This is an age of smaller budgets and greater expectations. So great that I routinely hear clients talk as if some new marketing program or initiative will save their company. Is this possible? By "save", I mean that these clients think that marketing (and branding) can increase sales and increase revenue. They are right to some degree. Marketing and branding can contribute to this. They are wrong because they think that marketing alone can do this. Their view seems to be that if they spend money on marketing, they should get new sales as a direct result. In B2C online sales, perhaps this is possible. But, in B2B complex sales, it's never going to work. It's never going to work because marketing is a tool and an approach. It's supposed to happen that the company, armed with new marketing and branding tools and support, starts communicating, selling, and operating better. In other words, marketing can help a company, but it can't do the work. And I think this is what's at root of complaints about low marketing ROI. If you just measure marketing dollars out versus sales dollars in, it's easy to think marketing is a waste of money. And it will always be a waste of money if you're not willing to change your approach to adopt the new marketing. If you expect to get something for nothing, you're going to be disappointed in your marketing If, on the other hand, you support the call to action that good marketing makes and if you really start to understand what your marketing is teaching you about how to run your business, marketing will be the best investment you can make.