How to Show Leadership Exactly How Marketing Supports Company Goals

B2B Marketing Planning An Executive-Ready Playbook

Marketing leaders get asked the same question by CEOs and CROs: how will marketing move revenue this quarter and next year? This article shows how to translate company goals into measurable marketing outcomes, present an executive-ready dashboard and one-pagers, run 90-day sprints tied to KPI targets, and prove ROI with worked forecasts and attribution examples. If you need a platform to keep a single, shareable plan up to date and connected to financial targets, consider using B2B Planr as your planning hub.

Why marketing alignment to company goals matters to leadership

Marketing lives or dies by whether it helps the business make money. CEOs and CROs care primarily about three things: revenue growth, customer retention, and pipeline health. Marketing impacts each in distinct ways: it creates demand that becomes pipeline, it runs nurture and onboarding programs that reduce churn, and it shortens sales cycles through targeted ABM and content that speeds qualification.

CEO/CRO priorities and three ways marketing impacts each

Revenue growth: marketing creates new leads, increases deal velocity through content and enablement, and supports pricing and packaging changes with messaging and experimentation. Retention: marketing supports customer success with usage communications, adoption content, and renewal campaigns that reduce churn. Pipeline growth: marketing supplies qualified leads and targeted account engagement, and helps sales expand existing accounts with cross-sell campaigns.

Quantifying common disconnects

A frequent problem is KPIs that matter to marketing but not to the C-suite. Below is a short table showing typical misalignments and their business cost.

Industry research argues a plan must be a communications tool and an execution outline at once; Forrester makes this case clearly for B2B marketing planning. When your KPIs do not map to revenue metrics, leadership will either ignore marketing or demand rapid change.

Executive expectations for quarterly updates

Executives want a tight package at each quarterly review: headline metrics (pipeline created, influenced revenue, CAC), forecast variance against target, and the top one or two risks with mitigation plans. They expect owners and timelines for asks. Delivering this consistently raises marketing’s credibility and moves the conversation from activity to impact.

From here we move to the practical work: converting those company targets into marketing OKRs and the concrete metrics that prove marketing’s contribution.

Translate company goals into marketing outcomes and OKRs

The simplest test of a B2B marketing plan is whether it can be translated into 2–3 measurable OKRs that connect to the company target. Start with the corporate goal—say, +20% revenue—and reverse-engineer what marketing must deliver to make that achievable. That means mapping revenue targets to pipeline, pipeline to required SQLs, and SQLs to upstream MQLs and channel mix.

A template works well here. For a +20% revenue mandate, create three marketing OKRs: 1) Increase pipeline created by X% owned by marketing, 2) Reduce CAC by Y% for targeted segments, 3) Improve pipeline velocity by Z days through content and enablement. Assign an owner and a 90-day timeline to each OKR so responsibility is clear.

Objective-to-metric mapping is straightforward in practice. Convert revenue to pipeline using your sales win rate: Revenue target / average deal size = number of deals needed. Deals needed / win rate = pipeline required. Pipeline required / average deal size = total pipeline dollar value that marketing must help create. From there, use historical conversion rates to back into SQLs and MQLs and then assign those leads to channels.

Setting targets for MQLs, SQLs, and pipeline velocity requires realistic conversion assumptions. For SaaS, you might assume MQL→SQL = 15% and SQL→Win = 10%. That yields a simple back-of-envelope to map ARR goals into monthly SQL targets. For manufacturing and enterprise deals, use higher average deal size and lower conversion, which means fewer leads but more account-based focus.

Once OKRs and metric mappings are set, the next question is how to report contribution in a way leadership trusts—which brings us to choosing KPIs and an attribution approach.

Choose KPIs and an attribution model that leadership trusts

Executives need a compact KPI set that ties to revenue, not a long list of tactical metrics. I recommend reporting five primary KPIs: pipeline created, influenced revenue, customer acquisition cost (CAC), LTV-to-CAC ratio, and pipeline velocity. These tell the story of lead generation health, efficiency, long-term value, and speed of converting pipeline into revenue.

Attribution deserves pragmatic treatment. Compare three approaches: first-touch credits the first marketing contact, multi-touch linear splits credit across interactions, and revenue-based attribution allocates credit based on a model of influence on closed revenue. For B2B with long, committee-driven sales cycles, multi-touch or revenue-based models are usually more credible to leadership because they reflect the role nurture and later-stage content play in closing deals.

A simple revenue-influence attribution example helps. Suppose marketing touched five closed deals totaling $1.2m in a quarter. Using a conservative influence model, assign 40% of deal value as marketing-influenced revenue. That gives marketing-influenced revenue = $480k. Divide that by marketing spend to show return. Reporting both pipeline created and influenced revenue prevents overclaiming while making marketing’s financial impact clear.

Worked 6-month examples are useful in reviews. For a three-stage enterprise sales cycle, show the difference in attributed outcomes for a mid-market demand campaign versus an ABM pilot: demand creates more MQLs but lower average deal value; ABM creates fewer leads but higher pipeline per account. That comparison helps leaders choose where to allocate incremental budget.

