Marketing Metrics for B2B Marketing
The goal of any business is to grow and develop, but this is impossible without a regular analysis of numbers connected to it. It is important to track several important metrics to see the direction your business is moving towards. According to Hubspot, only 23% of companies are capable of exceeding their revenue goals, while three-quarters of all companies cannot. What is interesting, the same number of companies do not consider B2B marketing metrics fundamental and never keep track of it. Unfortunately, this is a big mistake. Let’s find out the most influential metrics for B2B marketing that impact company revenue and play a significant role in its growth.
#1 Conversion
Conversion rates show how many leads have become your customers. This data is incredibly important for understanding if your marketing campaign achieves the goals set, as well as if your target audience is pleased with the content you are delivering.
The analysis of the following numbers also gives a presentation about the inbound inquiries’ quality and whether your lead qualification process is efficient.
#2 Volume
The volume as a B2B marketing metric includes several important categories that are vital for business development:
- Traffic: if there is any increased traffic? What time of the day does it happen? Which pages are of utmost popularity? Etc.
- Page ranking
- References that were a source for your prospects
- Content availability
- Customer impressions etc.
Any of these metrics and among other help measure your marketing impact and business popularity.
#3 Velocity
It is extremely important to be aware of the overall sales cycle. Only this will tell how much time is spent on the first response to a completed deal. Knowing this period of time, you can begin to use it in marketing planning. Sometimes you may also see deals that get stuck at some stage, so making necessary corrections will improve the velocity.
#4 Qualified Leads per Marketing Channel
Of course, it is important to attract more leads, but not all of them will be qualified. That is why it is of utmost importance to analyze channels to develop the ones that bring a bigger number of qualified leads. Being aware of the numbers, you will be able to set new goals like increasing qualified leads velocity and build up a more effective model for growing.
#5 Brand Familiarity
The following metrics show the extent to what degree your target audience is aware of your brand. It is a very important metric that you can measure in several ways:
- Brand Strength Index (BSI) shows the strength of the brand in comparison with its competitors
- Impression about the search of branded keywords
- Impression about the branded content
- A number of mentions on social media websites
- Social network mentions by target media & influencers
Being familiar with the brand, a client is more likely to make a purchase and become a regular client. Understanding the familiarity level of every lead it is easier to transform him or her into a quality one.
#6 Engagement in Social Networks
Today, there is nothing surprising in the interaction between customers and companies on social media. It’s vital to know who is interested in your company online. Social media engagement is measured by the following metrics:
- Net Promoter Score
- Engagement rates
- Likes & shares
- Number of followers, repeated visits, downloads
- Replies & comments etc.
There are numerous ways of measuring client engagement. It goes without saying that this is not enough to choose a few ways to complete a full picture of the situation. By doing so you can see if your content is on the right track or if it requires significant changes. You can determine your potential leads by a couple of repeated visits or regular comments as well as downloads and active user forums. This metric offers much information to consider.
#7 Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)
The main feature of CAC is the calculation of costs that are necessary for gaining clients. To calculate it one should take total sales as well as spendings on marketing, salaries, bonuses for a definite period of time and divide this number by the number of the customers who have joined within this period.
These numbers will show whether the sum of money spent on the advertising campaign was reasonable or if it is necessary to make other investments or look for cheaper alternatives.
B2B marketing metrics have already proved great efficacy and necessity to be analyzed. Such important data may become a powerful weapon in the hands of a professional as it shows benefits and some negative sides of the chosen marketing strategy. That means businesses become aware of their mistakes and try to correct them. This results in a better user experience and company development, so both parties only win.