At the end of last week’s blog post, we quickly mentioned the importance of using data to track how well your content is performing. In doing so, you’re better able to decide if what you’re currently doing is working or if you need to go back to the drawing board. While we’ve always had this digital marketing approach, it is becoming more apparent that as the world of digital marketing only continues to grow (and so do the budgets), you want to make sure what you’re doing has a direct link to the bottom line.
As one site says, “Long gone are the days of measuring success solely based on visibility, traffic, or conversions.” Since shifting away from these metrics, according to the 2018 Demand Generation Benchmark Survey Report, B2B marketing success is now measured by marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-accepted leads (SALs), pipeline leads influenced, and target accounts engaged. They say, “This change in performance metrics is certainly driven by the shift away from high-volume, top-of-funnel marketing methods toward very-targeted, full-funnel, account based marketing (ABM) types of programs.”
While the focus of data collection is on the aforementioned metrics, there are a few more to start focusing on as well in order to have a more complete data “picture” so to speak.
These include account penetration, pipeline velocity, and deal size, all of which contribute to a data driven analysis.
Let’s go into a bit more depth of each below though.
Account penetration. Account based marketers know they are trying to target certain accounts. In fact, their whole approach is based on defining your target, learning about your accounts, creating specific content, picking the right channels, delivering your messages, and measuring the results (we explain each step a bit more here). Two ways to measure how well your ABM approach is working is by looking at “new stakeholders reached in target accounts (additional reach) and new touch points with existing contacts (additional engagement).” A few ideas to reach new stakeholders include content marketing, ABM campaigns, LinkedIn ads, and social media. As for driving additional touch points, try retargeting and re-marketing lists for search ads and lead nurture campaigns.
Pipeline velocity. Have you ever looked at how long it takes to move a prospect from one stage to the next? That’s your pipeline speed! Lucky for you, you can quicken things up a bit by: “working to improve initial lead quality, ensuring that your marketing strategy is matching prospects behavior and needs as they progress through their customer journey, and working directly with sales to track pipeline velocity.” By paying a bit more attention to these three, you’re better able to develop campaigns, messaging, and offers that will speed up the process and get to the sale quicker!
Deal size. As Marketing Land says, “Typically there is an inverse relationship between deal size and velocity, meaning larger deals tend to move more slowly through the pipeline while smaller deals close more quickly.” However, marketing programs can help a bit with this – probably more than you think! Marketing Land goes on to say, “Engaging with the right prospect, at a right-sized company, in the right industry will lead to bigger, better deals. I encourage marketing and sales to analyze closed deals, determine the average deal size, and then pursue companies that are aligned with this size/profile.” This isn’t to say you can’t go after the bigger fish, but until you have your process down to a T, it is best to work with what ya got.
While old school metrics still add some value today, digital marketing success will be dictated by your ability to track and analyze newer and more informative metrics.
At RenderTribe, our RenderLab process helps you identify the unique pieces that fit in your overall marketing strategy and align your plan with overall business objectives. We help build the foundation for measurement, expertise, and the tactical execution needed to support the plan.
Let us help you grow your bottom line. Contact us today.
