Top Strategies for Sales-Marketing Alignment

Want faster growth and higher revenue? Align your sales and marketing teams. Companies that do this see:

• 24% faster revenue growth

• 27% faster profit growth

• 38% higher win rates

But misalignment costs businesses big:

• 79% of marketing leads never convert

• 60-70% of B2B content goes unused

Key Strategies for Alignment:

1. Set Clear Goals: Use shared metrics like pipeline growth and sales velocity.

2. Build a Unified Customer Profile: Combine sales and marketing insights to target better.

3. Integrate Tools and Data: Link CRM and marketing systems for seamless collaboration.

4. Tailor Content to Sales Needs: Match content to buyer stages to boost engagement.

5. Maintain Open Communication: Regular meetings and shared reports keep teams aligned.

Aligned teams close deals faster, retain customers longer, and generate more revenue. Start with shared goals, integrated tools, and consistent communication to see measurable results.

How To Better Align Sales & Marketing In A Modern B2B Organization

1. Set Clear Goals and Metrics

Shared objectives and measurable targets are the foundation for aligning teams effectively. This alignment can increase marketing revenue by 208%, with 56% of aligned companies meeting their revenue goals.

Track Revenue Performance

Focus on metrics that directly impact revenue. Instead of tracking separate KPIs for sales and marketing, use shared performance indicators to measure success:

Using shared dashboards can drive exceptional results. For instance, Amilia, an ecommerce platform, surpassed its pipeline target by 746% by aligning sales and marketing teams around actionable account-based metrics.

"The biggest cause of sales and marketing misalignment is when these departments work in silos, when they do not share objectives, communicate, or collaborate between each other."

• Radmila Blazheska, CMO, SecurityHQ

While metrics provide a way to measure progress, formal agreements ensure teams stay on the same page.

Create Team Agreements

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between sales and marketing teams are essential for establishing clear expectations and accountability. Companies with SLAs report a 65% improvement in marketing ROI. These agreements act as a roadmap for collaboration.

Key elements of an SLA should include:

• Lead qualification criteria

• Response time expectations

• Handoff processes

• Feedback mechanisms

• Joint KPIs and targets

Despite their importance, only 44% of companies have a formal agreement on what qualifies as a lead, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities.

"One way to build trust between marketing and sales is to make them accountable for the same company goal - revenue."

• Mike Lieberman, Co-founder and CEO, Square 2 Marketing

SLAs should be reviewed regularly to adjust strategies, address challenges, and celebrate achievements. Companies that implement this approach are 67% more effective at closing deals and 58% better at retaining customers.

2. Build a Joint Customer Profile

Blending sales insights with marketing data creates a detailed and accurate customer profile. Companies that align their sales and marketing efforts see impressive results - 36% higher customer retention rates and 38% higher sales win rates.

Merge Team Insights

To build a comprehensive customer profile, combine input from both sales and marketing teams. Here's how each contributes:

A great example of this in action is New Breed, which refined its customer profile and saw an 83% increase in average deal size in 2017, followed by a 30% increase in 2018.

"An empowered buyer is exactly what a sales and marketing organization should be targeting. Sales and marketing should unite to determine who their ideal customer is and how to reveal their latent pain and to move the customer to a place where they are more successful because of the product or service being offered." - Claudine Bianchi, QAD Redzone

By integrating intent signals into this profile, teams can zero in on the most promising leads with even greater precision.

Use Intent Data

Once sales and marketing insights are merged, intent data takes the profile to the next level. Intent data uncovers real-time buying signals, helping refine targeting efforts. According to research, 96% of B2B marketers have successfully used intent data to achieve their goals.

Tools like 24/7 Intent provide real-time data that helps teams identify:

• Companies actively forming buying committees

• Patterns in content engagement

• Indicators of purchase timelines

• Opportunities for market growth

The impact of intent data is clear - 70% of users report increased digital effectiveness. For example, Keboola leveraged intent signals to book 60% of its demos weekly by focusing on high-intent companies.

To get the most out of intent data:

• Regularly update customer profiles with real-time signals

• Prioritize accounts showing strong intent

• Align content with the buyer's current stage in the journey

• Adapt targeting strategies based on engagement trends

3. Connect Team Tools and Data

Did you know the average organization juggles nearly 1,000 different applications? Here’s the kicker: only 28% of these are connected, leaving massive data gaps. It’s no wonder 81% of IT leaders call these silos one of the biggest roadblocks to digital transformation.

