What should we measure in marketing?

Marketing is often measured by opens and clicks because the figures are easy to obtain. They say something about the subject line, but little about the business.

Leads that actually qualify

The most important metric is how many marketing leads are qualified as sales opportunities. If this figure is low, marketing is generating volume without quality, and the sales team will quickly stop prioritizing them.

Unsubscribe rate per send

This is the clearest feedback on your marketing. A spike in unsubscribes after a particular email means the message missed the mark, and that is worth far more than a high open rate.

Percentage of your customer base you actually reach

If you have consent from twenty percent of your customers, all other figures are constrained by that. Increasing that percentage is often the easiest way to achieve better results.

Revenue contribution

The most difficult—and most valuable—question: what proportion of won sales opportunities had a marketing touchpoint along the way? With Journeys and sales in the same system, this is actually possible to answer.