75% Of CEOs Don’t Think Marketing Drives Growth – What Are They Missing?

If marketing helps businesses find customers, build trust and generate demand, why do so many CEOs stop short of calling it a growth driver?

The answer for a lot of business leaders comes down to where they believe growth begins. Revenue is often credited to the sales team that closes the deal, not the marketing work that built awareness and buying intent even before a customer was ready to buy something.

This thinking can be seen in The CEO Blind Spot, a new report from Propolis. Its survey of 150 UK CEOs and senior business leaders at B2B organisations with annual revenue above £20 million found that 75% do not believe marketing drives business growth, even though they recognise its value.

The report also says 84% see marketing as a support function, not a commercial growth function. Also 77% believe sales contributes more to growth than marketing, and 67% believe marketing has less accountability for business results than sales.

Where Does Marketing Lose Credit?

Propolis says many CEOs only see the final stage of a sale. The report calls this “ghost revenue”, where marketing has already spent months, or even years, building awareness, trust and customer interest before revenue finally arrives.

Once a sale is completed, credit often goes to the teams involved at the end of the process. According to the report, much of marketing’s commercial contribution stays out of sight, even though it helped create the conditions for the sale in the first place.

This way of thinking also influences spending decisions. Propolis says 81% of CEOs believe marketing budgets are harder to justify than sales budgets. A further 76% said they cannot justify marketing investment unless it generates leads.

Business leaders also place more value on activity that produces quicker results. The report says 79% want shorter sales funnels, 76% believe hard leads matter more than brand awareness, and 81% place more value on performance marketing than storytelling.

Richard O’Connor, CEO of Propolis, said, “Too many CEOs say they value B2B marketing, but our research suggests they still don’t value it as a commercial growth function. If you believe marketing matters but doesn’t drive growth, it’s difficult to argue you’re recognising its full contribution to the business.

“The challenge is that much of marketing’s commercial contribution happens long before revenue appears on a dashboard, making it far less visible than that of functions operating closer to the point of sale. As CEOs face growing pressure to deliver short term results while increasing investment in AI, there is a real risk that a critical engine of sustainable growth becomes an easy target for budget cuts unless this blind spot is addressed.”

Why Are Marketers Struggling?

The report says many CEOs are not questioning the importance of marketing. They want marketers to explain their work in commercial terms and connect it more closely to business performance.

Propolis says 88% of business leaders believe marketers would have more influence if they spoke the language of business. A further 83% said they would have more confidence in marketers who showed better commercial understanding, and 79% wanted marketers to spend less time talking about creativity and more time talking about results.

Marketing also has less involvement in business planning than many people might expect. Around 65% of business leaders said marketing is not involved throughout the full growth strategy process, and 76% said marketers are not included throughout revenue forecasting. According to Propolis, this makes it harder for marketing teams to prove commercial value because they are missing from many of the discussions where business decisions are made.

The report also says only 18% of B2B marketers believe they can consistently demonstrate business impact to senior leadership, showing a disconnect between what marketers believe they contribute and what CEOs believe they can prove.

What Would Help CEOs See Marketing Differently?

AI is also influencing how many businesses think about marketing. According to the report, 75% of business leaders have already reduced marketing investment or headcount because of AI, and 80% believe they can continue reducing marketing budgets without affecting business growth.

The report says those reductions reach much more than administrative work. Spending has also gone down across thought leadership, market research, customer relationship building, strategic marketing planning and brand building, all activities that help businesses understand customers and generate demand over longer periods.

There are signs that CEOs are open to a different way of thinking. Propolis says 87% agree the best marketing combines creativity, brand building and commercial impact.

When asked what is holding marketing back, business leaders most often mentioned alignment with sales, investment being directed towards innovation such as AI, marketing not being seen as a strategic priority, short term business priorities, difficulty proving return on investment and doubts about marketing’s commercial value.

According to Propolis, marketers can close the disconnect by bringing customer insight into leadership discussions, talking more about revenue and business performance, working together with sales more and showing commercial results throughout the year. If that happens, CEOs may begin to see marketing’s impact long before the sale and not only when there’s revenue…