, Growth Marketing Manager at MRI Software
#14
Lee Oakley
Growth Marketing Manager at MRI Software
Lee Oakley is a growth marketer and is customer-centric to the core. With over 15 years in marketing, she brings extensive experience, particularly in the APAC real estate industry. She aims to transform the consumer experience across all touchpoints, crafting meaningful moments that people love to talk about.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing is like putting together a plan that is scalable and sustainable. Making sure the goals of the money-making side of the business match up with what the sales and marketing teams are aiming for.
It's all about bringing together marketing and sales channels to take good care of leads and customers as they move through the whole funnel, not just getting people in and handing them off to sales in the traditional model.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Hang in there! Changing the mindset of certain stakeholders from the old-school metrics and processes to the revenue marketing model can be a bit challenging.
However, taking them on the journey is crucial to winning them over. This way, they not only witness the results but also understand how it influences and benefits entire departments, not just the business targets.
Keith Povey, Director of Revenue Marketing at Panaseer
#15
Keith Povey
Director of Revenue Marketing at Panaseer
Keith Povey is an experienced marketer with a checkered past… Checkered in the sense that he has worked in a mix of the agency world for six to seven years and also on the client side for 13 years – having the chance to work for and with the likes of IBM, Verizon, Sony, Optiv, Feefo, Cisco and SAP.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing is the definitive link between what marketing does and what it contributes to the business as a tangible bottom-line contribution.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Don’t forget the creative part – it is too easy to get sucked into just the data side – cut through it. Standing out comes from beyond a spreadsheet.
Sam Shrager, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at BCB Group
#16
Sam Shrager
Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at BCB Group
Sam Shrager is the Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at BCB Group, a global leading crypto-dedicated payment services provider, where she leads the strategy and execution for all communications and is responsible for global B2B marketing and PR.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Revenue marketing is a holistic approach to marketing and sales that focuses on generating revenue directly from marketing activities. It emphasizes a seamless collaboration between marketing and sales teams to identify, qualify, and nurture leads throughout the entire customer lifecycle.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
- Set clear goals and objectives: Before you start executing any marketing campaigns, it's important to define clear goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve with your marketing efforts? Are you looking to increase website traffic, generate leads, or drive sales? Having specific goals will help you measure the success of your campaigns and make data-driven decisions.
- Understand your target audience: It's crucial to understand your target audience inside and out. Who are they? What are their needs, interests, and pain points? Once you have a clear understanding of your audience, you can tailor your marketing messages and campaigns accordingly.
- Build strong relationships with sales: Revenue marketing is all about collaboration between marketing and sales. Make sure that you're working closely with the sales team to identify and qualify leads, align messaging, and measure the impact of your campaigns on sales results.
- Leverage data and analytics: Data is your best friend in revenue marketing. Use data analytics tools to track the performance of your marketing campaigns, identify trends, and optimize your strategies.
- Be creative and innovative: Don't be afraid to experiment with new marketing channels, technologies, and strategies. The key is to find what works best for your business and your audience.
Lauren Wallett, Founder of Creatrix SaaS
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#17
Lauren Wallett
Founder of Creatrix SaaS
South African-born, Lauren Wallett is a serial entrepreneur and creative strategist. She’s the founder of Creatrix SaaS. Her alternative business school: Create Business Academy offers DIY training for social media marketers and her marketing agency, Malva Media provides a turn-key solution to content marketing that builds community, increases audience engagement, and increases pre-sales pipelines.
How do you define revenue marketing?
Marketing that directly leads to sales.
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
Start with organic social media. Measure the reach-to-reaction ratio – it’s not about eyeballs that see your content, it’s about interactions. Otherwise, you’re just paying for people to ignore you.
Remember that social media is a conversation, not a monologue so if you’re not adapting to your audience preferences, then you may as well pay for a static billboard.
Dan Jackson Whiteside, International Marketing Director at EZRA
#18
Dan Jackson Whiteside
International Marketing Director at EZRA
Dan Jackson-Whiteside is an accomplished marketing professional with extensive experience building brands, driving commercial growth, and aligning marketing with sales. He has worked for several prestigious people consultancy organizations, including MindGym, EY, and Lane4.
How do you define revenue marketing?
“The strategy that transforms marketing from a cost center to a revenue center.” – Dr. Debbie Qaqish, The Pedowitz Group
What advice would you give to those just starting on their revenue marketing journey?
To be a true revenue marketer, you must always be willing to evolve and grow – it’s adapt or die.
That means being:
- Having a growth mindset
- Being open to change
- Trying new things (and failing)
- Not being afraid of criticism or lack of commendation
And remember to have FUN along the way!
That’s all, folks!
A huge thank you to our 2024 Ones to Watch for sharing their expert definitions and advice on revenue marketing.
And readers, we hope you've found the definitions and advice provided to be insightful and inspiring as you aim to transform marketing at your organization from a cost center to a profit driver!
Want to get even more insights? Download the full Ones to Watch report to discover the answers to these key questions:
- What skill sets do you see as essential for revenue marketing?
- What do you think revenue marketers need to be focusing on in 2024?
- What keeps you motivated in your role?
- What’s your greatest revenue marketing achievement?
- Do you think more companies will be adopting revenue marketing practices in 2024?
Get your free copy here. 👇
