Is Your Marketing Aligned with Business Objectives?
How to make sure marketing delivers value, not vanity metrics
I’ve been thinking a lot about the alignment between business objectives and marketing goals.
It’s important!
But it’s easy for things to get off track when marketing efforts become tactical delivery of executive asks. Or when the team is chasing vanity metrics like website page views or email open rates.
Check for Business-Marketing Alignment
Think about your own organization:
Are marketing efforts aligned with overall business goals?
Are there specific 30/60/90-day or annual marketing goals?
Are there clear metrics or KPIs being used to track success and business outcomes?
Start by asking the most direct question possible: “What does success look like this quarter?” If the answer sounds like “more visibility” or “leads, I guess?” — you’ve found a gap.
You want to check for alignment between your business goals and your marketing objectives. If it’s not obvious, start by locating and reviewing:
Business strategy documentation
Business objectives and key results (OKRs)
Sales targets and results
Marketing plans
Take a look at the marketing plans and determine if they tie back to any of the objectives and results, especially sales targets. Look for direct linkages (e.g., "increase market share in X vertical" paired with "launch campaign targeting X vertical buyers").
Good sign: Marketing is reporting on KPIs that align with revenue, pipeline, retention, or market expansion.
Bad sign: Marketing metrics live in isolation (e.g., clicks or impressions only).
If no impact-generating metrics are being tracked or if tracking lives in a mystery spreadsheet only one person understands, that’s your flag.
Why Alignment Matters
Marketing exists to drive business outcomes — not just activity. When aligned with business goals, marketing becomes a growth lever rather than a cost center.
Misalignment often results in wasted spend or fragmented efforts. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, companies that align marketing with strategic goals are 67% more likely to exceed growth expectations.