Measuring marketing performance is tough. At times I’ve argued that it’s impossible and therefore pointless.

But I don’t think that’s true. As a starting point pretty much any company you work for in a senior marketing role, will expect you to understand the impact of your work (and that of your colleagues). Part of this is looking at flow metrics like “Leads generated this quarter”. But that only tells part of the story, specifically about the flow of business. The other side which is discussed more by the Board than less by marketing departments is the need for balance metrics. As a simple example – you might have one business that’s generating 100 leads per month, but has, already, historically built up a mailing list of 500,000 people (all of whom have given you permission to market). Another company might be generating 100 leads per month but all from scratch and every lead costing money. The former company is more valuable because they have built up a balance of people over time who known them. And that is a very valuable thing.

This makes a significant difference to how you measure marketing performance. Ultimately the goal of the company is likely to be valuation. Part of that valuation is the value of the customer base and/or the awareness of the company. I believe the awareness of a company and its offerings is directly linked to valuation and so, as a marketing department you should be tracking it closely.

Below is a brief PowerPoint covering these different metrics. Any questions, let me know.