Whether you’re creating a new content campaign, launching a YouTube series, or revising your social strategy, you’re going to be asked the same question by leadership before getting their support: “How will this impact our company’s bottom line?”<\/p>\n
That can be a difficult question to answer \u2014 which is why it’s critical you know your key performance indicators (KPIs) to:<\/p>\n
a) measure the success of your program, and<\/p>\n
b) receive executive buy-in \u2014 which is typically a prerequisite for getting the budget and resources you need to successfully launch any new paid marketing program.<\/p>\n
There are so many different KPIs<\/a>\u00a0any marketer might use to measure success, including sales, web traffic, follower growth, conversion rate, or brand awareness. But which ones matter most to leadership? In other words: Which ones should you focus on if you’re seeking executive approval?<\/p>\n Here, we spoke with executives at LinkedIn, G2, and HubSpot to uncover which KPIs matter most to them in 2023.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n If you work backwards from your company’s primary goal \u2014 of increasing revenue \u2014 then it makes sense that reaching new audiences and converting those audiences into qualified leads for sales would be two of the top KPIs that matter most to marketing leaders.<\/p>\n As Jordan DiPietro<\/a>, HubSpot’s VP of Marketing, told me, “As a marketing leader, it\u2019s important to choose a KPI that is most aligned with your company\u2019s overarching business objectives \u2014 it could be a revenue metric, it could be a reach metric, or in the case of HubSpot Media, it could be both! The important thing is that your KPIs and the action plans associated with those KPIs are ones that can be directly connected to the KPIs of the business.”<\/p>\n For instance, DiPietro told me the two KPIs his team focuses on are overall reach\u00a0(visits, opens, listeners, and views) and leads\u00a0(net new contacts driven from media content).<\/p>\n He says, “Our reach KPI is indicative of the fact that HubSpot wants to grow top-of-the-funnel awareness for the business. Our media team does this by increasing the reach of our blog content, newsletters, podcast network, and YouTube network.”<\/p>\n He adds, “Our revenue KPI is indicative of the the fact that HubSpot is a SaaS business \u2014 so we want to generate leads that can be shared with the sales team in order to turn those leads into qualified leads, and then into satisfied customers.”<\/p>\n When deciding which KPIs to focus on \u2014 whether you’re a marketing leader or individual contributor looking for buy-in \u2014 you’ll want to consider which metrics will directly connect to your organization’s broader goals. For instance, if your company is hoping to improve its customer retention, then you’ll want to focus your marketing efforts on KPIs like brand sentiment and churn rate.<\/p>\n But perhaps most importantly \u2014 don’t choose too many KPIs. As DiPietro told me, “In terms of secondary KPIs, keep it simple. I\u2019ve noticed that sometimes marketing teams can get too distracted by measuring and tracking and not focused enough on actual impact. So I think it\u2019s fair to have a main KPI, and then I limit it at two sub-metrics.”<\/p>\n DiPietro provides two examples of this. In one, let’s say you’re running a newsletter company that relies on advertising. In this situation, your main KPI is likely ad revenue, and your two sub-metrics might be subscriber growth and unique opens.<\/p>\n Alternatively, if you have a subscription business, your main KPI might be overall revenue, and your two sub-metrics could be LTV: CAC and renewal rate.<\/p>\n DiPietro advises, “Whatever type of marketing organization you\u2019re leading \u2014 a SaaS team, a content team, a web strategy team, a media team \u2014 ensure you stay connected to the objectives of the business, ensure your KPI is laser-focused, and limit sub-metrics to two per KPI to avoid diluting your impact.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ultimately, marketers are only one part of the equation. Which means marketers can only pay attention to the KPIs they can control: Namely, leads and conversions.<\/p>\n As Robin Izsak-Tseng<\/a>, G2’s<\/a>\u00a0VP of Revenue Marketing, puts it, “Though most marketing teams have goals around pipeline, the fact is, marketing doesn\u2019t open pipeline \u2014 sales does. Marketing\u2019s role is to create awareness, demand, and inbound interest in your solution. There are factors outside of marketing\u2019s control (changes in sales processes, for example), which can cause wild fluctuation in pipeline production.”