Best Practice Report

How To Measure Marketing ROI

Measuring The Efficiency Of Marketing Performance

September 21st, 2021
Brett Kahnke, Principal Analyst
Brett Kahnke Principal Analyst

Summary

Marketing ROI is one of the most sought-after metrics in B2B marketing; many consider it the best judge of marketing performance. However, the metric is often so poorly defined, and pursuing it is so complex, that its presentation damages the credibility of performance reporting. ROI is just one metric that drives marketing decisions and can be outweighed by strategic factors that are more important than maximizing return on spend. When marketers refer to ROI, they describe various marketing efficiency metrics, few of which fit the financial definition of ROI. The right metric for each use case depends on the business question being pursued. The simplest path to the answer is usually the best.

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