The Importance of Data in Impact Measurement

Demonstrating the impact of marketing efforts on business outcomes is more important than ever for CMOs and their marketing teams. Below are a few tactical examples of various ways to prove out marketing's impact. Closed-Loop Reporting: Implement closed-loop reporting systems to track leads from initial engagement through to conversion. By integrating marketing automation platforms with customer relationship management (CRM) systems, CMOs can attribute revenue to specific marketing campaigns and initiatives. For example, they can track the number of leads generated from a particular email campaign and measure how many of those leads eventually convert into paying customers. Marketing Attribution Models: Develop sophisticated attribution models to accurately attribute revenue and other business outcomes to various marketing touchpoints. This involves assigning credit to different channels and interactions along the customer journey. For instance, multi-touch attribution models can help CMOs understand the contribution of different marketing channels (e.g., social media, content marketing, paid advertising) in influencing a purchase decision, allowing them to optimize budget allocation accordingly. Pipeline Contribution Analysis: Analyze marketing's contribution to the sales pipeline by tracking metrics such as pipeline generated, pipeline influenced, and pipeline velocity. CMOs can collaborate closely with sales teams to understand how marketing activities impact the progression of leads through the sales funnel. For instance, they can measure the percentage of qualified leads generated by marketing campaigns and monitor how quickly these leads move through the pipeline to conversion. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) Analysis: Calculate the CLV of customers acquired through marketing efforts to assess the long-term impact on business revenue and profitability. By understanding the lifetime value of different customer segments, CMOs can prioritize marketing strategies that attract high-value customers and drive repeat business. For example, they can track the CLV of customers acquired through referral programs versus those acquired through other channels to evaluate the effectiveness of referral marketing initiatives. ROI Analysis of Marketing Spend: Conduct rigorous ROI analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing investments in generating business outcomes. CMOs can compare the cost of acquiring a customer through different marketing channels with the lifetime value of that customer to determine the return on investment. They can also conduct A/B testing and experimentation to identify the most cost-effective marketing strategies and optimize budget allocation accordingly. By implementing these tactical approaches, CMOs can effectively demonstrate the impact of marketing efforts on business outcomes and make data-driven decisions to drive continuous improvement and innovation in their strategies. #marketingmeasurement #marketinggoals

Here’s exactly how I measure marketing’s impact beyond lead count for every new client. Step 1️⃣ Start with business revenue goals, not just marketing’s. Before I look at any campaign, I pull revenue targets for the business. Not just my department. 1. What’s the company’s revenue target for the quarter/year? 2. How much needs to come from net new vs. expansion? 3. What YoY growth is expected? 4. What % of this revenue is marketing responsible for? Without this, marketing goals mean nothing. Step 2️⃣: Analyze pipeline data in the CRM. I built a dashboard that isolates inbound vs. outbound lead sources, so I can see: 1. Where 80%+ of leads are coming from 2. The current inbound vs. outbound pipeline split 3. Marketing’s revenue contribution YTD This tells me what’s actually driving revenue—not just leads. Step 3️⃣: Map investment to funnel stages. I break down every marketing dollar spent by lead source and tie it to cost-per-stage: 1. Cost per MQL, SQL, SQO, and CW by source 2. Funnel conversion rates by source 3. Total investment per lead source This shows me what’s efficient and what needs to go. Step 4️⃣: Build the revenue case for (or against) lead-gen tactics. I use this to pressure-test the strategy: In the last [__] quarters, we invested [_] in [tactics]. That generated [] leads at a cost-per [__] but only [__]% converted to closed-won revenue. If I can’t answer that, the data isn’t clean. It’s a priority to fix it. This exact process changed how I run marketing and allowed me the data to have a seat at the revenue table.

