What is Revenue Marketing?

Revenue Marketing: creativity that positions sales as trusted advisors. This is marketing that builds better pipelines.

It is a strategic, data-driven, and creative approach that aligns marketing and sales to deliver measurable revenue growth and profitability, especially crucial for technology marketers. Unlike traditional marketing, which often focuses on vanity metrics like lead volume, impressions, or brand awareness, Revenue Marketing prioritizes tangible business outcomes—higher conversion rates, reduced budget waste, and empowering sales teams to become trusted advisors. By integrating advertising and marketing activities with sales processes, Revenue Marketing ensures that every effort contributes to driving revenue, not just isolated, short-term gains.

For technology marketers, the pressure to demonstrate ROI on marketing spend is growing. Many marketing teams are stuck in outdated lead-generation models that focus on MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) and SQLs (Sales Qualified Leads), without ensuring these leads translate into closed deals. Revenue Marketing solves this by tightly linking campaigns to the sales pipeline and by focusing on high-value, customer-centric engagements that are designed to convert. It shifts the mindset from generating leads for the sake of numbers to driving revenue and profitability—the ultimate goal.

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.”

- Peter Drucker

This quote encapsulates the philosophy of Revenue Marketing, which revolves around deep customer understanding and aligning marketing with the sales process to drive growth.

RMI Profitability for Technology Marketers

At the heart of Revenue Marketing is the Revenue Marketing Index (RMI)—a tool developed by Revenue Practice to measure the profitability and effectiveness of sales and marketing campaigns, particularly for B2B technology marketers. The RMI evaluates how well campaigns contribute to revenue through 16 key criteria that impact both sales conversions and overall profitability. Unlike traditional marketing metrics, which focus on top-of-funnel engagement like website traffic or social media impressions, the RMI emphasizes the attributes that directly drive revenue.

For example, while marketers might say that their website or social media performance is critical to their marketing success, the RMI digs deeper into the campaign-driven attributes that directly impact sales results and revenue growth—factors like creative quality, sales expertise, and market positioning.

Key Metrics and Weighting in the RMI

The RMI assesses companies based on 16 criteria, each weighted according to its influence on sales profitability.

These criteria include:

Each criterion is measured using both qualitative analysis (e.g., customer feedback, LinkedIn profiles) and quantitative data (e.g., media mentions, SEO performance, sales data). The focus is on how each element of a company’s marketing and sales strategy contributes to bottom-line profitability.

The Weighted Impact: Data-Driven Results for Tech Marketers

The weighted impact of these criteria was calculated through extensive research, including insights from studies by Kantar and Paul Dyson, as well as Revenue Practice’s proprietary research into 25 live marketing campaigns. The focus is on identifying the attributes that have the most direct influence on sales and profitability, such as creative quality and brand strength.

For example, while website performance is essential for tech companies, it’s less influential on immediate sales conversions compared to metrics like Sales Expertise or Creative Strength. The RMI provides technology marketers with an accurate, data-driven assessment of how well their marketing and sales efforts are driving revenue.

Wasted Budgets and Outdated Attribution Models

One of the most significant challenges facing technology marketers today is the reliance on outdated attribution models that prioritize lead volume over actual sales conversions. These models often emphasize MQLs and SQLs, leading marketing teams to invest heavily in paid advertising, telemarketing, and cold outreach. While these efforts may fill the pipeline, they rarely convert into actual revenue.

According to HubSpot, “60% of marketers say that generating leads and traffic is their biggest challenge.” This focus on lead volume often results in massive budget waste, as low-quality leads generated through expensive channels like paid ads and cold calling fail to convert into closed deals. The reality is that up to 80% of marketing budgets are wasted on ineffective tactics, primarily because CMOs are pressured to deliver volume metrics, driven by outdated CEO and CFO demands.

