90% Marketing Budget Cut with No Loss in Volume
The Situation
A hyper-growth tech-enabled tourism platform had significantly increased its digital marketing spend with no corresponding lift in bookings. This massive, inefficient capital expenditure raised serious concerns about the performance of both the sales and marketing departments.
The Task
The task was to conduct a comprehensive, hypothesis-free data review of the sales and marketing funnels to diagnose the root cause of the inefficiency, validate findings to an executive level, and recommend immediate capital reallocation.
The Action / Approach
I conducted a deep dive into sales and marketing data, investigating correlations between staffing, response times, and conversions, and extended the analysis to website traffic versus bookings. I applied multiple analytical approaches, including five AI models, all independently confirming no causative link between digital marketing spend and revenue. I secured alignment from the Global GM and Head of Growth before delivering a clear, data-backed presentation to the Board, challenging them to realign strategy.
The Result
The rigorous analysis and stakeholder management secured immediate financial results:
- Secured Board approval for a 90% reduction in inefficient marketing spend.
- Achieved no negative impact on booking volumes.
- Significantly reduced CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and freed substantial capital for redeployment into higher-ROI growth initiatives.
- Embedded a data-centric culture with tactical experimentation and spend guardrails.