Not long ago, I was advising in a boardroom where one question cut through all the noise: What’s marketing’s tangible impact on revenue? 🤔 A question the 'good ones' are prepared to answer but you'd be surprised how many aren't ready, or able to. It’s a reminder that in today’s boardroom, the CMO or Head of Marketing's seat is earned not by creative brilliance alone but by demonstrating measurable business results. 📊 Too often, marketing teams lean on vanity metrics: impressions, clicks, downloads. But CEOs, CFOs, and board members care about one thing: How does marketing drive revenue growth and profitability? W/o giving away too much, here’s what I was able to pull and share with that particular board. Take it or leave it: ➡️ Marketing-Sourced Revenue Contribution The percentage of net-new revenue and customer expansion directly linked to marketing initiatives. ➡️ Pipeline Efficiency and Quality Not just pipeline volume, but pipeline that closes. We shifted from TAM-based pipeline models to focused TRM & ICP strategies to show capital-efficient, predictable growth. ➡️ ARR Growth Attributable to Marketing This was a little light but gave something to come back to. Marketing should not be an accessory to growth, it should be the catalyst. Regularly measure and communicate ARR impact. ➡️ CAC & LTV Ratios This was much appreciated. Don’t just know your CAC; master your CAC-to-LTV ratio. This is how boards measure marketing spend efficiency. ➡️ Sales Velocity and Conversion Acceleration Marketing’s job is to prime the market. AI-powered messaging refinement and sales enablement can dramatically accelerate sales cycles. I went out on a limb to show what we were doing and how we were doing it. ➡️ Retention & Expansion Influence Marketing plays a crucial role in customer retention and expansion—if you’re not measuring this, you’re leaving impact on the table. This was a new one. Again something to come back to. ➡️ P&L Ownership More of a tip but CMOs who talk profit margins and cost efficiency earn more board credibility. Be one of them. ➡️ AI-Powered Marketing Innovation Made this a section going forward. AI is a non-negotiable. It enhances targeting, speeds content creation, and if used properly, can be used to deliver faster, smarter ROI. And it kinda worked. I’ll leave you with this: The boardroom is no place for guesswork - come armed with data, own your revenue story, and lead with confidence. Enjoy! 🥂

How One Event Marketer Got a Promotion—While Another Lost Budget (and Credibility) What if your event budget was cut in half? Or better yet—what if it doubled? Lisa and Mark, both experienced event marketers, had very different experiences when it came time to justify their event investments. Lisa’s Story: Data Saved Her Career Lisa managed her company’s annual customer summit, and this year, she decided to do something different—she built her event strategy around metrics that actually mattered to leadership. Instead of just focusing on registration numbers, she tracked: 1. Pre-event engagement: How many high-value accounts interacted with event promotions? 2. Customer retention impact: Did attendance correlate with renewal rates? 3. Session value: Which topics led to the most follow-up meetings with sales? Her report showed clear business impact: 1. 40% of attendees were existing customers, and 75% of them renewed within six months 2. 30% of net-new pipeline was influenced by event-sourced leads 3. Post-event surveys revealed that keynote sessions drove a 50% increase in product demo requests Her leadership team didn’t just approve next year’s event—they increased her budget and asked her to build an event strategy for the entire company. Mark’s Story: A Harsh Reality Check Mark also ran a high-end executive dinner for top prospects. The venue was stunning, the guest list exclusive, and the feedback was glowing. But when his leadership team asked about measurable outcomes, Mark could only say: “The energy in the room was amazing.” “We had great pictures for social media.” What he didn’t track: How many attendees actually followed up with sales Whether the event influenced renewals, upsells, or new deals If the dinner actually moved the needle on business objectives Without data, his budget was cut in half, and leadership questioned whether events were worth the investment at all. Your leadership team doesn’t just want to hear that your event “felt great.” They want proof that it drove real business results. If you’re not tracking both business impact (pipeline, retention, customer growth) and emotional engagement (brand sentiment, product perception), you risk losing not just your budget—but your credibility. -------------------- Hi, I'm Jay Designing experiences for events that drive ROI for our clients. #business #branding #sales #marketing #eventprofs 

