Why is it so hard to measure ROI for B2B marketing activities? Because it is hard – B2B marketing is complex, it involves multiple parts of your organization, and it takes place over a long period of time. In comparison, measuring return on investment for B2C marketing initiatives is easy. You run an ad, you observe the impact on sales. Or you monitor the path from first contact with your website to an online order. It’s a simple action/reaction model, with the measurement metric built right in.

ROI in B2B marketing

For B2B, the process is very different. For big-ticket solutions providers, it may take months – or even years – to move a prospect through the sales funnel and close the deal. There may be dozens of touchpoints along the way, involving people from sales, technical support, logistics, and financing – and that’s just on your side. Your prospect may have a big team also, with different roles researching different aspects of your company and product.

ROI: B2B vs. B2C

CEOs and company execs for both B2C and B2B companies have the same expectations for an accurate accounting of the results from marketing spend. But for B2B, there’s a disconnect that makes the situation a lot more challenging for marketers: Studies that show 73% of executives don’t believe that marketing drives awareness and revenue. That element of doubt makes it even more critical to be able to prove the ROI of our marketing efforts.

How to measure ROI for B2B marketing? 

So when it comes to measuring ROI for B2B, it’s a tough job, from any angle.  But there are ways to make it easier, and focus on delivering the measurements that matter to your management, and counter any management concerns.

We’ve narrowed it down to 6 marketing metrics that your boss actually cares about, and that your company execs will understand and respect:

1. Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
2. Marketing % of customer acquisitions cost
3. Ratio of customer lifetime value to CAC (LTV:CAC)
4. Time to payback CAC
5. Marketing originated customer %
6. Marketing influenced customer %

And we’ve expanded on these metrics in a practical 10-page guide, called The 6 Marketing Metrics Your Boss Actually Cares About, featuring step-by-step instructions for how to calculate each one, including formulas and examples; along with explanations and scenarios of why these metrics are important and how to interpret them.

The soft metrics, like building awareness, or engagement, won’t always persuade your senior execs. They’re focused on specifics for items like total cost of marketing, salaries, overhead, revenue and customer acquisitions. The 6 metrics we’ve identified, on the other hand, speak directly to the concerns and priorities of the decision-makers at your organization. This guide will walk you through these 6 marketing metrics, which will help you prove the value of your marketing efforts and clarify the impact of your initiatives.

Download The 6 Marketing Metrics Your Boss Actually Cares About, and get started! This 10-page cheat sheet is easy to use and understand, and will support your marketing activities with solid data.