Tracking and Analyzing B2B Marketing Performance for the C-Suite

Validating B2B marketing performance to upper management is crucial, yet only 15% of marketing executives who responded to a recent survey from Demand Gen Report rate their organizations’ ability to do so as excellent. In the survey, nearly 40% of the respondents said that measuring and analyzing marketing performance and impact at their organizations needed improvement.

Another survey from Fortella showed that two-thirds of B2B marketers in high-level positions felt that the fundamental responsibility of marketing is driving revenue. As a result, respondents reported they are increasing focus on meaningful metrics to show the return on investment (ROI) from marketing investments and marketing’s impact on pipeline and revenue.

When you put these two indicators together, you come up with a need to better track and analyze marketing performance, including metrics that C-level executives are looking for to prove ROI.

Which B2B Marketing Metrics Matter to the C-Suite?

One of the main challenges marketers face is determining which metrics they should track. There are so many different data points that it’s easy to get lost in all the information and not understand its implications. The goal is to measure and analyze the metrics that allow you to make the most effective marketing decisions and show your marketing efforts’ effects on overall revenue. Those are the key metrics that the CFO, CEO, and other stakeholders want to see, so they understand the impact marketing is having on revenue and business growth.

All CEOs care about metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC) and lifetime customer value (LTV). Still, there are some others you should present in your marketing reports to show the success of marketing efforts. Tracking and analyzing the following metrics will help clarify the overall effectiveness of your efforts for the C-level executives.

Marketing Influenced Customer Percentage

This metric will indicate how marketing investments are impacting your organization’s sales productivity and pipeline. It measures the segment of new business that was influenced by marketing efforts, including those situations in which customers were nurtured and touched during all stages of the sales process, not only by lead origination.

Marketing Originated Customer Percentage

This metric indicates the percentage of new business that was marketing-generated. It’s the ratio of the number of new customers acquired in a specific time period to the number of those customers that began as marketing-generated leads.

Time to Revenue

The time to revenue metric indicates the length of time it takes a customer to go from prospect to purchase or close a deal. CEOs and CFOs want to understand how marketing has helped shorten the length of time to revenue. This metric helps clarify that.

Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI)

The ROMI metric shows marketing expenses compared to the revenue that is generated from those efforts. It’s often used to measure individual campaign revenue to indicate whether specific campaigns are contributing to business growth.

Marketing Percentage of CAC (M%-CAC)

This percentage tells you the portion of customer acquisition cost that is attributable to marketing expenses. Higher percentages may indicate that you’re spending too much on marketing or that the sales team isn’t performing well, while lower percentages show effective marketing efforts.

Lifetime Value to CAC (LTV:CAC)

The LTV:CAC ratio compares the potential revenue that will be earned from customers to the cost of acquiring them. A higher ratio signifies a higher return on investment. It tells you if you are spending too much to obtain customers or if you’re missing opportunities because you’re not spending enough.

The Takeaway

Marketers understand that metrics are important, and many already track those mentioned above. But it’s important to remember that marketing metrics are constantly changing and evolving over time, even for organizations with successful ROIs. That’s why, as a marketer, you should be open to testing new approaches and tracking and analyzing key metrics to make sound marketing decisions that will deliver the results that the C-Suite wants to see.