B2B marketing is becoming more data-driven by the day, and CMOs are expected by both their peers and their boards to provide clear reports that detail the exact results of a company's marketing investment. It's just non-negotiable.
With that in mind, here are five of our favorite reports that will unequivocally display just how much you and your team are crushing it.
The marketing reports you should use to demonstrate your value
1. Contact funnel waterfall
We're huge fans of the SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall at New Breed. By analyzing the funnel at every stage, B2B marketers can pinpoint exactly where in the funnel the sticky points are, what's working well and where improvement is most needed. These insights are invaluable and allow marketers to assess the tactics, channels and processes that affect each campaign and collaborate with the sales team to streamline the revenue engine. Here's an example of what that might look like:
2. Qualified lead velocity rate
Also known as marketing-qualified lead velocity, this metric allows us to forecast more accurately. This is true because sales and pipeline forecasts are a lagging indicator and predicated on reps assigning probabilities and close dates accurately, which is a difficult task. You can get a closer opportunity forecast looking at sales strikezone reports, but even those aren't accurate for more than 90 days, tops. Therefore with LVR, we can see why this becomes a critical metric that allows us to see growth further into the future than a traditional pipeline report.
As long as MQL velocity is growing, your C-suite peers and board can be confident that marketing is laying a stable foundation for future growth.
3. Opportunities and pipeline sourced
Here's where we turn the corner to talk about dollar value and dive into a pipeline-marketing methodology. The number of opportunities sources by marketing and the actual dollar amount of those opportunities are two of the most important metrics to show the success of any B2B marketing initiative.
4. Channel and tactic attribution
Okay, okay, I know this probably isn't just one report, but these do go hand-in-hand, and there are likely a few ways you'll want to look at them. The first is by channel, specifically which is driving the most MQLs, SQLs, opportunities and customers.
The second is looking at a more detailed attribution report. These can take a few different shapes but will generally fall into these buckets:
- First touch
- Last touch
- Multi-touch
At New Breed, we're big fans of multi-touch reporting since—especially in the B2B space—sales cycles are typically longer, and a contact or account will be touched by multiple campaigns before becoming a customer. By looking at which campaigns are most effective at moving contacts through each stage you're able to get a much deeper understanding of your funnel and what contributes most to inbound marketing ROI:
5. Marketing bookings
This is really the be-all end-all for great CMOs: How much have your initiatives contributed to your top line? There's nothing more satisfying than being able to illustrate this. We generally like to display this by campaign to show which assets or initiatives have helped generate revenue, so it might look something like this:
Now it's your turn
Achieving this level of reporting takes an established, tight alignment between the marketing and sales teams. Additionally, it requires a well-implemented marketing-automation and technology stack. This is absolutely achievable, and hey, you can't be a rockstar alone. It always takes a band.
Also, for those who are wondering, the screenshots shown in this post were created using HubSpot and InsightSquared.
