“What gets measured gets managed.”
But in marketing, what gets measured often gets misunderstood.
We track impressions, clicks, open rates, and MQLs. Yet, when we present these metrics to the leadership team as I shared in my previous blog – The value conversations we can’t keep avoiding – we’re met with blank stares or polite nods. The disconnect? We’re speaking in a marketing language, while the boardroom converses in the language of business outcomes.
Gartner’s recent CMO Playbook highlights a pressing issue: only 35% of CMOs regularly communicate marketing’s business impact to senior stakeholders. Even more concerning, just 17% feel very confident in their ability to prove marketing’s contribution to business outcomes. Wow.
It’s time to bridge this gap.
With marketing budgets at best flatlining, aligning our metrics with their priorities has never been more important. And here, I hope, are some useful nuggets on how.
An important point: this is not to suggest these c-suite members aren’t interested in other metrics, of course they are, but I hope it gets you thinking in the right way:
- Your CEO: What they care about is revenue growth, market share, brand equity.
The metrics that matter to them?
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) – Indicates the long-term value of customers acquired through marketing efforts.
- Market Penetration Rate – Shows how well your firm is capturing your target market.
- Brand Equity Metrics – Measures like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and brand recall reflect brand strength.
- Your CFO: What they care about is cost management, return on investment, financial risk.
The metrics that matter to them?
- Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) – Demonstrates the profitability of marketing activities.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) – Helps assess the efficiency of your marketing spend.
- Marketing-Attributed Revenue – Links marketing efforts directly to revenue generation.
- Your CRO/CSO: What they care about is sales growth, pipeline velocity and lead quality.
The metrics that matter to them?
- Lead-to-Close Conversion Rate – Measures the effectiveness of marketing in generating sales-ready leads.
- Sales Cycle Length – Shorter cycles often indicate better-qualified leads.
- Pipeline Contribution – Quantifies marketing’s role in building a healthy sales pipeline.
- CTO/CIO: What they care about is technology ROI, system integration, innovation.
The metrics that matter to them?
- MarTech Utilisation Rate – Ensures marketing tools are effectively used.
- Digital Engagement Metrics – Tracks user interaction across digital platforms.
- Innovation Adoption Rate – Measures how quickly new marketing technologies are implemented and utilised.
Implementing a Metrics Framework
Now you’re thinking their language, to effectively communicate with each of your executives, consider adopting a tiered framework:
- Leading Indicators: Predictive metrics that forecast future performance (e.g., website traffic growth, engagement rates).
- Lagging Indicators: Reflect past performance and outcomes (e.g., revenue generated, conversion rates).
- Operational Metrics: Internal metrics for optimising marketing processes (e.g., campaign ROI, content production timelines).
Aligning your reporting with the strategic priorities of your leadership team is not just beneficial – it really is essential. By translating your performance into the language of business outcomes, you will not only demonstrate marketing’s value but also secure your voice at the decision-making table, and who knows get that budget increase you’re probably seeking!