Every marketer has a big responsibility: finding new prospects, personalizing messages, and ultimately collaborating with the sales team to grow the business. However, quantifying the success of a marketing campaign can be challenging without a reference point. That’s why key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential.
Not only do KPIs ensure everyone is meeting their goals and proving the return on marketing investment, but they also serve as the foundation for a marketing engine that is fully aligned with broader business goals, giving the entire go-to-market team confidence in the strategy.
We interviewed a dozen experts in various B2B marketing fields—from branding and social media to events, display advertising, and webinars—to compile this comprehensive guide to the most critical marketing KPIs. Use this guide to drive your team, innovate your approach, and achieve—or even exceed—your marketing goals.
What are marketing KPIs?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measurable values that show how effectively a company is achieving key business goals. Specifically, marketing KPIs help assess the performance of specific marketing activities or campaigns based on predefined goals, enabling marketing teams to make smarter decisions and maximize returns.
What are the most important marketing KPIs?
At a high level, most B2B marketing campaigns focus on a similar set of funnel-specific metrics that show how they contribute to business growth. These metrics can vary depending on the company’s business model. For a B2B SaaS company with a sales team, common KPIs are:
- Form fillings
- Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)
- Created demos
- Lead-to-demo ratio
- Created opportunities
- Pipeline Annual Contract Value (ACV)
- Closed-won
In this guide, we break down channel-based metrics – KPIs that show how specific parts of the marketing machine are performing – and how they align with core funnel and revenue metrics, with discussions about how each channel impacts your core business KPIs.
KPIs for each marketing channel
Choosing B2B marketing KPIs for your team starts with analyzing your active campaigns. For B2B digital campaigns, you’re likely using a combination of these channels:
- Paid social media
- Organic social media
- Content Syndication
- Webinars
- Direct advertising
- Event
- Brand marketing
- Paid search
- Organic search
Here’s how to track the value, impact, and performance of each channel:
1. KPIs for email marketing
Email marketing comes in many forms, including nurture programs, acceleration tracks, and targeted one-on-one mailings. You can monitor your email program holistically or segment it by email type.
Performance measurements:
- Deliverability rate: Measures the percentage of emails delivered out of the total sent.
- Unique open rate: The percentage of unique opens out of the total delivered.
- Unique clickthrough rate: The percentage of clicks out of the total delivered.
- Click-to-open rate: The percentage of clicks of unique opens.
- Unsubscription rate: The percentage of unsubscriptions out of the total delivered.
- Leads sent to nurture: Number of cold leads that were engaged and added to the nurture program.
Funnel measurements:
- MQLs: Number of leads that convert from engaged to marketing qualified.
- Demo Views: Number of MQLs who sign up for a product or service demonstration.
- MQL-to-demo ratio: The percentage of MQLs that convert into scheduled demo views.
- Lead-to-MQL ratio: The percentage of leads that convert to MQLs.
Revenue measurements:
- Opportunities: Number of times the sales team flags an email campaign lead as a potential revenue-generating opportunity.
- Pipeline: Estimated ACV of qualified opportunities, compared to MQLs or demo views generated.
2. Paid social media KPI
Paid social media KPIs measure the return on advertising on social channels like Facebook and LinkedIn.
Performance measurements:
- Lead-to-MQL ratio: Strive for every lead to be marketing qualified.
- Cost per MQL: Measures the cost of acquiring each MQL.
- Intent lift: Measures the increase in buyer interest as a result of marketing efforts.
Funnel measurements:
- Account Penetration Percentage: Indicates the percentage of targeted accounts reached and engaged.
3. Organic social media KPIs
Organic Social Media KPIs evaluate the impact and success of organic social media strategies.
Performance measurements:
- Follower growth: Growth rate of followers over time.
- Engagement rate: Measures how often your audience engages with your content.
- Share of voice: Quantifies your brand’s relative presence compared to competitors.
- Sentiment analysis: Understands users’ feelings towards your brand or product.
- Brand Mentions: Measures the frequency of brand name mentions in online conversations.
Funnel measurements:
- Conversion rate: The percentage of users who take a desired action after engaging with organic social content.
- Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of users who click on a link in your content compared to the total number of views.
Revenue measurements:
- Lead Generation: Measures the effectiveness of organic social efforts in attracting and converting leads.
4. Content Syndication KPI
Content syndication programs promote your brand’s content through relevant providers to reach ideal customers.
5. Performance measurements:
- Cost per lead: Measures the cost of acquiring leads.
- MQL: Predetermined probability of leads becoming MQLs through goals and filtering.
- MQL-to-demo/meeting: The percentage of MQLs who attend a demo or meeting.
- Pipe-to-spend ratio: Measures the pipeline created from a marketing program divided by total investment.
Revenue measurements:
- Opportunities: Number of times a lead from the syndication program is marked as an opportunity.
- Pipeline: Estimated value of these opportunities if converted into closed-won customers.
- Closed-won ACV: The ultimate success metric for a syndication program.
5. KPIfor webinars
Webinars are valuable for generating warm leads and engaging prospects.
Performance measurements:
- Registrations: Number of people who registered for the webinar.
- Attendance rate: The percentage of registrants who attended the webinar.
