Introduction

Most B2B marketing and sales teams are not talking to the same people. This article shows why that hurts business and how to fix it.

What's the Problem It Solves?

In many B2B companies, the marketing team and the sales team are reaching totally different people. This creates a big problem: marketing brings in leads that sales doesn’t follow up on, and sales talks to people who never saw the marketing. That disconnect leads to wasted effort, missed sales, and broken pipelines.

Quick Summary

New research from LinkedIn shows that marketing and sales at most B2B companies are badly out of sync. On average, only 16% of the people reached by marketing are also contacted by sales. And it gets worse-most companies' brand and demand marketing efforts don’t even talk to the same audience, with just 5% overlap between them. This gap leads to missed chances to connect, convert, and close deals.

The study shows that when marketing and sales work together and reach the same people, good things happen: more buyers respond, more deals close, and more revenue is made. The fix starts with both teams agreeing on who they are targeting. Then marketing should focus on reaching a wide group of possible buyers, not just a tiny slice. When done right, this alignment can boost revenue, cut costs, and keep customers around longer.

Key Takeaways from the Article

• Only 16% of people reached by marketing are also contacted by sales.
• Most companies’ brand and demand marketing efforts also don’t match up.
• When marketing and sales reach the same people, sales results improve.
• Alignment can increase marketing-driven revenue by over 200%.
• Teams must agree on target audiences and stop over-focusing on narrow lists.
• Marketing should lead with broader outreach to cover more potential buyers.
• Having one shared funnel, not three disconnected ones, leads to better performance.
• The goal is clear: more overlap, fewer gaps, and stronger results.

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