Stop Wasting Time and Money: Demand Generation Doesn’t Belong in Marketing

B2B marketing is a fickle pickle.

For as long as I’ve been around, B2B—especially in tech—teams have been set up generally the same way. There are brand/creative/comms functions, an events function, product marketing (near and dear to my heart, as you all know), and a demand generation function all tucked under a marketing leader. 

Now, of course, since we are marketing, org structure may not have changed much over the years, but we’ve managed to re-invent what we call ourselves from lead generation, demand gen, growth marketing, etc. and slightly change the definition, but ultimately, this function is meant to generate, nurture, and push leads through the pipe.

But the reality is that this model is outdated and ineffective. In my experience, demand gen, doesn’t belong in the marketing organization. 

Demand gen belongs in the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) organization. The reason is simple: Demand gen has become fluffy, disconnected from actual business metrics, and overrun with vanity metrics that don't directly correlate with ROI. The goal for demand is to bring in and get deals closed. Engagement and likes and loves aren’t metrics that close deals. 

And before my feed starts to blow up, let’s be clear. I’m not advocating that the marketing org should just be banished from the Earth, or entirely be rolled under CRO… so keep reading.

Let’s break down why I believe this shift is not only necessary but crucial for resource-strapped organizations looking to drive sustainable growth.

Fluffy Vanity Marketing metrics don’t drive sales

At its core, demand generation is about creating demand for a product or service. It’s about generating high-quality leads that can be nurtured through the sales process, ultimately converting into closed-won revenue. But too often, demand generation campaigns are measured by vanity metrics—things like impressions, clicks, or form submissions—that look good on paper but don’t actually move the needle when it comes to revenue.

In the past, marketing teams have been content with tracking these surface-level metrics, which may look impressive in a report but fail to tie directly to business outcomes. This shift towards "fluff" metrics has made it harder for marketing teams to demonstrate real value to the business, especially in B2B, where complex sales cycles and long decision-making processes require more sophisticated tracking.

When demand generation is housed in the sales organization, it’s held to a much higher standard. The primary focus is on driving actual business results—pipeline creation, sales-qualified leads (SQLs), and ultimately, closed-won revenue. These are metrics that directly contribute to a company’s bottom line and align far more closely with the sales team’s objectives. 

While the leading indicators (MQLs, contact acquisitions, engagement, impressions) are important to understand if messages are resonating, it should not be the core metric that demand creators are focused on, nor reporting up the chain to senior leaders. It’s the under-the-hood stuff that we need to know to manage our day-to-day, but not business-impacting.

Create Demand Accountability Within Sales

One of the most common points of friction between sales and marketing teams is the lack of accountability when it comes to lead follow-up. Sales teams often complain that marketing sends over unqualified leads that don’t convert, while marketing teams argue that sales isn't following up properly or quickly enough. This finger-pointing can be a huge waste of time and energy, leaving both teams frustrated and misaligned. 

By placing demand generation under the sales organization, the accountability for lead follow-up shifts. The CRO’s purview extends across both sales and demand generation, ensuring that marketing’s efforts are closely tied to the sales process. This eliminates the classic divide where marketing “throws leads over the fence” to sales, and sales gets to complain about the quality of those leads.

I know, some folks disagree with this. But I feel strongly here. Demand needs direct alignment and accountability, just like a sales rep in the field. Are we hitting our numbers? Do we have line-of-sight to our goals? Are we falling behind, and by how much? In smaller, resource-strapped organizations, it critical to focus on driving the business with the limited marketing resources you have. If you are a multi-billion dollar organization with massive marketing coffers, this may not be the right course of action. However, for the rest of us, we got to get more scrappy and more effective in how we manage our business.  

When demand generation lives in the CRO organization, sales teams are better equipped to understand the criteria for a qualified lead, and there is more transparency around the process. The sales team knows exactly what to expect from marketing and is more incentivized to follow up on leads in a timely manner. This leads to a more cohesive, results-driven sales pipeline and reduces the friction that has long existed between marketing and sales teams.

I even go so far as to say demand creators in the sales org should have some form of variable compensation aligned to results, like a sales rep.

So We Should Just Kill Off Marketing Departments? Not So Fast My Friends.

Demand generation and brand building are both essential to the growth of any business. You can’t do one without the other.

However, they serve very different purposes. Brand is about building presence, awareness, and trust in the market over time. It’s about positioning a company in the hearts and minds of potential customers, even before they’re ready to make a purchase. Brand efforts focus on customer perception, loyalty, and differentiation.

On the other hand, demand generation is about creating immediate, measurable demand for a product or service and driving leads through the sales funnel. Demand generation is much more performance-driven and results-oriented, focused on driving revenue in the short-to-mid-term.

Marketing departments should absolutely focus on building brand awareness, establishing thought leadership, and creating content that resonates with their target audience. But when it comes to driving sales and business growth, demand generation needs to be focused on metrics that lead directly to pipeline and closed deals. By separating brand and demand generation into distinct functions, the mission of each is clearer, more focused, and more effective.

Why the Split Is Necessary for Success

The combination of demand generation and branding in one department can lead to a muddied mission. Marketing teams, overwhelmed by the dual mandate of building awareness and generating leads, often end up spreading themselves thin and sacrificing effectiveness in both areas. It’s hard to be equally good at both when the goals and strategies are so different.

When demand generation is under the CRO, the marketing team can focus solely on branding, positioning, and long-term growth, while the sales team is able to focus on the immediate business of closing deals. The CRO’s focus on pipeline metrics ensures that demand generation efforts are tightly aligned with the revenue goals of the business, and the focus on lead quality and accountability ensures a smoother transition from marketing to sales.

By clearly delineating these functions, both branding and demand generation can thrive. The marketing team can build a strong, consistent brand presence, while the CRO team focuses on driving revenue through well-defined and accountable demand generation efforts.

The Leadership Problem

Dare I also mention the pink elephant in the room? 

Senior sales leaders, generally, are not marketers. They don’t get what goes into brand building—yes, it’s more than cool swag and having a cool booth at the tradeshow. 

Senior marketing leaders are not versed in the sales methods, end-of-quarter war rooms, comp plans and accellerators, etc.

The finess of messaging and creating the narratives that attract people to our organizations and products is not a skill they have. Nor can they grasp all the elements it takes in today’s digital and real-world experiences to build those connections. This is where marketing must come in. While I may have called them “fluff” metrics above, they are important in the brand-building arena. 

By separating the two functions, demand and brand, this allows each to focus and be the best in their craft and accountable to their respective metrics and goals without conflating fluff for sales metrics or forcing every brand dollar to produce a lead.

The Bottom Line: Rethink the Structure to Achieve the Results

The truth is, the landscape of B2B marketing has changed. Demand generation is no longer about casting a wide net and hoping for the best. It’s about driving measurable outcomes, creating a sales pipeline that delivers real business results, and fostering collaboration between sales and demand creators. To do this effectively, demand generation must be closely tied to the sales function. This shift allows for greater accountability, stronger alignment, and a more focused strategy that drives pipeline and closed-won revenue.

Brand building is VERY important—it creates long-term value for your company and helps you stand out in a crowded market. But it’s not the same as demand generation, and it shouldn’t be treated as such. When brands separate these two functions and give demand generation the focus it deserves under the CRO organization, both branding and revenue generation can thrive.

In the end, it’s about getting back to business fundamentals. Demand generation needs to lead to pipeline, and pipeline needs to lead to revenue. That’s where the true value of marketing lies.