Funnel measurements:
- Webinar Engagement: Measures audience engagement during the webinar.
Revenue measurements:
- Conversion rates: Measures the conversion rate from MQL to demo and beyond.
6. KPI for direct marketing
Direct mail, or giveaways, involves sending emails with gifts, such as gift cards.
Performance measurements:
- TBD based on your specific use cases and campaigns
Funnel measurements:
- TBD based on your specific use cases and campaigns
Revenue measurements:
- TBD based on your specific use cases and campaigns
By tracking these KPIs across different marketing channels, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are aligned with broader business goals and effectively driving growth.
7. KPI for events
Events, both virtual and physical, are powerful tools for networking, brand building, and lead generation. Tracking event KPIs helps understand their effectiveness and ROI.
Performance measurements:
- Registrations: Number of individuals who registered for the event.
- Attendance Rate: The percentage of registrants who actually attended the event.
- Engagement Rate: Measures attendee interaction during the event, such as session participation, booth visits, and participation in Q&A.
Funnel measurements:
- Leads Generated: Number of new leads collected during the event.
- Follow-up Rate: Percentage of leads that responded to follow-up communications after the event.
- MQL Conversion Rate: Percentage of event leads that convert to marketing-qualified leads.
Revenue measurements:
- Opportunities Created: Number of new sales opportunities identified from event leads.
- Pipeline Generated: Estimated value of potential deals from event leads.
- Closed Revenue: Total revenue from deals generated from event leads.
8. KPIs for brand marketing
Brand marketing focuses on building and maintaining a strong brand presence. KPIs help measure brand awareness and reputation.
Performance measurements:
- Brand Awareness: The level of brand recognition and recall among target audiences, measured through surveys or brand lift studies.
- Share of voice (SOV): The proportion of your brand’s presence in the market compared to competitors.
- Brand Sentiment: General feelings towards the brand, captured through social listening tools and sentiment analysis.
Funnel measurements:
- Engagement Rate: Measures how often audiences interact with branded content.
- Website Traffic: Volume of visitors driven to your website from brand-driven campaigns.
Revenue measurements:
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Total revenue a customer is expected to generate during their relationship with your brand.
- Brand Loyalty: The percentage of repeat customers and their contribution to total revenue.
9. Paid Search KPI
Paid search involves placing ads on search engines to drive traffic and conversions. Tracking KPIs helps optimize campaign performance and ROI.
Performance measurements:
- Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of ad impressions that result in clicks.
- Cost per click (CPC): The average cost for each click on your ads.
- Ad position: The average position of your ads on the search engine results page.
Funnel measurements:
- Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks that result in a desired action, such as a purchase or signup.
- Cost per Conversion: The average cost to acquire a conversion through paid search advertising.
Revenue measurements:
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Revenue generated for every dollar spent on paid search ads.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Total cost to acquire a customer through paid search efforts.
10. Organic search KPI
Organic search focuses on improving a website’s visibility in search engine results through SEO. Organic search KPIs help track the effectiveness of SEO strategies.
Performance measurements:
- Keyword Rankings: Positions for targeted keywords in search engine results.
- Organic Traffic: Volume of visitors coming to your website through organic search.
Funnel measurements:
- Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing just one page.
- Pages per Session: The average number of pages viewed during a session.
Revenue measurements:
- Lead Generation: Number of leads acquired through organic search.
- Organic Search Revenue: Total revenue attributed to organic search traffic.
Marketing Automation (MAT) Tools to Automate KPI Tracking
Every marketing technology stack is unique, but commonly used platforms include:
Analytics Platforms: Collect and analyze data from multiple channels to accurately evaluate marketing performance.
Dashboard and Reporting Tools: Customizable tools to visualize KPIs with precision, enabling better decision-making based on available data.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: Track customer behaviors, prospect interactions, and the financial performance of campaigns.
Social Media Marketing Platforms: Track engagement metrics, analyze audience demographics, and measure the impact of social media on brand awareness and reputation.
Email Marketing Software: Facilitate targeted email campaigns and track opens, click-through rates, and conversions.
Website Analytics Tools: Provide detailed insights into website traffic, user behavior, and conversion paths to assess marketing effectiveness.
The specific composition of a martech stack depends on factors such as company size, goals, industryoch budget.
Data-Driven Tools for Modern Marketing
Using data-driven tools is essential for tracking and optimizing marketing KPIs. Here are some key tools that can improve your KPI tracking capabilities:
Google Analytics: Provides comprehensive data on website traffic, user behavior, and conversion paths.
HubSpot: Offers a robust set of tools for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service, with extensive KPI tracking capabilities.
Salesforce: A leading CRM platform that helps manage customer relationships and track sales and marketing KPIs.
Marketo: A marketing automation platform that enables detailed tracking of campaign performance and ROI.
Hootsuite: Manages and analyzes social media performance across multiple platforms.
Mailchimp: Tracks email marketing performance, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.
By consistently tracking these KPIs and using the right tools, your marketing team can gain valuable insights, make data-driven decisions, and drive continuous improvement in your marketing strategies. This comprehensive strategy helps you align your marketing efforts with broader business goals, ensuring sustainable growth and success in 2024 and beyond.