I've come to understand that the real magic happens when you can transform raw data into actionable insights. Now this logic probably won't work in your relationships, but ... you'll most likely find more success at work. 😆 Achieving this requires more than just intuition; it demands a rigorous, strategic approach to data analysis, especially critical during those pivotal monthly and quarterly reviews, and some great debate conversational skills-you'll see why. What revenue leaders need—and what new marketing leaders must learn—is the importance of grounding their strategies in solid, data-driven evidence. *Read THAT AGAIN. To navigate those conversations, one must rely on reports(data), meticulously tailored to various segmentations such as persona and use cases. This is how one navigates from the ASK -> ACTION. The sales funnel is your beacon in navigating the complex journey of #demandgeneration. It offers a detailed view into the genesis of revenue, tracking Closed Won (CW) opportunities by pipeline source (PS), and dissecting metrics such as Average Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and sales cycle lengths. This analysis extends to the creation and conversion rates of qualified opportunities, providing a clear picture of your marketing effectiveness. The #attribution analysis is essential for understanding the impact of our marketing efforts. By categorizing qualified opportunities and high-intent submissions through self-reported attribution (SRA), we can pinpoint the most effective channels and "touchpoints," guiding our investment strategies. This one pains me sometimes; investment insights. We examine everything from total marketing spend to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and the payback periods, ensuring every dollar is accounted for and aimed towards maximizing ROI. For new marketing leaders, here's my advice: Live in the Data. Use these reports as lenses through which to view the entire marketing landscape. Each campaign, whether it be a podcast series or paid media, should be meticulously tracked and analyzed. This not only provides a roadmap for navigating through the complexities of marketing strategies but also acts as a powerful mentorship tool, enabling your team to quickly identify and capitalize on opportunities for improvement. In essence, the arsenal of reports and analytical tools we've developed are more than a collection of data points. It's a strategic asset that enables us to continuously refine our approach, ensuring our marketing efforts are not just efficient but strikingly effective. By embracing a data-first mentality, we navigate the competitive digital landscape with confidence, driving growth and success through informed, evidence-based strategies. This is the new paradigm for marketing leadership, one where data and action converge to create tangible results. #digitalmarketing #dataanalytics #growthmarketing #marketinginsights

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀 "I desire marketing to be perceived as a profit-generating entity, rather than a mere cost burden." —A CEO "With an abundance of data, a leaner workforce, and mounting expectations to showcase marketing's influence, the pressure to demonstrate impact has never been greater." —A CMO In an economic climate where every dollar must work like ten, the onus on marketing to prove its economic worth is unprecedented. The narrative that marketing departments are facing is not just about pressure; it's about survival in a landscape where ambiguity in value assessment can no longer be afforded. The challenge is not just in the multiplicity of metrics—attitudinal, behavioral, and financial—but in their tenuous correlations, often below .5 as Katsikeas et al. (2016) highlight. This dissonance between metrics can render one marketing initiative a triumph under one lens and a folly under another. It's a dichotomy that can no longer be the elephant in the room. The "chain of marketing productivity" (Rust et al. 2004) is a testament to the sequential influence that marketing exerts—from customer attitudes to financial value. Yet, the relationship between these metrics is anything but straightforward. As Gupta and Zeithaml (2006) elucidate, the complexity is nonlinear, and the average correlations are modest. How do we reconcile this divergence into a coherent narrative of value? The difficulty of marketing value assessment is not just academic; it's profoundly practical. CEO's want to be perceived as a profit-generating entity, not a cost burden. CMO's are operating with a leaner workforce, and mounting expectations to demonstrate marketing's influence. The integration of big and small data, the alignment of marketing analytics with decision-making, and the effective internal communication of insights are not just challenges—they are imperatives. Yet, as the CMO Survey (2016) reports, marketing analytics are used in only 35% of marketing decisions. This is not just a gap; it's a chasm that needs bridging. The causality implied by the chain of marketing productivity demands robust performance metrics, clear causal links between metrics and marketing actions, and potent communication to articulate the value of marketing. This is not a mere operational adjustment; this is about strategic realignment. The benefits of "marketing smarter" are not hypothetical. They are quantifiable and substantial. As Germann, Lilien, and Rangaswamy (2013) found, even a modest improvement in the use of marketing analytics can yield an 8% higher return on assets, and in competitive industries, this figure can rise to 21%. The path to demonstrating marketing's value is fraught with challenges, but it is navigable with the right metrics, analytical rigor, and strategic communication. To get there marketers will need to adopt a business-first mindset. There is no other way forward.