Link CRM and Marketing Systems

Bringing CRM and marketing platforms together creates a single source of truth for both teams. Take Teamwork.com as an example - they streamlined their systems by adopting HubSpot. Lubna Quraishi, their Head of Marketing, highlights the impact: "When you have one source of truth for reporting, and real-time access to data, teams have more accountability and confidence in their every day. The increased visibility that it provides at each stage of the funnel is critical".

Here are the building blocks for effective integration:

When these pieces come together, they open doors to advanced tools like intent data integration.

Apply Intent Data Tools

Adding intent data into the mix takes things up a notch. In fact, over 85% of companies report measurable gains from using intent data. Platforms like 24/7 Intent integrate directly with CRM and marketing tools, helping teams:

• Track lead activities across platforms

• Automate follow-ups based on behavior

• Generate detailed performance insights

• Fine-tune ad targeting in real time

Martin H. Morrissette, CMO of Sirocco Group, explains why this matters: "Sales and marketing alignment is rooted in communication, shared goals, and collaboration. Our teams work in harmony, with daily sync-ins to discuss target groups, campaign content, and lead-generation goals".

To get the most out of connected systems, focus on these best practices:

• Set Clear Data Standards: Use consistent formats and definitions across platforms so everyone’s working with reliable information.

• Monitor System Performance: Regular audits can catch data errors and integration hiccups before they slow you down.

• Train Both Teams: Equip sales and marketing teams with the skills to fully leverage these tools. Companies with tight alignment are 67% better at closing deals.

4. Match Content to Sales Needs

A staggering 60 to 70 percent of B2B content is never used because it doesn't align with what buyers actually need. That’s a lot of wasted effort. To make your content work harder, it’s crucial to tailor it to match the specific stage of the sales journey.

Create Sales-Stage Content

Different stages in the buyer's journey call for different types of content. Here’s how you can align content with sales needs:

Using tools like 24/7 Intent, you can track how well your content resonates at each stage. This real-time data allows you to continuously tweak your strategy, ensuring that your efforts are aligned with buyer behavior.

"Content isn't just about attracting clicks, it's about guiding potential customers through a decision-making process. If your content doesn't match their stage in the journey, you'll either overwhelm them with too much information too soon or leave them hanging without enough details to make a decision." - Colleen Barry, Head of Marketing at Ketch

Use Sales Team Input

Your sales team is on the front lines, engaging directly with prospects daily. Their insights are invaluable for creating content that truly speaks to your audience. Here’s how to tap into their expertise:

• Establish a Core Feedback Group
  

  Assemble a group of sales reps who are regularly involved in calls with prospects. They can provide ongoing insights into customer challenges, identify gaps in your content, and highlight what’s working.

• Attend Sales Calls
  

  Marketing team members should sit in on sales calls to observe firsthand:

  • Common objections from customers

  • Frequently asked questions

  • Pain points that often lead to purchases

  • The specific language prospects use when discussing their needs

• Implement Structured Feedback
  

  Create a system to collect and analyze feedback from sales reps. This ensures that their insights are consistently integrated into your content strategy.

"Every day, SDRs and AEs are having frank and challenging conversations with buyers. Each conversation is a goldmine of insight for marketing that's almost always ignored." - Peter Mollins, CMO of SetSail

"People may need your product but don't always realize it. For example, people might search for productivity tips or remote work advice before they even know they need a time tracker." - Natallia Slimani, Content Manager at Traqq

5. Maintain Team Communication

Strong communication is the backbone of aligning sales and marketing teams. Regular meetings and open channels of dialogue help both sides tackle challenges and stay focused on shared goals.

Hold Regular Team Meetings

Setting up a consistent schedule for meetings is crucial. Alyce found that skipping regular sales and marketing calls quickly led to misalignment.

"If you're not going to have regular calls with your sales or marketing teams, things will fall through the cracks, and your efforts will be misaligned."

Here’s a simple meeting framework to keep everyone on the same page:

Incorporating tools like 24/7 Intent’s real-time data insights can further enhance these discussions. By spotting engagement trends in real time, teams can quickly adapt their strategies. This approach complements earlier discussions about integrated tools, ensuring data-driven decisions guide every meeting.

