Marketing Pitfall #3: Not Tracking Metrics or Tracking the Wrong Ones

How do we know our marketing is working? Can you even measure it?

Yes, you can measure the impact of marketing. 

One of the biggest pitfalls we’ve seen leaders make is not having any metrics / Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or not tracking the KPIs that will help them understand the impact of their marketing & sales efforts. Remember, marketing is a system – or a set of integrated, repeatable actions that can be measured and tracked, helping your Sales & Marketing teams stay accountable for the goals you are working to achieve. 

Five things to consider when measuring the impact of your marketing system:

1. Start with a funnel view – from building awareness to increasing interest to gaining commitment to building relationships
2. Know your goals – overall and for each stage of the funnel
3. Build your strategies & tactics aligned with your funnel goals
4. Track the appropriate KPIs at each level of the funnel – including both sales & marketing KPIs
5. Review those KPIs over time and adjust tactics as needed 

Often, the tendency is for leaders to look at “lagging” KPIs first – “Did I get more customers?” When those numbers don’t move right away, the assumption is that marketing isn’t working. You will see “leading” KPIs move first, generally KPIs that are higher in the funnel (see chart below for examples). Over time, you will see the lagging KPIs move.

When your marketing system is humming, you will begin to see the impact first in leading KPIs, then following in lagging KPIs. Over time, you should look for progress first at the top of the marketing funnel, then move down the funnel from there.

What KPIs should you be looking at? 

While the specific KPIs will be different for every company based on their goals & tactics, here is one view of the marketing funnel and the corresponding KPIs that is a good starting point for almost everyone.