Most marketers can’t prove their value. That’s a problem. And it’s our fault. I just finished reading the AMA’s latest report on marketing skills for 2025 and beyond. One stat jumped off the page: 𝗖𝗠𝗢𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗴𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗢𝗜. Think about that. The very thing marketing leaders get judged on—showing impact and driving revenue is the thing many marketers struggle with most. That’s not a skills gap. T͟h͟a͟t͟’s͟ ͟a͟n͟ ͟e͟x͟i͟s͟t͟e͟n͟t͟i͟a͟l͟ ͟c͟r͟i͟s͟i͟s͟ ͟f͟o͟r͟ ͟o͟u͟r͟ ͟f͟u͟n͟c͟t͟i͟o͟n͟.͟ 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 The problem isn’t marketers. It’s how we train them. We reward creativity but ignore financial acumen. We track clicks but not revenue. We hire for storytelling but not statistical thinking. Meanwhile, CEOs and CFOs are losing patience. If marketing can’t prove its impact, it won’t get the budget or the seat at the table. That’s why so many marketing teams feel stuck in a cycle of: 🚩 Chasing vanity metrics 🚩 Failing to connect activity to revenue 🚩 Struggling to make the case for investment 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅 Marketing needs a mindset shift. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆: 1️⃣ 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: They train marketers to speak the language of business, including pipeline, LTV, CAC, and EBITDA. 2️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲: They invest in analytics tools AND teach teams how to use them. No more "we don’t do numbers." 3️⃣ 𝗧𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀: They focus on business impact, not marketing output. Less “leads generated,” more “revenue influenced.” If marketers want more credibility, they need to own this problem. If leaders want better marketers, they must fix how they develop them. CMOs, what are you doing to close the gap? Drop your thoughts below. ⤵️ #chiefmarketingofficer #marketing #GTM  

When visionary CEOs talk to marketing, they’re not just looking for creative campaigns. They want a line to be clearly drawn to strategic impact. Numbers, data, reports, dashboards, and results. In return, marketing needs to drive growth, prove value, and stay aligned with business outcomes. Here’s how to answer the questions they care about most: 1. What’s working, and how do you know? → We track via CRM and dashboard reporting, adjusting to stay on MQL and SQL goals. 2. How is marketing contributing to revenue? → We have closed-loop reporting across marketing and sales. Campaign X contributed X revenue. 3. Are we set up to scale? → Yes, we have automated, repeatable campaigns deployed across sales, marketing, and service. 4. Do we have a clear marketing strategy? → Yes, it’s mapped with tactics and tied to quarterly and annual revenue goals. It is reviewed weekly/ monthly. 5. Are we focused on the right markets? → We prioritized based on historical performance data of the best-converting market segments for growth. 6. Are sales and marketing aligned? → We have shared goals, weekly syncs, and joint pipeline ownership. 7. How do we define success? → We have SMART goals for leads, pipeline opportunities, and closed-won. Growth follows when marketing and leadership speak the same language. What other measurements matter? ___________________________________________ ♻️ Share to help others 📌 Learn more at https://lnkd.in/ebxS5DBP + Follow Jennelle McGrath for more like this

"Are we getting a significant return on our marketing investment?" An increasing number of business leaders, boards, and investors are asking this question. And, it’s a common concern that we hear from marketers. Without reliable data and alignment between teams, your marketing activities will appear to be a black box. As a result, business leaders and marketers are left to rely on guesswork and assumptions. There’s a better way! 📈 Quantifying Marketing Impact In the past year, we have been working with marketing leaders at our industrial B2B clients to build systems and dashboards that provide clear metrics and analytics to track the ROI of marketing activities. These collaborations are designed to measure marketing activities and outcomes from brand awareness to leads to revenue. The ideal outcome of putting a performance measurement system in place is to know where to spend money to grow. And, to know when to adjust your strategy if a channel begins to underperform due to buyer behavior, competition, or increased costs. ⛰️ Building A Foundation At Knowmad Digital Marketing, we employ the following tools to track a prospect to a lead to a customer: 🔹Google Analytics 🔹HubSpot 🔹Databox 🔹CRM/ERP system These are augmented, as needed, by paid advertising analytics, A/B testing platforms, social media analytics, and SEO tools. 🧑🏽🏫 Getting Smarter But all of this data presents another challenge. For businesses with many products sold into multiple markets, building meaningful dashboards is non-trivial. It takes collaboration among business leaders from sales to marketing to IT in order to establish goals, identify the information flow, and agree on KPIs. Along the way, you’ll gain more insight into your pipeline, the channels that drive best results, which metrics really matter, and ways to optimize your economic driver. Are you being tasked with providing a marketing ROI? If so, what tools are you using to build the case for marketing? #marketing #performance #dashboards