Research has found that measuring campaign effectiveness and proving the return on investment (ROI) of marketing spend is the biggest challenge facing B2B marketers globally – with 21% identifying this as their top concern[1]. Because so many marketers are preoccupied with this matter, it’s definitely something that must be addressed. Thankfully, there is already a solution available, it just needs to be adopted and implemented by marketers.

The issue at hand

The basis of this issue stems from the C-Suite and board members being unable to quantify what marketers bring to the table. For many years, marketers used the communication channels that were available to them to generate leads and then handed these leads over to sales. At that point, sales then converted these leads to customers and proved their worth to the board. The outcome though, was that marketers went almost unnoticed and unappreciated. This oversight resulted in businesses being unsure of exactly what the marketing department contributed in regards to business growth, and therefore required them to justify their existence. What’s more, as channels such as social media have grown in importance, new metrics have appeared such as Likes and Shares. Whilst these data points can highlight brand engagement and audience reach, it can be challenging to tie these back to actual sales and revenue.

Showing how the numbers stack up

The arrival of marketing automation gave marketers the opportunity to measure a variety of metrics like never before. Due to the automated nature of the technology, many of the important measurements were tracked by the system, with no need for human input. The result was that marketers could create in-depth reports on individual customer journeys, identify which channels they engaged with and those they didn’t. By retrospectively reviewing the purchasing journey of all new customers converted by sales, the marketing team were able to attribute their activities to the sale and measure their ROI. With this new ability to effectively measure ROI, things began to change.

Turning the spotlight on marketing

With the ability to create clear and concise ROI data across all communication channels, for all new customers, and for all marketing campaigns, the C-suite couldn’t question marketing any longer. When new budgets were being discussed for the following year and each team would submit their proposals for budget allocation, B2B marketers were able to show the board exactly what value they brought to the business, how they were accountable, and how they could help the business grow. For these marketing teams, having to constantly justify their activity and prove their worth was now a thing of the past – and it can be for you too. Marketing automation is just one of the many innovative technologies that marketers can use nowadays to track data points and metrics. The fact is, there are multiple ways to visualise customer journeys and touchpoints in today’s B2B marketing realm. The next question then, is what metrics matter most?

To find out what data can illustrate how well your marketing is functioning, simply download our latest checklist…

Measure Your B2B Marketing Effectiveness.

Alternatively, to speak to one of our experts about creating a campaign that’s too good to ignore, simply call 0207 970 4123 or email marketing@reallyb2b.com.

[1] https://www.marketingweek.com/fifth-b2b-marketers-effectiveness-challenge/