Something many marketing leaders get wrong: the metric they should own.
It’s not leads. It’s not traffic. It’s not MQLs.
It’s not even “marketing-sourced pipeline.”
It’s total pipeline generated. All of it. Including pipeline generated by sales, BDRs, referrals, partners.
Why is this my preferred metric?
- Total pipeline generation is too critical to be shared vaguely across teams. When a single owner is accountable, the number stays top of mind and is consistently reviewed.
- Marketing is the natural owner. It already drives top of funnel and pipeline generation. It has the right mindset and skills (and usually owns the lion’s share of pipeline generation anyway).
- When one person is responsible for keeping the entire pipeline healthy, it creates accountability and enables clearer forecasting. Someone is looking at the full picture, identifying gaps, making connections, spotting trends.
Sounds tough for marketing… and it is.
But here are the immediate benefits for the CMO (and the company):
- It stops the endless infighting and credit wars about “I created this opportunity.” Everyone rows toward the same company-level number, not just their departmental slice.
- Marketing can shift budget and resources according to what’s performing (or not) across the board, not just across marketing activities.
- It elevates marketing leaders. Instead of reporting on metrics no CEO or board cares about, they stand shoulder to shoulder with sales and finance, accountable for the company’s growth engine.
Here’s how CMOs can put this into practice and own total pipeline creation:
- Pipeline becomes the first line item in your updates, QBRs, and leadership meetings. It’s the headline metric you and your CEO discuss, not traffic or MQLs.
- Your entire marketing team understands this North Star. Every channel owner knows how their work ladders up to pipeline.
- Other GTM leaders become true partners. That means constructive, blameless conversations with sales, BD, and SDRs about what’s working, what’s lagging, and how to allocate resources.
- Your mindset shifts to owning the whole number. Even if marketing is hitting its individual pipeline creation goal, if the company-wide pipeline is down, it means marketing is not doing well.
Taking responsibility for the whole pipeline is no easy job. It’s messy, uncomfortable, and often thankless.
But it transforms marketing leaders. They stop reporting on metrics no CEO or board cares about, and start standing shoulder to shoulder with sales and finance, accountable for the company’s growth engine.
If you’re not willing to own it, maybe you’re not ready to lead marketing.
