Who To Credit: Sales Or Marketing?

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Andrew Aebersold, CEO of Mediaura, looks into the camera while explaining who to credit for your leads: sales or marketing. He is wearing a black zip-up. The background is an office scene, featuring a bookshelf and plant.

Many businesses struggle with one simple question: Should conversions be credited to Sales or Marketing?

It can be easy to chalk up a sale solely to the work of business development, but the reality is that the internet is a key role in how we make consumer decisions in today’s environment.

It’s where we discover new products, conduct our research, and often, where we make the final decision to buy. 

In this age, the path to a sale is rarely owned by a single department. 

If you want to understand what actually drives revenue, you need to be open to all possibilities and to explore the user journey with clear eyes. 

This is how you answer the question of sales or marketing impact with confidence.

The New Buyer’s Journey and Why It Matters

Digital marketing plays a major role in modern buying behavior. Organic search, paid advertising, social proof through online reviews, and optimized web content all influence purchasing decisions. These channels build trust, answer buyer questions, and move prospects closer to the finish line, often before the first sales call even happens.

If your organization only credits your sales team after a deal closes, you are missing the full story. A significant portion of leads originates from or is heavily influenced by marketing efforts. This is why debates about whether impact came from sales or marketing should be grounded in clear attribution, not assumptions.

Understanding how each customer found you and what touchpoints influenced their journey helps you optimize performance. Partial attribution models allow you to see where your marketing and business development work together to drive sales.

Without that insight, your investment decisions may be flawed. For example, if you cut budgets for display advertising or search optimization because they do not appear to produce direct leads, you might accidentally weaken your sales funnel. Admissions drop. Leads slow down. Revenue decreases. And it all happens because a layer of digital influence is missing from your measurement system.

The reality is that digital interactions give sales teams a significant advantage. They create awareness and credibility that helps close deals faster and more often.

In short, understanding how marketing impacts sales is no longer optional. It is critical to sustainable growth. The modern buyer is researching, comparing, and validating every decision online. Businesses that ignore this reality lose valuable insight and make poor strategic cuts that hurt long-term results.

A More Granular Approach to Measuring Success

To thrive, organizations must adopt a granular, data-driven approach to attribution. Each dollar of marketing spend should be tracked. With this level of detail, leadership can make smarter choices about where to allocate funds and how to strengthen both marketing and business development teams.

This approach not only protects marketing budgets but also empowers sales teams with better-qualified leads. Understanding how digital channels fuel engagement allows both departments to operate as a unified growth engine.

It’s Not Sales Or Marketing, It’s Sales And Marketing

At Mediaura, we help companies bridge the gap between sales and marketing through smarter analytics and attribution strategies. Our team works closely with sales departments to identify what truly drives conversions and how to scale those efforts across digital channels.

If your organization is ready to understand its sales sources and unlock the full impact of your marketing, reach out to us. We love helping teams maximize their potential.

You can also watch the full video on this topic below to see how attribution models influence decision-making and where to focus your next marketing investment.

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