# How to make your CFO fall in love with marketing Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2023-06-16 Category: BUSINESS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/business Meta Title: How to Bridge the Gap Between Finance and Marketing for Meta Description: Discover the secrets of building trust between finance and marketing departments. Learn how collaboration can drive business growth effectively. URL: https://financedigest.com/how-to-make-your-cfo-fall-in-love-with-marketinghtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/organisational-agility-1736813868772-compressed.jpg) # **How to make your CFO fall in love with marketing** _By_ **_Damien Bennett,_** _Global Director of Product, Strategy and Growth, Incubeta_ Do you want to know a secret? I’ve been telling the finance department one thing, and the marketing department something else. Both think I’m on their side, both think I’m doing _them_ a favor, and both think I’m helping explain their world to the other. In the modern world of business, no two departments are closer, and yet further apart, than marketing and finance. Both are ultimately working towards the same goal, which is growing their business, yet neither fully trusts the other to achieve this. Marketing thinks that finance doesn’t understand the complexities of what they do, whilst finance thinks marketing is wasting money by not [putting enough pressure](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-war-in-ukraine-puts-pressure-on-east-european-banks-to-prop-up-sinking-currencies.html "Analysis-War in Ukraine puts pressure on East European banks to prop up sinking currencies") on ROI. I might be generalizing, and I’m sure this isn’t always the case, but I also feel like many of the readers of this article who work in finance or [marketing will recognize this sentiment](https://www.financedigest.com/dollar-weakens-after-gains-all-week-debt-deal-hopes-boost-market-sentiment.html "Dollar weakens after gains all week; debt deal hopes boost market sentiment") to be familiar. As with many arguments, neither side is right or wrong. It is true that finance [teams can be guilty of taking reported numbers as truth](https://www.financedigest.com/are-your-it-team-telling-you-the-whole-truth.html "Are your IT team telling you the whole truth?"), rather than indicators of truth, and in their haste to support new campaigns, marketers can be guilty of not putting enough pressure on understanding why something worked, or why it didn’t. But the two [departments need to find a way to work](https://www.financedigest.com/it-departments-getting-a-bad-rap-over-remote-working.html "IT DEPARTMENTS GETTING A BAD RAP OVER REMOTE WORKING") together as friends, rather than foes. Marketing teams can provide a huge amount of insight to finance that supports reporting, budgeting, and forecasting, whilst finance teams can help [marketers to better understand the impact their campaigns have on business](https://www.financedigest.com/easycat-moves-to-public-beta-changing-the-way-businesses-market-their-products-and-do-business-one-catalog-at-a-time.html "EasyCat moves to public beta – changing the way businesses market their products and do business one catalog at a time") performance. ### **Collaboration is easier than you think** Never has this been more true than it is today. [Marketing teams have more tools to align](https://www.financedigest.com/clear-aligners-market-competitive-research-and-precise-outlook-2020-to-2030.html "Clear Aligners Market Competitive Research and Precise Outlook 2020 to 2030") their campaigns to business drivers than ever before. For example, at Incubeta we can run campaigns that account for the [profit margin](https://www.financedigest.com/paypal-adjusted-margin-forecast-cut-eclipses-higher-profit-expectations.html "PayPal adjusted margin forecast cut eclipses higher profit expectations") of a product, whether an item is in or out of stock, and automatically respond to price competitiveness. Yet finance teams don’t know we can do all these [smart things](https://www.financedigest.com/inmarsat-and-actility-deploy-city-wide-internet-of-things-network-in-kigali-to-support-smart-city-initiative.html "Inmarsat and Actility deploy city-wide Internet of Things network in Kigali to support smart city initiative"). They don’t understand how deep we can go with regard to understanding performance, or how we can use advanced algorithms, machine learning, and automation to make intelligent, data-led decisions about where [marketing investment](https://www.financedigest.com/these-days-tik-tokers-can-move-markets-more-than-investment-analysts.html "These days Tik-Tokers can move markets more than investment analysts…") is spent. And we can’t blame them for not knowing, because we haven’t told them. I have found, in my personal experiences, that as soon as you explain the science behind [digital marketing](https://www.financedigest.com/digital-marketing-the-battle-between-seo-and-ppc.html "Digital Marketing: The Battle Between SEO and PPC") to finance teams their ears prick up. They are genuinely blown away by how much effort goes into ensuring that every dollar of the [budget is spent](https://www.financedigest.com/aonponemon-report-almost-four-times-more-budget-is-being-spent-on-property-related-risks-vs-cyber-risk.html "Aon/Ponemon report: Almost four times more budget is being spent on property related risks