How Marketing Can Own Go-to-Market (Instead of Just Supporting Sales)

Tired of being seen as sales support?

David Heyworth reveals how marketing leaders can break free from the order-taking trap and own the entire go-to-market motion.

From building sales discovery teams that report to marketing to creating personalised experiences that win enterprise deals, David shares battle-tested strategies for transforming marketing from a cost centre into a revenue-driving growth engine.

Learn why talking revenue (not leads) changes everything, how to build true sales partnerships, and the account-based selling approach that boosted conversions from 7% to 52%.

Key Takeaways

• Stop talking leads, start talking revenue - Frame your impact as "$1M in pipeline opportunities" not "100 MQLs generated"
• Own the sales discovery process - Build SDR teams that report to marketing for full funnel control
• Be in the room where it happens - Get marketing into weekly sales meetings as strategic partners, not vendors
• Account-based selling beats ABM - Focus on "us" outcomes, not just marketing campaigns
• Listen with intention - Use "two ears, one mouth" to gather sales intelligence and customer insights
• Prove your model first - Start with sales champions, show results, then scale across the organisation
• Customer intimacy is your B2B superpower - Direct customer engagement beats digital analytics every time
• AI is your wingman, not your replacement - Use it to scale content creation and personalisation efforts

Memorable Moments

• The "crickets" story: How poor event execution taught valuable lessons about sales alignment
• The Defence Coin case study: Creating meaningful, personalised experiences that cement relationships
• The 7% to 52% conversion breakthrough: How rapid response transformed lead quality

Who Should Listen: Marketing leaders frustrated with being seen as support functions, CMOs looking to drive revenue ownership, and anyone struggling with sales-marketing alignment in complex B2B environments.

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