In the fast-paced worlds of medtech and healthtech, achieving success in marketing often hinges on a strong partnership between marketing and finance teams. Recently, a marketing team we collaborate with has experienced outstanding success, winning industry awards and gaining recognition. Despite this, they continue to struggle with budget approval. This challenge isn't due to doubts about their work, but rather the inability to effectively link their efforts to direct sales outcomes.
The Disconnect Between Marketing and Finance
A perception exists that finance departments are typically skeptical of marketing investments. However, a 2026 survey by Bain & Company and Google, which involved 1,397 senior executives from both fields, reveals a different story. Approximately 70% from both marketing and finance believe that performance marketing should provide returns within months. Additionally, around 40% expect brand investments to manifest value over the course of a year or more. This shared understanding of success indicators, such as return on marketing investment and revenue impact, underscores that both teams agree on the goals; the variance lies in the proof.
Redefining Budget Proposals
To secure budget approval, marketing proposals must adjust their focus from qualitative evaluations to quantitative returns. Drawing from my experiences as a management consultant and as a lead in strategy and research at a marketing agency, I've noted that effective budget requests respond to three critical questions: What’s the return? What’s the risk? Can this team execute?
Return: Tailor Metrics for Finance
Marketing campaigns often assess success using their own metrics, like impressions and engagement, while finance relies on different criteria such as payback periods and customer acquisition costs. For a CFO, the absence of financial metrics makes it challenging to evaluate marketing budgets against other investments like new sales hires or technology upgrades. Alarmingly, only 41% of marketers feel they possess the right data and tools to effectively correlate their performance with business results.
This issue becomes even more pronounced in healthcare, where purchase decisions can extend beyond a full fiscal year. Without explicitly illustrating how marketing expenditures today can translate into future revenue, the initiative may be viewed merely as a cost. Establish a connection by mapping anticipated paybacks to actual sales cycles and outline how annual expenditures relate to next year’s potential revenue.
Risk: Flexible Budget Management
Another common pitfall occurs after securing a budget. Marketing leaders often lock funds into fixed costs without the flexibility to adjust based on proven value. Current trends show that pressures on budgets are intensifying; recent surveys indicate that a growing percentage of marketers are feeling increased pressure from CFOs to justify their spending. With rapidly shifting healthcare conditions, a rigid budget can quickly become obsolete.
To mitigate this risk, I suggest dividing the marketing budget into two layers. The core layer should cover essential expenditures necessary for the marketing strategy to proceed, while the flexible layer can be allocated gradually, based on performance results. This approach allows finance teams to support expenditures incrementally, reducing the strain of uncertainty since they are only backing proven results.
Execution: Ensure a Capable Team
Another often-overlooked aspect is ensuring the marketing team can effectively implement the proposed strategies. Often, teams prepare budgets without assessing whether their current staff has the necessary skills. The tendency to hire generalists may seem prudent, but in specialized fields like healthcare, this can lead to overspending, extended timelines, and missed opportunities.
Incorporate the necessary team competencies into the budget proposal. Identify key roles required to achieve the marketing objectives and justify each position within the funding request. This transforms staffing from a mere cost into an integral part of realizing the marketing strategy.
The Bigger Picture: Build Stronger Relationships
Establishing a seamless collaboration between CMOs and CFOs has significant long-term benefits. Companies with strong finance-marketing relationships are 1.5 times more likely to excel in market share and revenue growth. Hence, the ability for marketing proposals to be ranked alongside other investments is crucial for initiating this relationship.
As you prepare for your next budget cycle, consider this critical question: Can your CFO assess your marketing plan within the broader context of other investments? If the answer is no, it's time to reevaluate your approach.
