This article is based on Episode 76 of the Smarter Marketer Podcast, ‘Marketing Metrics That Matter’, where host James Lawrence and guest Taz Bareham discuss measuring marketing effectiveness using the right metrics. They cover aligning data with business objectives, balancing brand-building with performance marketing and breaking down organisational silos. Listen to the full episode here.
It’s challenging to pinpoint the marketing metrics that matter for your business. It’s made even more difficult if your path to purchase is complex. Yet, focusing on the metrics that directly impact your business outcomes is essential for demonstrating marketing’s value and driving meaningful growth.
Your marketing efforts can align seamlessly with broader organisational goals by identifying and prioritising the right data points. Here’s how you can make your metrics work smarter for your business.
Not all metrics are created equal. While vanity metrics like website traffic or social media followers might look impressive, they often fail to reflect meaningful business results.
To ensure your metrics drive growth, consider conducting a ‘metrics audit.’ This will help you evaluate the KPIs you’re currently tracking and prioritise them based on their alignment with the broader goals of your business. For each metric ask: ‘Does this directly support business objectives?’ It may sound counterproductive but it’s essential to repeatedly go back to your original business strategy to make sure your marketing is aligned and on-track to achieve your business’ goals. To measure profitability, consider prioritising key metrics like Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Cost Per Acquisition (CPA).
You can also go deeper into your campaigns and explicitly map your primary KPI to the specific business goal it supports (e.g. retention, acquisition or revenue). Metrics directly tied to organisational objectives provide actionable insights to guide smarter, more strategic decisions.
Marketing data is most impactful when tied to the broader company strategy. Avoid siloed thinking by connecting metrics to stages in the buyer journey. Building a buyer journey dashboard can help with this (you can keep it simple and draw one on a piece of paper). The journey comprises 3 stages, for each of which you can identify 2-3 key metrics that tie directly to your marketing strategy:
This alignment ensures marketing is recognised as a revenue driver, not just a supporting function. Regularly review and share the insights you derive with cross-functional teams, such as sales and leadership, to showcase marketing’s direct contribution to revenue generation. This also helps build alignment and secure resources.
When teams work together, marketers can:
Marketers often face the challenge of balancing short-term wins with long-term brand growth. Both are essential but require distinct approaches:
Balancing these priorities ensures sustainable success while maintaining stakeholder confidence in your strategy.
Using a mix of leading and lagging indicators provides a clearer picture of marketing performance:
This dual approach helps you adapt in real-time while maintaining focus on strategic goals. However, it’s also important to track how your indicators are performing to glean interesting marketing insights. You can create a tracking framework by pairing each leading indicator with its corresponding lagging indicator (e.g. engagement rate is tied with retention, while website traffic can be tied with revenue). Review leading indicators weekly to identify trends and make quick adjustments, while lagging indicators can be analysed monthly or quarterly to assess long-term impact. This will help your team stay agile and respond to short-term changes without losing sight of strategic, long-term objectives.
Surface-level metrics rarely tell the full story. To gain meaningful insights, go beyond the basics:
Deep analysis uncovers opportunities for optimisation and smarter decision-making. You can use Google Analytics to trace traffic pathways, identifying where conversions drop off. In addition to this, utilise external data like industry benchmarks or seasonal trends to contextualise performance. Present these findings to your team, highlighting actionable opportunities to optimise results and refine strategies.
Regularly sharing marketing insights builds trust and positions marketing as integral to business success. Use tailored dashboards to communicate how campaigns contribute to revenue, customer growth and retention.
Fostering transparency strengthens cross-team alignment and secures stakeholder buy-in for future initiatives.
Measuring the right metrics goes beyond proving marketing’s value - it’s about empowering your business to grow smarter. By aligning metrics with business objectives, fostering collaboration and balancing immediate results with long-term strategies, you can showcase marketing’s true impact and drive meaningful outcomes.
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Ash is Rocket's in-house Marketing Coordinator and the Producer of the Smarter Marketer Podcast. With a passion for marketing and sharp analytical skills, she excels at uncovering the hidden stories behind what drives marketing success.
Ash has worked with B2B SaaS companies in the FinTech and EdTech industries in Australia and India. She holds a Master of International Business degree from the University of Melbourne.
When not busy marketing Rocket, you'll likely find her brewing a delectable cup of chai.