How Marketing’s Broken Promises Are Denying You Renewal Success

If we’re being honest about navigating the chaotic landscape of 2025, we’ve all experienced the disappointment of investing in slick sales pitches—be it a course, coaching program, or SaaS tool—that promised the world but delivered little more than empty calories. By the time these services come back to ask for more money, many of us are already drafting our “goodbye” emails, ready to move on.

The Double-Shame of Broken Promises

I’ve faced the “double-shame” of falling for various coaching scams. They are notorious for boasting exceptional results, only for me to find myself enrolled in their “super fantastic supreme wisdom club,” only to realize it was all hype. It wasn’t just about the content being subpar or the instructors being unhelpful (though that was often the case). The real issue? Their narrative broke—the product I was sold didn’t align with what I actually received or was looking for. This shattered my faith in their ability to deliver any value at all.

The Hidden Impact on Your Business

This scenario isn’t just anecdotal; it’s a reality that could be unfolding within your own business, especially in the B2B SaaS landscape. An alarming metric reveals this truth: contract renewal rates. And let’s be clear—this isn’t solely a customer success issue; it’s a matter of marketing.

The Moment the Story Breaks

Customers don’t merely purchase products; they hire them to achieve specific progress and outcomes. Eventually, they reach a crucial moment of reflection, weighing three critical factors:

• What they truly needed
• What your marketing and sales promised
• What they actually received

When these factors don’t align, the narrative collapses, leading customers to take their money elsewhere and share their disappointment. They might warn others: “Read the fine print,” “Not what I expected,” “Scam!” Your once-promising renewal rates take a sharp dive, and your marketing strategies look more like a leaky bucket.

Dig deeper: Brand trust is the most valuable asset your company owns

Why Marketing Owns Contract Renewals

Marketing is often viewed as the optimist of any organization, hunting down the next big lead. While this role is significant, many teams fall into the trap of thinking their job ends after the sale. This mindset is fundamentally flawed.

Marketing’s ultimate purpose isn’t just lead generation; it’s about communicating value throughout the entire customer journey. When it comes time for renewal, customers will evaluate whether your product delivered on its promises or turned out to be just another moon pie.

Where are the questions like, “Did we make promises our product couldn’t fulfill?” or “Does our messaging align with what the product can genuinely deliver?” In my experience, not enough marketing teams engage in this introspection, which ultimately undermines their ROI.

Consider this: while we obsess about tracking ROI, focusing on increasing lead volume (which does equal more conversions, at least on paper), there’s a more effective approach. What if we could make each lead worth more? Renewals are one avenue to enhance your company’s lifetime value without the added expense of acquiring new customers.

Trust Is the Real KPI

Renewals aren’t merely about the revenue they generate; they are the trust that forms the foundation of any brand. When you lose trust, you aren’t just losing a customer—you’re losing goodwill, the very essence that keeps brands alive and thriving.

Take Domo, a B2B SaaS company valued at $317 million. Once, their strategy was to oversell churn but now find their subscription revenue stagnating, and contract renewals hovering between 71–79%—a startling deviation from the industry standard. Their marketing success turned into short-lived hype as customers realized their promises didn’t match the outcomes.

In stark contrast, Disney has seen its goodwill valued at $73.3 billion as of September 2024, which accounts for 37% of its total assets. This trust, cultivated through consistently delivered marketing narratives, leads customers back to parks and films, prompting them to say, “I trust you,” which translates into tangible monetary value.

Each failed contract renewal is a chink in your armor of goodwill. You’re not just losing a subscription; you’re incurring damage to your reputation—a wound that could bleed your brand dry over time.

Dig deeper: How to build a B2B brand that delivers lasting value

Three Ways Marketing Can Own Renewals

What actionable steps can marketing teams take to take ownership of contract renewals beyond mere tracking?

1. Audit Your Story—Ruthlessly

Compile all claims made in your marketing campaigns. Engage customer success teams and find out where your service is falling short. If you pitch “easy setup,” but your support team is inundated with help requests, it’s time to address those gaps both in messaging and product delivery.

2. Map the Renewal Moment

Analyze when and why customers choose to renew—or not. Conduct interviews with churned customers and ask them, “What fell short?” Combine qualitative insights with quantitative usage metrics to identify patterns. Tweak your campaigns and messaging to realistically align expectations with your product’s capabilities, thus preserving trust and enhancing ROI.

3. Reinforce Messaging Post-Sale

Develop a content playbook designed for positive customer communication after the sale. I once helped a company increase its retention rate by 12.7% and reduce post-90-day accounts receivable by 53% simply by actively reaching out to customers after their initial purchase, connecting them with valuable resources like onboarding guides and tutorial videos. This consistent engagement helps maintain trust leading up to renewals.

Dig deeper: 3 must-follow marketing copy rules to win your prospects’ trust

Winning the Trust Game

If your renewal rates leave much to be desired, it’s worth investigating your marketing strategies, even if your metrics initially appear to be healthy. It’s not a personal failing; it’s often a missing piece in the broader picture.

While acquisition may be the dazzling aspect of marketing, retention is where the real value lies. Research indicates it can cost seven times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.

Following your celebration of lead generation successes, pause to consider:

• Is our brand narrative holding up?
• Are we setting expectations that we cannot fulfill?

Failure to answer these questions can lead to disappointed leads who churn, spread negative word-of-mouth, and ultimately gravitate toward competitors. If you’re meeting acquisition targets but still losing revenue, it might be high time to conduct an internal audit about what happens beyond the sale. Because when your narrative collapses, customers don’t just fail to renew—they vanish.

By ensuring transparency and coherence between promises made and value delivered, you can create a path to lasting loyalty and sustainable revenue growth.