Budget Breakdown

In contrast to traditional marketing, which often focuses on broad, high-cost outreach efforts, Revenue Marketing reallocates budgets towards high-impact strategies that drive real sales results. Below is a comparison of budget allocation between traditional lead generation and Revenue Marketing:

Budget Category	Traditional Lead Gen (%)	Revenue Marketing (%)
Paid Advertising	35%	10%
Display Ads	25%	5%
Telemarketing/Cold Outreach	20%	5%
High-Value Content/Creative	10%	40%
Direct Sales Support	5%	25%
Account-Based Campaigns	5%	15%

In traditional marketing models, up to 60-80% of the budget is spent on high-cost, low-conversion tactics like paid advertising, display ads, and telemarketing. In contrast, Revenue Marketing focuses on high-value content, direct sales support, and account-based marketing campaigns—all of which produce higher-quality leads that are more likely to convert into revenue.

Sales-Executed Asset Distribution

A key principle of Revenue Marketing is Sales-Executed Asset Distribution. In this approach, marketing creates high-value assets, but it’s the sales team that delivers them directly to prospects. This allows for highly personalized and timely interactions with customers, while maintaining seamless attribution back to marketing.

Here’s how it works:

Marketing creates personalized assets such as case studies, benchmarking reports, or assessments tailored to the prospect’s specific challenges.
Sales professionals deliver these assets during their outreach and follow-up interactions, adapting them to meet the individual needs of the prospect.
Attribution remains seamless: Marketing tracks how these assets perform, ensuring that both marketing and sales teams share credit for the success.

This approach eliminates the traditional battle over attribution between marketing and sales. Instead of competing for credit, both teams work together to close deals and drive revenue.

Why It Works for Tech Marketers:

Personalization: Sales can customize marketing assets to the specific needs of each prospect, increasing engagement and building trust.
Seamless Attribution: Marketing tracks the effectiveness of the assets, while sales takes credit for their delivery.
Alignment on Revenue: Both teams focus on achieving revenue goals rather than competing for lead attribution.

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.”

- Seth Godin

In Revenue Marketing, sales teams use marketing’s assets to tell compelling stories that resonate with prospects, positioning them as trusted advisors.

Revenue Marketing Asset Delivery

For Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Account-Based Selling (ABS) to work effectively in a Revenue Marketing model, technology marketers need a structured asset delivery flow that integrates both marketing and sales activities.

Below is an example of a successful flow:

Deep Qualitative Research: Understand the unique needs, pain points, and challenges of your high-value accounts.
Segmentation and Targeting: Focus on the most profitable customer segments based on detailed analysis.
Creative Theme Concepts: Develop creative themes that resonate with your target audience, focusing on their specific challenges and goals.
Community Building p.1 - Industry Index Creation: Develop a unique index for you industry to measure relevant offerings (such as the RMI), create value and engagement. Such as an Employee Happiness Index for HRTech buyers.
Brand-Level Advertising: Build trust with strategic advertising that positions your brand as a credible and reliable solution.
Sales-Led CTAs: Equip sales teams with personalized CTAs that encourage further engagement and meaningful conversations, across PDF assets, Index rankings, and industry assessments.
Assessment Invite: Offer a free assessment that provides valuable insights—such as a payroll maturity assessment for HR tech clients or a security readiness assessment for network security prospects.
Benchmarking Report: Provide a personalized benchmarking report comparing the prospect’s performance against industry standards.
Sales-Executed Asset Distribution: Sales professionals deliver personalized, high-value content at key touchpoints in the buyer journey.
Targeted Paid Support: Use paid ads strategically to reinforce your message and nurture key prospects at critical points.
1:1 Workshop Invitation: Invite prospects to customized workshops designed to address their specific business challenges.
Community Building p.2 - Index and Industry Community Groups: Build and manage small and exclusive groups based on Indecies and assessments.

In this flow, assessments act as value-led CTAs, offering real value to prospects while positioning your brand as a trusted advisor. For example, a payroll maturity assessment offered by an HR tech company provides actionable insights, while a security readiness assessment for network security clients demonstrates your expertise and value to high-level decision-makers. These assessments are more than just lead magnets—they create meaningful engagement and establish credibility, making it easier for sales to close deals.

By aligning both marketing and sales around high-value content and personalized customer interactions, the Revenue Marketing model ensures that every part of the process—from initial outreach to final sales conversion—is geared towards driving revenue. This approach significantly improves the efficiency of the marketing spend, reduces wasted budget, and results in higher-quality leads that are more likely to convert into profitable deals.

