DEMAND & GROWTH ENGINEERING

Table of Contents

Marketing Isn’t Magic—It’s Math (With Better Fonts)

Let’s get one thing straight: marketing isn’t a mystical art practiced by hoodie-wearing wizards who whisper to algorithms under a full moon. It’s not a vibe. It’s not a TikTok dance. It’s not even “going viral” (whatever that means anymore—your grandma’s banana bread recipe went viral in 2020, and she’s not your CMO).

Marketing is math. It’s strategy. It’s systems. And yes, it’s a little bit of storytelling—but the kind that sells, not the kind that wins you a Pulitzer. If you’re still treating your marketing like a slot machine—pull the lever, hope for leads—you’re not just behind. You’re bleeding budget and calling it “brand awareness.”

The Big Idea: Marketing Is a Profit Engine, Not a Party Trick

Here’s your truth bomb, gift-wrapped and ready to detonate:

“If your marketing isn’t tied to revenue, it’s not marketing—it’s decoration.”

Too many teams are chasing likes instead of leads, impressions instead of impact. You don’t need more content. You need more conversions. You don’t need a rebrand. You need a repeatable, scalable system that turns strangers into customers and customers into evangelists.

Step 1: Know Your Numbers (Yes, All of Them)

If you can’t tell me your CAC, LTV, and conversion rate by funnel stage, you’re not a marketer—you’re a magician hoping the rabbit shows up in the hat.

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): How much are you spending to get a customer? If it’s more than they’re worth, congrats—you’re running a charity, not a business.
LTV (Lifetime Value): How much is a customer worth over time? If you don’t know, you’re flying blind with a fistful of ad spend.
Conversion Rates: From click to lead, lead to MQL, MQL to SQL, SQL to closed-won. Know the drop-off points like you know your Netflix password.

Marketing math isn’t sexy, but neither is bankruptcy. Get intimate with your numbers. Take them out to dinner. Whisper sweet nothings to your CRM. Because when you know your metrics, you can scale with confidence—not just hope.

Step 2: Build a Funnel, Not a Fire Drill

Most companies don’t have a marketing funnel. They have a marketing funnel cake—messy, fried, and covered in powdered sugar that looks like strategy but tastes like chaos.

Here’s a simple, scalable funnel framework that doesn’t require a PhD in Martech:

TOFU (Top of Funnel): Awareness

Content that educates, entertains, or enrages (yes, controversy converts—just don’t be a jerk)
SEO, social, and paid media that actually targets your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile, not “everyone with a pulse”)

MOFU (Middle of Funnel): Consideration

Lead magnets that don’t suck (no one wants your 87-page whitepaper from 2014)
Email nurture that feels human, not robotic (unless your audience is robots—then go nuts)

BOFU (Bottom of Funnel): Conversion

Case studies that show results, not just logos
Clear CTAs, landing pages that convert, and sales enablement that doesn’t make your reps cry

Stop treating your funnel like a suggestion. It’s your revenue roadmap. Build it. Optimize it. Obsess over it like it’s the last season of your favorite show.

Step 3: Align With Sales or Die Trying

Marketing and sales alignment isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s the difference between a revenue engine and a blame game. If your sales team thinks your leads are garbage, and you think they couldn’t close a door, guess what? You’re both right—and you’re both losing.

Here’s how to fix it:

Define MQLs and SQLs together: If you’re not speaking the same language, you’re just yelling in different dialects.
Share dashboards: Transparency kills turf wars. Let the data do the talking (and the shaming).
Meet weekly: Not to “sync,” but to solve. What’s working? What’s not? What’s next?

When marketing and sales are aligned, magic happens. Pipeline grows. Close rates climb. And your CFO stops side-eyeing your budget like it’s a suspicious expense report.

Step 4: Stop Worshipping Vanity Metrics

Likes don’t pay the bills. Shares don’t close deals. And impressions? Please. If I had a dollar for every “impression” that didn’t convert, I’d still be broke—but very, very visible.

Here’s what actually matters:

Pipeline influenced: How much revenue can be traced back to marketing touchpoints?
Customer acquisition velocity: How fast are leads moving through the funnel?
Marketing-sourced revenue: Not just “we helped,” but “we brought this in.”

Track what matters. Kill what doesn’t. And for the love of all things strategic, stop reporting on “engagement” like it’s a KPI. It’s not. It’s a distraction with a good filter.

Final Thought: Be the CFO’s Favorite Marketer

Want to be a CMO who doesn’t get