Do you have problems motivating your marketing budget? You are not alone. But there is a simple way for you to secure the right budget for your strategic plans. The magic? It’s based on a basic thesis for good communication – to be able to adapt the message to the target group.
It may seem like a paradox that many in the marketing and communication industry unfortunately seem to lack these skills, at least when it comes to how we communicate within our own business. And if the recipient of our communication is your CFO, CEO or someone else in the management team, there is a high risk that you will not be heard about your marketing budget and your communication efforts in the way you wish if you use marketing jargon.
The way around this is to communicate with finance managers and others in management in a way that these people understand and value. It is both about which words but also logical arguments and numerical support for the activities and measures that are proposed. So instead of marketing jargon, use business language:
- Brand awareness can be seen as an indicator of how our future sales will develop. The more people who know about us, the more potential customers. So why not call it “future sales potential” instead?
- Brand preference shows how many people prefer us. And those who prefer us tend to be less price sensitive than others in the market; ergo perhaps we should instead use a concept like “margin enhancement factor”?
- Production costs for campaigns and marketing efforts are, after all, a way to develop and maintain our visual identity, i.e. a way to “manage and enhance the company’s intangible assets”.
So why not call it this? And if you really want to secure the right budget, it is a definite advantage if you can argue like Rossa Shanks, CMO at Dow Jones, about why you should increase investment in marketing.
“This is going to be additive from a revenue point of view. It is going to increase our productivity overall, which will increase EBITDA. If we don’t do it, this is the revenue at risk is (high number).”
It is perhaps not such beautiful language, and the forms of expression have clear similarities to “consulting”. But if that is the way money talks, you had better learn the language – or else… If you want to learn more about marketing to the CFO, a first advice is to download this booklet from the LinkedIn B2B Institute: https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/b2b-institute/b2b-research/research-studies/marketing-to-the-cfo
And then, why not get in contact with me at ulf.vanselius@comprend.com, and we develop your marketing it together – externally as well as internally.