Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
Marketing Metrics: Do you have to present metrics to the CFO/CEO?
Marketers:Do you have to present metrics to non-marketing executive staff, ie CFO, finance, CEO, etc? When you do, what metrics do you present to them? Bonus: How do you track it?
Best Answer
- Recommended by:
- Trevor Usken
The closer I can get to revenue, the better. If I'm working closely with the sales organization (which is ideal), we at minimum look at new pipeline of opportunities created by various lead sources (by volume, source, deal size, and ultimately close rates). We also look at bookings vs. realized revenue tied back to lead sources as well.
Sometimes the CFO and CEO want to see raw lead stats as well, especially if they're watching budgets closely. But ROI on that spend can't be determined by lead volume and initial quality assessment alone. You have to track the lead through to a qualified opportunity and sale to determine what's most valuable.
Even with relatively straightforward and basic sales CRM implementations, tracking back sales to lead sources and all the metrics in between (close rates, deal size, differences between sales reps, verticals, geographies, etc.) should be straightforward as well.
- Recommended by:
- Trevor Usken
I agree with Matt that the closer to you can get to revenue, and even better, Net Profit, the better. Traditionally, marketing metrics have not made the jump from things like brand visibility to hard dollar profits. That is changing as more sophisticated tracking, analysis, and media buying take hold, largely driven by gains made be quantitative search management agencies.
Tracking is almost always possible, even in the face of complex revenue models or antiquated technology, but it may mean breaking some assumptions (for example, the web site is not a marketing source, any more than a phone is). Usually you need to begin at revenue, and work your way back through to initial marketing exposures, taking into account that user behavior is more complex than most analytics tools make it seem.
Events
- Dos and Don'ts of Small Business Marketing May 29 @ 11 am PT
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
Craig,
great question. In terms of CEO/CFO level metrics, you need to have numbers that are objective, standard, comprehensive, and timeless - ie, numbers that can be measured and analyzed each quarter, looking for trends and insights.
The first step is defining the overall stages of the buying process (comprehensive) from the earliest stages of awareness through to decision. With that defined, you can use lead scoring to understand what buyer behaviour indicates a person is at which stage (objective).
The metrics on this buying funnel can then be measured each quarter - how many people are in each phase, what are the conversion rates between stages, etc. This "balance sheet" and "income statement" view allows a measurement that is meaningful each quarter (timeless). (See discussion at http://digitalbodylanguage.blogspot.com/2009/06/analyzing-b2b-marketing-balan... for more).
When this is in place, the ratios, speeds, and funnel sizes can be compared across businesses in order to guage performance (standard).
It's not easy, but it is possible to put this type of metric set together for a marketing organization. When it is done, it drives a unique level of engagement with CEOs and CFOs.