Share Performance Reports

Beyond meetings, transparent performance reporting is key to bringing sales and marketing together. Superoffice embraced a "Marketing as a shared responsibility" culture back in 2016, and the results were impressive:

• 168% boost in business leads

• 61% rise in social media visits

• Monthly social media impressions grew from 1,000 to 50,000

• 10% revenue growth in the first year

• An additional 24% projected revenue growth by 2018

"Sales and marketing alignment is about one shared goal: revenue that is delivered or over-delivered every quarter. There will always be tension, but that tension can be positive if there is a culture of clear expectations and communication." – Craig Rosenberg

Amilia’s story offers another example of success. In 2024, Diana Viola, their Performance Marketing Manager, used engagement insights to provide the sales team with strong data and engagement scores. This collaboration helped them exceed their pipeline target by a staggering 746%, with 30% of the pipeline directly tied to targeted campaigns.

To ensure effective performance sharing, consider these steps:

• Build centralized dashboards accessible to both teams

• Regularly review key conversion points and customer journey progress

• Use intent data to track engagement and refine strategies

• Maintain a shared tracker for content and performance metrics

"You have to generate revenue as efficiently as possible. And to do that, you must create a data-driven sales culture. Data trumps intuition." – Dave Elkington

Conclusion: Results of Better Alignment

The strategies discussed earlier lead to impressive growth, with aligned B2B organizations seeing 24% faster revenue growth and 27% faster profit growth over three years. This alignment significantly boosts key performance metrics:

Modern tools play a crucial role in this success, offering instant insights into customer intent and enabling seamless collaboration. When marketing and sales work together, marketing generates more qualified leads, and sales teams close deals more effectively.

By aligning goals, sharing data, and fostering open communication, businesses turn these metrics into real, measurable outcomes. In fact, 78% of high-performing smarketing teams rely on shared data platforms, showing how technology strengthens alignment.

However, the benefits go beyond numbers. A unified sales and marketing culture fosters mutual respect and continuous improvement. As Carrie Shaw, CMO of Copper, explains:

"As a CMO, my team and I are in service to our sales team. This leads to a culture of respect, cooperation, and reciprocation. Rather than being the marketer who thinks poorly of sales because they don't call your leads, become a bigger thinker. Become the marketer who's focused on creating an indisputably great pipeline."
– Carrie Shaw, CMO, Copper

When sales and marketing teams share insights, use intent data effectively, and maintain clear communication, they create a powerful engine for growth. The results are undeniable: faster sales cycles, higher win rates, and sustained revenue growth.

FAQs

How do shared metrics between sales and marketing teams drive faster revenue growth?

Shared metrics between sales and marketing teams can be a game-changer for driving revenue growth. When both teams track the same key performance indicators (KPIs) - like the conversion rate from Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) to Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) or customer acquisition costs - they get a clearer picture of how their efforts contribute to the overall sales process.

This shared focus helps break down silos, fosters better communication, and ensures both teams are aligned toward the same goals. The results? Improved lead quality, higher conversion rates, and measurable revenue growth. Businesses that align their sales and marketing efforts often report notable benefits, including higher win rates and stronger customer retention - showcasing the power of true collaboration.

How does intent data improve collaboration between sales and marketing teams?

Intent data bridges the gap between sales and marketing, enabling them to work together seamlessly by providing insights into customer behavior and purchase intent. With this information, both teams can zero in on high-priority leads, ensuring their strategies are aligned and their efforts more impactful.

Here’s how intent data makes a difference:

• Pinpoints high-intent prospects who are actively searching for solutions.

• Customizes messaging and campaigns to meet specific customer needs.

• Optimizes lead qualification, cutting down on wasted time and effort.

This shared approach not only strengthens communication between sales and marketing but also drives better conversion rates and creates a smoother experience for customers.

Why is it important to create content for each stage of the sales journey, and how can sales team insights make it more effective?

Creating content that aligns with each stage of the sales journey is key to connecting with potential customers effectively. During the awareness stage, the focus should be on providing educational and informative content that helps prospects understand their challenges and explore possible solutions. Moving into the consideration stage, it's all about demonstrating how your products or services address their specific needs. Finally, in the decision stage, emphasize product benefits, share case studies, and include testimonials to build trust and encourage action.

Your sales team can play a crucial role in this process. They have direct insight into customer pain points, common objections, and frequently asked questions. By working closely with sales, marketing teams can craft content that speaks directly to these concerns, making it more relevant and impactful. This collaboration not only helps qualify leads more effectively but also increases conversion rates by delivering the right message at the perfect time.

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