<\/p>\n Rather than focusing on pipeline, Izsak-Tseng suggests marketers focus on two primary metrics: MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads), and conversions.<\/p>\n For starters, she says marketers should track a blend of metrics, including MQL production, as an indicator of inbound interest. It’s equally critical that marketing leaders pay attention to SAL (sales-accepted leads), since that is another indication of lead quality.<\/p>\n A few other metrics Izsak-Tseng suggest marketing leaders focus on include:<\/p>\n Conversion of total pipeline to revenue<\/strong>: To track how marketing-sourced pipe is performing against pipe sourced by outbound efforts. Since marketing-sourced pipeline is inbound, the conversion to revenue should be consistent and strong. Izsak-Tseng adds, “All of these metrics give growth leaders a view of the full funnel and help us understand marketing\u2019s impact on revenue (not just pipeline). Much of this can also be applied to retention. In 2023, when budgets are likely to be even tighter, teams that are primarily focused on acquisition need to embrace goals around renewals and customer growth. Finding ways to create greater value for your customers and community will protect revenue \u2014 especially during uncertain times.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Considering it costs 5-25X less to retain customers<\/a>\u00a0than capture new ones, it’s a good idea to focus on customer retention as a primary KPI. But customer retention isn’t always easy. To satisfy and retain more customers, you’ll need to:<\/p>\n Build trust with your customers<\/strong>. Ensuring your account managers check-in and show support for customers over the course of a year \u2014 and not just when it’s time to renew \u2014 is critical for demonstrating to your customers that you care about them and their success. (P.S. Already a G2 customer? Click here for 20% off eligible HubSpot products, or get started for free<\/a>.)<\/p>\n During times of economic uncertainty when businesses’ budgets are tight, it’s become increasingly important to be able to demonstrate the ROI of your marketing efforts to your leadership team.<\/p>\n In fact, one-third (33%) of marketing executives, VPs, and directors say that using data to demonstrate the ROI and business value of their efforts became more important in 2022.<\/p>\n Jim Habig<\/a>, VP of Marketing at LinkedIn<\/a>, agrees that ROI is important \u2014 but he encourages marketers to think full-picture when they’re considering their top KPIs, too.<\/p>\n As he puts it, “It\u2019s paramount that we think about the full funnel when it comes to measurement. Of course, ROI is a slam dunk since it represents how our work directly impacts the bottom line.”<\/p>\n He adds, “But let\u2019s not discount the importance of other measures of long-range brand strength. With only 5% of buyers in-market at any given time,<\/a>\u00a0you need to ensure your brand creates pull for decision-makers now and in the future.”<\/p>\n To create a strong brand identity<\/a>, you’ll want to:<\/p>\n Create a memorable brand voice.Coming Soon: Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader [Click Here to Add to Google Calendar]<\/a><\/h3>\n
What KPIs Matter Most to Execs in 2023 <\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. Reach and leads.<\/h3>\n
2. Number of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and conversions to sales. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n CAC (customer acquisition cost)<\/strong>: Track this over time. Rising costs can indicate diminishing returns on marketing programs \u2014 or show that it\u2019s time to explore new markets. <\/p>\n
\n Implement a customer feedback loop<\/strong>. This will help you collect, analyze, and distribute customer reviews and surveys to strengthen areas of your customer experience that aren’t working for your current customers.
\n Provide a personalized customer experience<\/strong>. Providing each customer with tailor-made solutions and content designed to fit their needs is vital for retention. Your customers don’t want to feel like they fit into a one-size-fits-all approach. Ensuring your organization helps them with their specific challenges and needs is critical. <\/p>\n3. Return-on-investment (ROI) and brand strength.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n Communicate your consumers’ pain points \u2014 and how you can solve for them \u2014 effectively.
\n Demonstrate how you’re different from your competitors.
\n Broadcast your brand’s mission statement and brand values to build connection with your audience.
\n Use type, colors, and imagery to represent your brand’s personality. <\/p>\n