Smarketing is the alignment of sales and marketing teams around shared goals, processes, and metrics to drive better business results. This portmanteau of "sales" and "marketing" emphasizes collaboration rather than traditional silos where teams work independently or even antagonistically. Effective smarketing includes shared definitions of qualified leads, agreed-upon handoff processes, regular communication, and joint accountability for revenue. When sales and marketing work as one revenue team, companies achieve higher conversion rates, shorter sales cycles, and more predictable growth.
What are the key metrics used to measure smarketing success?
Key smarketing success metrics include Service Level Agreements (SLAs) achievement rate, lead-to-customer conversion rate, and revenue attribution by marketing channel. Sales and marketing teams should also track customer acquisition cost (CAC), pipeline velocity, and the percentage of sales-accepted leads that close as deals. Effective teams monitor customer lifetime value (CLV) to CAC ratio to ensure sustainable growth while measuring content engagement metrics that influence buyer decisions. These metrics work best when tracked in shared dashboards with regular joint reviews between sales and marketing teams.
What role does technology play in enabling effective smarketing strategies?
Technology enables smarketing through CRM systems that create a single source of truth for customer data accessible to both teams. Marketing automation platforms streamline lead qualification and handoff processes while providing valuable analytics on campaign effectiveness. Communication tools like Slack and Teams facilitate real-time collaboration between previously siloed departments. Data visualization dashboards help both teams track shared KPIs and make adjustments quickly. Additionally, AI-powered tools can identify patterns in customer behavior that inform both marketing content creation and sales conversation strategies.
How can companies implement smarketing when sales and marketing teams are traditionally siloed?
Implement smarketing by establishing regular cross-team meetings where both departments can share insights, challenges, and feedback. Create a unified customer journey map that clearly defines each team's responsibilities and handoff points to eliminate confusion and friction. Develop shared KPIs and dashboards that track joint success metrics rather than siloed departmental goals. Implement technology solutions that provide both teams access to the same customer data and interaction history. Consider reorganizing reporting structures so both departments answer to a single revenue leader who can champion alignment and collaboration.
