Selecting the metrics that matter means adopting a full-funnel approach

The big picture

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” management thinker Peter Drucker said, and when it comes to marketing, your strategy is only as good as the metrics you use. That’s why choosing the right measurement approach is critical to proving marketing’s value to a business.

Why it matters

There’s a wealth of metrics available for marketers to measure the success of their activity. But your choice can inflate or deflate marketing’s impact; make you feel good or make you look good; inform or distort your marketing.

Deeper dive – the importance of taking a balanced approach

Deciding which metric to use can be difficult but limiting it to a single one isn’t the answer. Neither is opting to focus on just measuring brand or performance. Both are needed today, so savvy marketers should adopt a full-funnel approach.

As buyers have different intentions at every stage of their journey, each step must be measured differently. Just as your strategy changes as you move down the funnel, so should your choice of metrics. And by understanding every stage of the purchase journey, you can adopt the relevant ones.

But online’s supremacy has led to digital native businesses focusing their marketing attention, investment, and metrics on bottom-of-the-funnel activities. In doing so, they are missing out on the awareness stage that is critical to feeding sales and success in the short and long term.

However, digital-first businesses are increasingly starting to address this imbalance by adopting a full-funnel approach. Airbnb highlighted on its recent earnings call that brand marketing spend had increased 163% more than performance between Q1-Q3 this year. This was in recognition that brand marketing activity ultimately translates into improved performance metrics further down the line.

Meanwhile, for Direct-to-Consumer online flower business Bloom & Wild, Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a crucial measure. While many flower companies focus on driving sales and measuring performance across the annual key meaningful dates, NPS is a critical measure of customer happiness, trust, and loyalty for Bloom & Wild. It provides a snapshot into the health of its customer base, and by focusing on this rather than short-term sales metrics, Bloom & Wild can deliver long-term success.

In a nutshell

While measuring is easy, measuring what’s important is often more difficult. That’s why the metrics you choose must add value to your marketing. Instead of limiting yourself to one or two metrics, you must use multiple ones by taking a full-funnel marketing approach. And in doing so, you need to ensure you have the technology, ability, and support to report on these.

Want to find out more about adopting the right metrics to bolster your marketing efforts? Then download our Guide to Bulls**t Metrics to help you choose those that support your business correctly.