Persuading CFO to Approve SEO Budget

New CMO: do you want high ROAS in January or a massive 2025? pick one, because you can't get both. CFO: oh, here we go. New CMO: i can keep squeezing the shrinking funnel to make this quarter look good, or we can focus on what matters. CFO: what's that? New CMO: creating demand we can convert all year long. the 95/5 rule is more important than ever. focusing only on short-term ROAS hurts us when it comes to building long-term demand. ROAS will drop short term, but it’s the only way to build sustainable growth in 2025. CFO: no. we need to hit this quarter's revenue and efficiency targets. New CMO: why? serious question. CFO: because that’s how business works. we set goals and hit them. marketing’s one small piece of the puzzle. i’ve got to make sure we stay in a good financial position. New CMO: well, if you knew your P&L, you'd know marketing isn’t small. it’s the biggest lever we’ve got. i’ve reviewed the last 5 years, and we’ve been looking at growth wrong—always chasing the now at the expense of the future. CFO: classic. new CMO wants to tell me how to do my job. please, tell me why it's wrong. New CMO: you're not wrong, but we need to evolve—change how we operate, allocate spend, and measure success. CFO: sounds great in theory, but we operate in the real world. we can’t afford low ROAS. we don’t have money to waste on hare-brained brand ideas. New CMO: we’re wasting money by obsessing over high ROAS year-round. it’s disconnected from how and when people make decisions. now’s the time to invest in demand we can harvest all year long. CFO: (robot voice) does not compute. New CMO: buying future demand costs less than chasing max ROAS daily. if we focus on distributing content that builds trust and awareness—content that makes people laugh, think, or remember us—we’ll dominate in the moments that matter most. CFO: blasphemy. New CMO: haven't you noticed? high ROAS usually means low incrementality. CFO: just got the results from our first incrementality test. haven’t read it. New CMO: please do. kinda important. it shows we’ve wasted money chasing ROAS for years. CFO: (skimming report) hmm... New CMO: we’ve been too scared to invest in things that don’t generate an immediate return. that fear has locked us into short-term metrics that don’t align with sustainable growth. CFO: don’t tell anyone i said this, but it’s starting to make sense. back in finance, i’d never invest in companies chasing only immediate returns. those companies always fail, needing to compete on price. smart investors see through that and run. New CMO: interesting. CFO: why should we be any different? we’re acting just like those companies i’d never touch. New CMO: was that a little AHA moment? CFO: call it what you want, but it was pretty sweet. let’s meet tomorrow to hash out the details. do what you need to do to set us up for 2025. New CMO: gladly.

The CFO never looked up from his phone. Until I changed two words in my pitch. Budget approved in 120 seconds. My mentor didn't even open my deck. Three months of customer insights. All he wanted was one number. "But our satisfaction scores are incredible-" "Justin, let me tell you a story." He pulled up an old presentation: "See this chart? Best customer feedback in company history. Team got cut the next quarter." I sat there stunned. "Now watch this." He opened another deck. Just three slides: - $2.1M in prevented churn - $800K in accelerated deals - $1.2M in expansion revenue "Same exact work. Different story." Then he taught me the million-dollar translation: Instead of: "Customers love our new feature!" Say: "Usage drove $300K in upgrades." Instead of: "Satisfaction is at an all-time high!" Say: "We prevented $1.2M in churn." Instead of: "Customers are referring more!" Say: "Referrals accelerated $500K in pipeline." The work didn't change. The words did. When I pitched Q3 results. The CFO stopped checking his phone. The CEO leaned forward. Budget discussions lasted 2 minutes. Because I wasn't selling happiness. I was showing money. Your metrics tell a story. Make sure it's one worth funding.

I was on a panel with 3 CFOs a while back... I asked them: "What do sellers get wrong when they're trying to sell to you?" All three said the same thing: "They talk about their product." "We don't care about your product." "We care about outcomes." CFOs speak a different language. If you don't speak it? You lose. The CFOs actually care about: 1. Return on Investment (but not how you think) CFOs want to know: → How much does this cost? → What's the return? → WHEN will we see it? One CFO said: "I'm skeptical if there's a huge ROI but it takes 3-4 years." "That's a lot of risk." "I'd rather take smaller ROIs with quick value." Translation: Show fast payback periods. Not 5-year projections. 2. Risk mitigation CFOs are paid to avoid bad decisions. Address the risk proactively: "What measures show we're on track?" "What if we don't hit projections?" When you address risk? They trust you. When you ignore it? They assume you're hiding something. 3. Commitment to outcomes Killer question one CFO shared: "When I see something fluffy, I ask: 'So you're committing to this?'" "'Your number goes up 20%? We're putting that in the plan?'" "They say 'whoa whoa whoa.'" Another CFO: "Someone says they'll save me 20% time." "I say, 'Great, so we're cutting headcount by 20%?'" "They say no." "Well then we've just increased costs." If you won't commit to the outcome? It's phantom ROI. CFOs see through it. How to speak the CFO's language: Use their metrics: Stop: "Increased efficiency" Start: → Gross margin expansion → CAC reduction → LTV improvement → Cash flow impact → Payback period Show your math: Don't say: "You'll save $500K." Say: "50 reps × 10 hours/week × $75/hour = $37.5K/week. Over 12 months: $1.95M. 30% reduction = $585K saved." Now they can follow your logic. Use ranges: Don't: "You'll save exactly $247,000." Do: "You'll save $200K-$280K depending on adoption." Ranges show you've thought about upside and downside. Build the case WITH your champion: CFOs agreed: "It's easy to tell when the champion just took what the seller gave them." "Ask a couple questions and they're out of their league." Your champion must OWN the business case. Not just present it. CFOs care about: → Financial outcomes → Risk mitigation → Payback periods → Defendable math Learn their language. Or watch deals die in the final hour. 💡 Have you had a CFO kill your deal? What happened? P.S. 5 uncommon habits of elite revenue teams (5,000 companies analyzed) ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gr29f7Ci