With KPIs and attribution defined, the next step is to build a concise executive dashboard that surfaces these figures clearly and allows quick decision making.

Executive-ready dashboard and one-page templates

Executives do not want complexity. Use a single-page dashboard with a clear top row of KPIs, trend charts, forecast variance, and the top two risks with mitigation steps. Each widget must be intelligible at a glance: pipeline created (by month and cumulative), influenced revenue (quarter-to-date), CAC and LTV-to-CAC trend, pipeline velocity (average days in funnel), and forecast variance (delta to revenue target).

Explain each widget in one line when you present it. Pipeline created shows the raw supply of sales-ready opportunities. Influenced revenue converts that supply into a dollar measure. CAC and LTV comparison shows sustainability. Pipeline velocity shows whether deals are moving. Forecast variance explains whether marketing is on track and why.

Also provide a narrative that ties a campaign to forecasted revenue impact and asks of the business. For an ABM pilot targeting three enterprise accounts, that one-pager should show expected pipeline per account, required SDR effort, and the specific ask (e.g., sales coverage or executive introductions).

Populate the dashboard with sample numbers before meetings (or better yet, use a dedicated marketing planning software that automatically uses real-time data). For example, a SaaS quarter where marketing must create 30% of pipeline should show the absolute pipeline target, current pacing, and the half-dozen tactics that will close the gap.

Build the ROI case: Forecasts, scenarios, and worked calculations

A defensible forecast is transparent about inputs and assumptions. Use a simple worksheet with these core inputs: average deal size, win rate, MQL→SQL conversion, SQL→opportunity conversion, and sales cycle length. From those, calculate expected pipeline, deals, and revenue. Present best/worst/likely scenarios and a sensitivity table showing which assumptions swing outcomes most.

Follow a clear, numbered forecast process so reviewers can reproduce the math:

1. Set the revenue target and break into needed number of closed deals by average deal size.

2. Divide closed deals by win rate to get required pipeline.

3. Use historical conversion rates to back into required SQLs and MQLs.

4. Assign channels and expected CPL to estimate budget and CAC.

5. Run best/worst/likely scenarios by adjusting conversion and win rates.

Show payback period and CAC-to-LTV implications for planned spend. For subscription SaaS, display months to recover CAC and how a change in churn alters LTV. For professional services, show how variation in average deal size affects required lead counts and acquisition cost per closed deal.

A worked 12-month SaaS example with three scenario rows makes the assumptions concrete. Include sensitivity analysis for key variables like deal size or conversion rate; this highlights where to focus optimization efforts. Clear math replaces opinion with evidence and makes it simple for leaders to compare marketing investment against expected revenue.

With the ROI case built, the final step is to put language and process in place so marketing can brief executives and secure decisions.

Communication playbook Scripts, agendas, and follow-ups

Preparation and language matter. For a weekly 10-minute update, follow a tight script: open with the headline (one sentence), present the dashboard (two minutes), show forecast variance and key drivers (three minutes), state asks or decisions needed (two minutes), and close with owners and next steps (two minutes). Use exact phrasing for the headline and the ask to avoid ambiguity.

Provide a CEO/CRO one-page brief template that includes five items: current revenue variance, marketing contribution this period, top two risks and mitigations, decisions requested, and owners/timelines. After the meeting send an email follow-up that records decisions, owners, and deadlines.

List escalation and decision points with recommended stakeholders. For example, budget reallocation requests over a threshold should include the CFO; ABM expansions require CRO and VP Sales buy-in. Define timing: weekly tactical reviews, monthly executive reports, and quarterly planning sessions.

Scripts for ABM pilots help maintain focus. When the CEO and CRO are present, the opening line should state expected pipeline per account and what support is needed from sales leadership. Follow with a single-slide summary of anticipated revenue impact and resource asks.

Consistent cadence and precise language reduce friction in decision making and keep marketing seen as a reliable revenue partner.

If you want a single place to maintain OKRs, forecasts, and the executive dashboard so the plan stays current and shareable, consider B2B Planr to reduce the time spent preparing updates and increase confidence in your planning.

References

https://www.forrester.com/blogs/building-the-elements-of-your-b2b-marketing-plan/

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/what-is-b2b-marketing

https://www.salesforce.com/marketing/b2b-automation/b2b-marketing-guide/

https://hingemarketing.com/blog/story/10-essential-b2b-marketing-strategies-to-grow-your-professional-services-fi

https://www.trewmarketing.com/resources/an-engineers-guide-to-b2b-marketing-planning

Author: Steven Manifold, CMO. Steven has worked in B2B marketing for over 25 years, mostly with companies that sell complex products to specialist buyers. His experience includes senior roles at IBM and Pegasystems, and as CMO he built and ran a global marketing function at Ubisense, a global IIoT provider.