What Does the Reader Feel, Do, and Remember?

In every Revenue Marketing campaign, each asset must accomplish three things to ensure maximum impact:

What Does the Reader Feel?
- The asset should evoke an emotional connection, addressing the prospect’s pain points while offering clear, tailored solutions that resonate with their specific needs. Whether it’s a well-researched case study, a personalized report, or a valuable assessment, the goal is to make the prospect feel understood and valued.
What Does the Reader Do?
- Every asset must include a clear and actionable next step. Whether the call-to-action (CTA) is to register for a workshop, request a report, or engage in a one-on-one consultation, the prospect should know exactly what to do next and feel motivated to act.
What Does the Reader Remember?
- After engaging with your asset, the prospect should remember your brand as a trusted resource and industry leader. Consistency in messaging, delivery, and follow-up helps reinforce your value proposition, ensuring the prospect keeps you top of mind when they are ready to make a purchasing decision.

By focusing on these three outcomes consistently across all marketing assets, technology marketers can build deeper relationships with their audience, drive engagement, and increase the likelihood of conversion.

The 10 Steps of Revenue Marketing

The Revenue Marketing model follows a 10-step process that ensures a structured approach to driving revenue generation and profitability. This process is broken down into three key phases: Research, Strategy, and Tactics. One of the common mistakes companies make is skipping the research and strategy phases, jumping straight to tactics and delivery without fully understanding their market or customers.

Research (Steps 1-3): Building the Foundation

Skipping research often leads to campaigns that miss the mark because they don’t fully understand the customer or the market. The research phase is the foundation of Revenue Marketing and ensures that your strategy is data-driven and aligned with customer needs.

Strategy (Steps 4-8): Planning for Success

Once you’ve completed the research phase, the next step is to build a strong strategic framework. This ensures that all marketing and sales efforts are aligned and that there’s a clear plan for delivering value and driving conversions.

Tactics (Steps 9-10): Executing with Precision

After research and strategy are in place, it’s time to move to tactical execution. These are the actions that bring your strategy to life and drive results.

By following these steps, technology marketers can avoid the common pitfalls of jumping directly to tactics without a clear strategy, ensuring that their efforts are aligned with revenue generation and long-term success.

Revenue Marketing Campaigns in Action

Many technology marketers have already seen the power of Revenue Marketing in action. One notable example is the ABM (Account-Based Marketing) campaign run by Marketo for their enterprise customers. Instead of relying on broad, traditional lead-gen tactics, Marketo used highly personalized content tailored to specific accounts. The marketing team provided sales-driven assets such as personalized reports, industry benchmarking, and one-on-one consultations. The result? A 32% higher close rate compared to their traditional campaigns.

Another success story comes from HubSpot, which integrated its content marketing strategy with personalized outreach efforts by sales. By focusing on high-value content that addressed specific customer challenges and equipping sales teams with tailored reports and assessments, HubSpot was able to significantly increase conversions and improve its ROI on marketing spend.

Revenue Marketing AND Traditional Models

The cost savings in Revenue Marketing are significant. By reallocating budget away from inefficient tactics like paid ads and cold outreach, and focusing instead on high-value content and direct sales support, companies can reduce their overall marketing spend by up to 30-40%, while dramatically improving lead quality and conversion rates.

Achieving Growth with Revenue Marketing

Revenue Marketing offers a clear path for technology marketers to achieve long-term growth and profitability by aligning marketing and sales efforts around the goal of driving revenue. By following a structured, 10-step process, technology companies can eliminate wasted budget, increase lead quality, and build stronger relationships with their target audience. The result is not just higher conversion rates, but a more efficient and profitable marketing model that sets companies up for sustained success.

Revenue Practice (RP) is a high-end growth consultancy focused on revenue generation through customer obsession and hyper-organic marketing. We work with business-to-business technology marketing directors, CEOs, and PE firms to drive scalable, profitable growth while reducing costs and enhancing marketing efficiency. By building bespoke, high-impact teams, we deliver tailored strategies aligned with business objectives for a select group of key clients—ensuring measurable results from strategy to execution.