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Marketing should be the hub of go-to-market strategy – not the internal agency that just says “yes” to everything. But what does it take to actually shift that perception and function?
In this episode of Move the Needle, Kyle Lacy, CMO at Docebo and former GTM leader at Salesforce, Seismic, and OpenView, breaks down the tactical mindset and leadership systems that allow marketing to act like a true revenue engine.His approach boils down to four pillars, wrapped in a simple framework: CREM.
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C = Communication: Own the Narrative
Marketing should be the loudest voice in cross-functional alignment. That doesn’t mean dominating the conversation – it means facilitating it with clarity, data, and confidence. Kyle starts with the basics: change how your team responds to requests.
“When you say yes to everything, you train a team to feel productive by checking a box. Ultimately, we don’t care that you get anything done if pipeline and bookings are not being met.”
Kyle starts with a tactical but hugely impactful change. Creating a gated intake form for any marketing requests. When you require a business case for any marketing request, Kyle says half the requests will disappear on their own (giving Marketing the capacity to focus on the work that matters most).
“This gives your team the ability to redirect people who Slack them constantly. It removes the burden of saying no from individuals, and centralizes it through your leadership.”
Kyle also knows that the key to success in a CMO role is communicating up, down, and across – with consistency. He suggests approaches like:
- A weekly email with pipeline progress
- A shared campaign roadmap
- One dashboard to track progress
And that leads right into the next step of Kyle’s framework.
R = Revenue: Align to the Right Number
Marketing can’t earn strategic status if it’s not directly tied to revenue. But Kyle goes even further, saying, “Marketing should own pipeline.”
Kyle has a controversial take that Product Marketing should actually “own” the pipeline number, especially in a multi-product company. As he further explains: product marketing is the “steward” of product-level pipeline goals for their product/SKU… even if demand gen owns pipeline by source and segment. This lack of clear stewardship is why Kyle thinks Product Marketing often struggles to get a seat at the strategic table.
So what does he report on in practice? When building out his own team’s dashboards, Kyle prioritizes two areas:
- Start with bookings. Not just MQLs or influenced revenue. Boards and CFOs care about closed deals. Break these down by stages (and conversion rates), source, segment, and product.
- Break pipeline down by source, segment, and product/SKU, too (especially for companies with multiple product lines).
And the biggest mistake Kyle can’t believe CMOs are still making? Not reading the room.
He also warns against missing the mark with executive communication or in board meetings by over-indexing on marketing activity without business impact data. And if sales numbers are down? This is the fastest way to lose credibility.
“You can’t celebrate top-of-funnel wins when bookings are down. It’s tone deaf. Celebrate as a team. Lose as a team.”
That doesn’t mean Kyle doesn’t care about or even ever talk to the board about brand. But as he cautions, “I’ve over-rotated on revenue marketing metrics before, and failed to communicate brand. But if you’re not clear on pipeline and bookings, the board won’t care about your [brand] campaign.”
E = Enablement: Go Beyond Sales
Most companies treat Enablement as a Sales function. They’re thinking about sales collateral, demo decks, and training. But Kyle believes it’s broader than that.
Kyle says real alignment comes when everyone – marketing, product, CS, sales, execs – deeply understands the product and can communicate its value.
Here are just a few ways he suggests expanding beyond common enablement:
- Every marketer should be demo-certified. Not just trained in messaging, but actually able to walk through a live demo.
- New employee onboarding should cover product, positioning, and pipeline goals – not just HR paperwork.
- Internal content enablement should be standardized. Before launching a report or event, educate the whole company on the key messages.
“I believe all CMOs should be able to pitch like the CRO. Not just regurgitate product info, but actually pitch.”
M = Metrics: Create a Source of Truth
Metrics are where it all comes together – but only if you can trust the data and agree on it. Kyle rightly points out that disagreement around the numbers is usually the greatest point of misalignment between Marketing and the other functions.
“If people are pulling different reports and metrics, friction is inevitable. Alignment starts with agreeing on what numbers we track and where we track them.”
Here, Kyle puts a firm stake in the ground: you need a central source of truth, and marketing should own it.
Because Marketing owns the pipeline narrative and number (see “Revenue”), Kyle makes a strong case for Marketing to also be the owner of all GTM reporting.
But even if it’s not Marketing, Kyle said the important part is that there is an agreed-upon source of truth for all metrics and reporting.
“The source of truth doesn’t have to be fancy. But it has to be agreed upon.”
It’s not enough to have a centralized reporting location, either. Kyle emphasizes that it’s critical to cover two other foundational pieces:
- Align on definitions: what counts as a lead, an MQL, sourced vs. influenced pipeline, etc.
- Write up your Go-To-Market SLA, and get everyone to sign it like a contract.
It may seem like overkill or a formality, but SaaS leaders like Kyle have learned these lessons the hard way. Effective team alignment requires clarity, communication, and consistency.
Final Thought: It’s Okay to Take a Break
If you’re getting a little tired thinking about how hard it is to do everything Kyle just outlined, you’re not alone.
Marketing is hard. And Kyle wants to normalize that truth.
“Marketing is one of the harder roles in a company – the amount of context switching we have to do is different than any other group or team in the company. And I think it’s okay to raise your hand and say, ‘I need a break’ or ‘I’m having a hard time.’ I don’t think that’s said enough. No matter what you’re measuring, it’s important to take a break sometimes.”
