That’s what I told my marketing manager.
Or said otherwise: every euro spent should be able to justify its existence. If it can’t, it’s not an investment. It’s a cost.
Let me tell a bit more about the context.
I had the mandate of driving transformation of the sales and marketing organization.
In my first week, the marketing manager came with his annual plan, ready for sign-off.
Before he opened his deck, I told him two things:
“If you can’t demonstrate a direct or indirect ROI for each line of spend, I won’t approve it.”
And:
“If we outsource work, you need to explain why we can’t, or shouldn’t, do it ourselves.”
He looked like I’d pulled the rug from under him.
But I wasn’t being difficult. I was doing my job.
We were in a transformation. Budgets were tighter than during the company’s golden days.
Being busy was no longer acceptable.
Only effectiveness mattered.
I’ve often seen the same pattern repeat across organisations and industries.
1️⃣ Spend exists because it existed last year
Last year’s budget becomes this year’s unquestioned baseline.
2️⃣ “Busy” gets confused with “effective”
Reporting on activity, campaigns launched, content published, events attended, and confusing it with performance.
3️⃣ Outsourcing as a comfort zone
Third parties are not the best option, but it’s easier.
4️⃣ ‘Long-term’ used as a shield
Brand, awareness, positioning, all are legitimate. But “long-term” is not a free card for “unaccountable.”
5️⃣ Nobody wants to be the one who pulls the plug
Ending a program feels like admitting failure. So it continues.
Does every euro need immediate ROI?
Of course not.
Brand or positioning, these matter highly.
But even long-term investments need questioning:
→ What outcome are we driving?
→ How will we know it worked?
→ What do we do if it doesn’t?
If you can’t answer those three questions, you don’t have an investment. You have a cost you’ve chosen not to look at.
What have I seen work within the most successful environments?
✅ Start with intentional spending
Every budget line should have a rationale and a measurable outcome, even if that outcome is 12 months away.
✅ Challenge outsourcing to third-parties
Ask: why can’t we do this ourselves? If the answer is skills or capacity, that’s fine. If the answer is habit, that’s a problem.
✅ Make ROI a culture, not an option
With a change of mindset, the marketing manager who walked into my office shifted from producing output to producing results.
✅ Your market is evolving. Your spending discipline should too
Customer behaviour, channels, tools, and competition have all shifted. Challenging your spend isn’t a finance exercise, it’s a leadership one.
Here is my question to you:
how much of your current budget is truly working for you, and how much just looks like it is?
