Proving Value: Which Marketing KPIs are Right for You?

Marketing KPIs, or key performance indicators, are the key metrics for understanding how the marketing team’s tactics translate into meeting and exceeding quarterly and annual objectives. As the CEO, these KPIs provide critical insight into the impact of marketing on your organization’s performance.

One ongoing challenge of marketing is that it generates tons of data. Only some of that data is necessary at the executive level. CEOs need just the right mix of marketing KPIs to ensure they don’t get bogged down in unimportant minutiae.

There are dozens of metrics to help you understand all that data, but the C-Suite primarily needs to know the metrics that impact core business objectives. This post from Bizible breaks down these often complex groups of metrics into three categories of marketing KPIs that correspond with critical business functions, including:

• Customer journey metrics that record how content is consumed and its effect on funnel velocity
• Go-to-market metrics that translate marketing activity into persona-based intelligence
• Growth metrics that measure the business impact of marketing activities

Bizible’s article offers a useful overview of these categories, and can help you determine which KPIs will lend insight into your chief executive role and which ones should remain in monthly Marketing meetings.

We’ve found that the key is understanding how Marketing’s goals support and connect to the company’s overall goals. Rather than reporting on every KPI, focus on those that help you translate marketing goals into efforts to meet company goals. Save the nitty-gritty KPIs for the CMO and Marketing Managers to improve individual employee performance.

Looking for help with understanding your marketing team’s KPIs? Take advantage of our complimentary 90-minute strategy session to help get you on the right track.