Attribution has traditionally been the bane of all marketers, but we’re no longer doomed to continue the old ways of thinking about it. Why is this good news? Because the metrics that we marketers have customarily used to measure and showcase our success are running out of steam.
The Engagement Economy is catapulting the shift in our thinking and techniques from old school marketing into adaptive engagement. As we evolve in our marketing, we must also evolve in our measurement.
We can, and must, do better. And that means measuring and amplifying only the metrics that matter the most in the Engagement Economy.
Escape the engine room
For decades, marketing has measured its worth using vanity metrics. Marketers roll out imposing figures on impressions, clicks, conversions and marketing qualified leads, and while such metrics can be useful and look quite impressive, they really only matter to us. If we keep focusing on these metrics, we’ll only keep talking to ourselves.
These metrics do not help marketing align with other areas of the company, such as the revenue and customer experience teams, nor do they promote a strategic look at the business. Instead, they are “engine room” metrics that show what is working within marketing. And maybe what happens in the engine room should stay only in the engine room.
The Maslow’s Hierarchy of engagement metrics in the Engagement Economy has three layers: “engine room” metrics at the base, alignment metrics in the middle, and strategic metrics at the top. When we step out of the marketing engine room — which CMOs are doing more and more — we need to talk true alignment metrics, such as pipeline and revenue, along with big strategic metrics like Lifetime Value (LTV) and number of brand advocates. Here’s why.
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