How CMOs and CFOs can align to turn marketing into a growth driver

The eternal tension between CMOs and CFOs isn’t breaking news. If it were an easy fix, we wouldn’t still be dissecting it in boardrooms, LinkedIn think pieces and conference panels. Historically, these two roles have been framed as natural adversaries—one driving brand, demand and growth while the other keeps the financial train on the rails, scrutinizing costs and prioritizing returns. However, the evolution of both roles has made the divide less justifiable. The real challenge isn’t just proving marketing’s value, but executing these five strategies that CFOs can get behind. Speak CFO CFOs don’t lose sleep over brand awareness, share of voice or engagement rates. They care about revenue, margins and risk mitigation. And they should—after all, it’s their job. So, if marketers want to win bigger budgets and long-term investments, they need to shift their approach. Less “Trust us, this is working” and more, “Here’s how marketing moves the financial needle.” Also read: Inside student-run advertising agencies—how they are building the industry’s future leaders Marketing isn’t a cost center; it’s a revenue engine. But that statement holds weight only if CMOs can prove it with clear, quantifiable impact. That means ditching vanity metrics and bringing CFOs into the mechanics of marketing. Show them the logic behind customer lifetime value, acquisition costs and multi-touch attribution models. Better yet, tie those numbers back to bottom-line impact. Did last quarter’s campaign reduce churn? Did your content strategy drive higher conversion rates? Less storytelling, more story selling. Show your work CFOs want clear ROI, but marketing’s traditional metrics don’t always align with financial reporting. The key is shifting the conversation to numbers that matter to finance. Pairing customer lifetime value with acquisition costs highlights long-term profitability. Multi-touch attribution links marketing efforts to closed revenue, proving where investments pay off. And showing marketing’s impact on churn reduction and expansion revenue moves the focus beyond short-term wins to sustained growth. When marketing trades abstract engagement metrics for measurable financial outcomes, the conversation—and the CFO’s level of support—changes. Involve CFOs early and often CFOs should be treated as strategic partners, not just budget gatekeepers. Bringing them into marketing planning early doesn’t just secure their buy-in—it transforms the entire conversation. Putting the crown on somebody else’s head to enlist cooperation on decisions such as how investments are structured, tested, and optimized makes them less skeptical and more engaged. They stop viewing marketing as a black box of spending and start seeing it as a calculated driver of growth. Also, let’s not pretend marketing’s value is up for discussion only during budget season. CMOs should be sharing updates throughout the year—not just when they need to justify next year’s spend. And it should not be in a defensive, “here’s why we need more money” way, but as part of an ongoing, strategic dialogue about business growth. Keep it transparent. Share wins, losses and lessons learned. Use scenario planning Marketing budgets are picked apart because they’re often presented as take-it-or-leave-it numbers. A smarter play is to shift the conversation with scenario planning, turning a rigid budget ask into a strategic discussion. Instead of asking for $5 million for a campaign, break it down into a range of possibilities. Offer best-case, worst-case and moderate-case models. Show them what happens if spend increases, holds steady or scales back. Even better: Structure marketing as a series of iterative, data-backed experiments rather than one big, expensive bet. Lay out controlled, measurable tests with clear KPIs so marketing isn’t just asking for a lump sum—it’s building a case for investment that proves itself, phase by phase. Build cross-functional buy-in One of the biggest mistakes CMOs still make is thinking they have to take on CFOs alone. But marketing doesn’t operate in a vacuum, and if the only person vouching for its impact is the CMO, that’s a red flag. Also read: How financial brands are changing their media approaches as they focus on AI The best way to gain CFO buy-in? Cross-functional collaboration. Sales leaders, product heads and customer success teams all have skin in the game. If they’re on board, marketing stops being just the “department that spends money” and starts being recognized as a crucial business function across the C-suite. Bring in the data and analytics team to make an even stronger case. Having validation from data analysts and those who specialize in measurement gives marketing an extra layer of credibility. It transforms marketing from an expense line item to a high-performance business driver. Thriving in a data-driven world means less silos and more energy—aligning on shared business goals, fostering real transparency and reframing marketing investments as long-term value creators, not short-term expenses. The best CMOs aren’t just great marketers. They’re business leaders. And the smartest CFOs aren’t just number crunchers but can recognize that marketing isn’t a gamble, but a strategic investment. When these two forces align, the entire organization wins. Don’t Miss: Data-Driven Marketing Playbook—everything you need to know

How CMOs and CFOs can align to turn marketing into a growth driver

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