In a previous blog post (On the Road to Marketing Accountability: Five KPIs You Should Start Tracking Today), we discussed how to evaluate marketing performance from a macro perspective. In this post we will look at evaluating marketing performance from a micro perspective – specifically, at the lead level.
There are three key variables that ideally should be associated with every new lead:
- Lead Source
- Marketing Channel
- Marketing Campaign
Each of these variables serves a unique purpose, as described below.
Lead Source
The “Lead Source” variable identifies, at a high level, where a lead was originated. The goal of tracking lead sources is to evaluate marketing activities strategically for their effectiveness in producing leads. These calculations are very valuable for periodic (especially annual) marketing planning purposes. Some common lead sources are noted below; you may have others:
| Website | Conferences |
| Business Information Providers |
Virtual Events |
| Partners | Social |
| Webinars | Referrals |
| White Papers | Sales Prospecting |
Because lead sources are used for long-term planning, you should track the same ones consistently over a period of time. At the same time, you should be in tune with the evolving marketing landscape so you can add (or delete) lead sources when a reporting period ends. We recommend performing an audit and refinement of Lead Sources on an annual basis so that reporting is consistent for the year. Make sure that the list of lead sources is as small and distinct as possible. The more clearly defined and distinctive a lead source is, the more observable and actionable it will be.
Marketing Channel
The “Marketing Channel” variable identifies the distribution channel through which the company’s message reaches the target and results in a new lead. Tracking this variable enables us to connect the dots between acquiring a lead with the marketing dollars (and effort) spent in each channel. Thus, identification of each Marketing Channel’s production allows calculation of ROI by Marketing Channel, which in turn enables optimization of marketing dollars spent. Here’s a sample of potential key marketing channels:
| Google Paid Search | 3rd-Party Webinar |
| Email (to Lists) | 3rd-Party Email |
| Facebook – Paid | Conference |
| Twitter – Organic | Website |
There will likely be some overlap between Lead Sources and Marketing Channels. We recommend that Marketing Channels be specific (for example, “Twitter-organic” rather than generic “Social Media”) so that ROI calculations are more actionable down the line.
In practice, attaching Marketing Channel attribution to a lead is harder than attaching Lead Source attribution. That said, some marketing channels are more easily identifiable than others. The recommended approach is to start the practice of attaching a Marketing Channel designation to new leads as much as possible, and then expand the attachment rate over time. Once successful, identifying Marketing Channels to leads could be a major leap towards marketing accountability in your organization.
Marketing Campaign
This attribution identifies the origination of a lead at a tactical level. Your list of Marketing Campaigns increases over time; for clarity, we recommend that the marketing campaign name contain the date when the campaign was sent.
| 2014-01-01: January Survey | 2014-03-01: XYZ Onsite Event |
| 2014-06-19: Email -SEO Basics and Beyond | 2013-11-06: B2B Virtual Event |
| 2013-11-01: Demo | 2014-02-19: XYZ E-zine: Best Practices for SEO |
Analyzing Marketing Campaign data allows you to evaluate the performance of individual campaigns (both number of leads generated and, eventually, lead-to-sale conversion) and fine-tune them for optimum performance at a tactical level.
A Last Thought
Making sure that Lead Source, Marketing Channel, and Marketing Campaign attributions are attached to each new lead may be the most difficult part of implementing a marketing accountability framework. Some marketers add fields to the CRM database. However you accomplish it, once this attribution is implemented, it opens an array of possibilities for improving marketing performance. How you can leverage this data will be the topic for my next blog post.
Have questions? Let me know if there’s an aspect of marketing accountability that you’d like to see in my next post.