vs. cyber risk") as effectively as possible, and they are usually keen to learn more. The opportunities for these meetings can’t exist, however, unless we double down on our efforts to collaborate. One of my first requests for any new client is that we hold a session that brings stakeholders from a variety of our client’s departments together in the same room. In that session, we explain what we’re trying to achieve, the [challenges that we’re looking to overcome](https://www.financedigest.com/overcoming-challenges-faced-in-business-from-one-woman-to-another.html "Overcoming challenges faced in business: from one woman to another"), the specifics of what we are doing when we’re doing them, and the impact we expect them to have. This means there is no ambiguity or misalignment – everyone is on the same page. ### **Communication is vital** As [digital marketing](https://www.financedigest.com/market-gravity-drives-digital-disruption-with-experiential-innovation-lab-studio-b.html "Market Gravity drives digital disruption with experiential innovation lab – Studio B   ") becomes increasingly sophisticated, amid the prevalence of data and the shifting sands brought about by increased regulation, it’s crucial to ensure all business departments are kept up-to-date and aware of what’s changing, and what it will mean for their business. How an [organization reports performance](https://www.financedigest.com/host-analytics-releases-cloud-epm-platform-update-with-powerful-new-features-for-consolidation-and-modeling-to-help-organizations-achieve-peak-performance.html "Host Analytics Releases Cloud EPM Platform Update with Powerful New Features for Consolidation and Modeling to Help Organizations Achieve Peak Performance") from marketing channels is a critical component of this. Most [businesses started reporting performance by accrediting the value of a sale to the final touchpoint a customer](https://www.financedigest.com/how-can-businesses-equip-their-customers-in-the-fight-against-cybercrime.html "How can businesses equip their customers in the fight against cybercrime?") had with marketing before they buy. Nowadays, we know there are much more accurate ways of measuring performance, using models that ensure we consider all touchpoints, the customer type that was buying, and how they made their purchase. Yet even though we know there are better ways of measuring performance, many organizations still struggle to [move away from the less accurate models](https://www.financedigest.com/the-dressing-vinegar-and-condiments-market-to-move-towards-healthcare-models-of-convenience.html "The Dressing Vinegar And Condiments Market To Move Towards Healthcare Models Of Convenience") of the past. This often brings them to a disappointing acceptance that things can’t change. However, if [marketing teams were to guide finance teams through this process](https://www.financedigest.com/downstream-processing-market-is-expected-to-cross-us-25-4-bn-by-the-end-of-2030-at-a-cagr-of-13.html "Downstream Processing Market is Expected to Cross Us$ 25.4 Bn by the End of 2030 at a CAGR of ~13%"), we can leave the models of the past behind us. Consider implementing a solution that allows finance to update their internal [reports and include the new measurement model](https://www.financedigest.com/lisk-foundation-continues-transparency-model-releases-quarterly-financial-report.html "Lisk Foundation Continues Transparency Model, Releases Quarterly Financial Report") side-by-side with the old. This will stop the business from losing visibility year-on-year before the old model is phased out for the new. ### **A strong, healthy partnership** Running regular workshops with both the [marketing team and the finance team present has been a great victory for us as an organization](https://www.financedigest.com/jewelry-organizer-market-is-expected-to-grow-at-a-cagr-of-approximately-over-2022-2030.html "Jewelry Organizer Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of Approximately Over 2022-2030"). We use these workshops to discuss challenges, explain [industry developments and outline new initiatives that we are looking to launch](https://www.financedigest.com/soti-launches-soti-assist-the-industrys-first-dedicated-help-desk-solution-to-simplify-business-mobility-management.html "SOTI Launches SOTI Assist, the Industry’s First Dedicated Help Desk Solution to Simplify Business Mobility Management"). Ironically, the outcome of these meetings is that the finance [team will often thank us for helping the marketing team to be more focused on business performance, whilst the marketing team will thank us for helping the finance team to see](https://www.financedigest.com/mcdermotts-milan-office-sees-major-boost-with-arrival-of-new-corporate-transactional-team.html "McDermott’s Milan Office Sees Major Boost with Arrival of New Corporate & Transactional Team") how smart they are in their planning and activation. Some might say I have become something of an expert in playing along with both sides. At the end of the day though, what’s most important is the results. When marketing and finance are aligned, they make an indisputably formidable team – one that is clear on what they are looking to achieve, what they can do to get there, and how they understand what is working and what isn’t. If getting there means playing both sides, then I’m happy to do so. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---