While reviewing metrics, it can sometimes be hard to identify the metrics that matter vs vanity metrics.
Vanity metrics are metrics that may look impressive on the surface but do not provide meaningful insights into the performance of a marketing campaign or business. They are called “vanity” metrics because they make us feel good but are ultimately superficial and not indicative of real success. Some examples of vanity metrics for marketers include:
- Likes and followers on social media: While having a large following on social media may look impressive, it does not necessarily translate into actual engagement or conversions.
- Pageviews: Pageviews can be a useful metric for understanding how many people are visiting a website, but they do not provide any insight into whether those visitors are actually engaging with the content or taking any desired action.
- Impressions: Impressions refer to the number of times an ad or piece of content is displayed, but they do not measure how effective that content is at driving engagement or conversions.
- Click-through rates (CTR): While CTR can be a useful metric for measuring the effectiveness of an ad or email campaign, it does not provide any insight into whether those clicks are actually resulting in conversions or sales.
- Email open rates: Open rates can be a useful metric for measuring the effectiveness of an email campaign, but they do not provide any insight into whether those emails are actually driving conversions or sales.
As B2B marketers, it is important to focus on metrics that provide actionable insights into the campaign/brand performance that show true impact and relevance to make make informed decisions about marketing strategies and optimizations. These metrics should be tied to specific business goals and should be tracked over time to measure progress and identify areas for improvement.
At B2B Marketing Exchange, I joined the session on vanity metrics, presented by Sophia Agustina (IBM), Carol Mallia (Citrix), Nick Bennett (Airmeet), Danny Sachdev (Beeleads), and Will Aitken (Lavender).
Here are the top quotes from these experts on driving real marketing outcomes that impact sales:
“Instead of jumping into tactics, spend the time to start with the outcomes. Use data to know where your audience is, how they are interacting with your brand to learn how they want to hear from you.” — Sophia Agustina (IBM)
“Instead of jumping into tactics, spend the time to start with the outcomes. Use data to know where your audience is, how they are interacting with your brand to learn how they want to hear from you.” — Sophia Agustina of @IBM Click To Tweet“When it comes to data, marketers can not operate in a black box. Marketers need more data overall and need to be able to pull data from multiple sources to launch campaigns and strategy that drive results.” — Danny Sachdev (Beeleads)
“When it comes to data, marketers can not operate in a black box. Marketers need more data overall and need to be able to pull data from multiple sources to launch campaigns and strategy that drive results.” — Danny Sachdev of @BeeLeadsInc Click To Tweet“If you are in an ABM or growth marketing role, you need to advocate for an in-house BI lead. It is a game-changer.” — Carol Mallia (Citrix)
“If you are in an ABM or growth marketing role, you need to advocate for an in-house BI lead. It is a game-changer.” — @CarolMallia of @Citrix Click To Tweet“Being able to show the data, where you are targeting and why adds credibility for marketing when working with sales and that credibility is key.” — Carol Mallia (Citrix)
“Being able to show the data, where you are targeting and why adds credibility for marketing when working with sales and that credibility is key.” — @CarolMallia of @Citrix Click To Tweet“Personalize. Personalize. Personalize! That is my number one piece of advice. Use your data to identify the buyers and deliver personalized messaging based on what you already know.” — Sophia Agustina (IBM)
“Personalize. Personalize. Personalize! That is my number one piece of advice. Use your data to identify the buyers and deliver personalized messaging based on what you already know.” — Sophia Agustina of @IBM Click To Tweet“I think the biggest challenge for marketers right now is prioritization. There are too many channels to organize and keep up with. Simplifying and focusing on what reaches your audience is key and the need for personalization and a seamless experience across every channel is the new standard.” — Nick Bennett (Airmeet)
“Simplifying and focusing on what reaches your audience is key and the need for personalization and a seamless experience across every channel is the new standard.” — @NickB2005 of @Airmeet Click To Tweet“A lot of marketers focus on tactics — we have to start with the outcome. What sales is being measured on? Marketing should have the goals and measurables so we are not working in silos.” — Sophia Agustina (IBM)
“A lot of marketers focus on tactics — we have to start with the outcome. What sales is being measured on? Marketing should have the goals and measurables so we are not working in silos.” — Sophia Agustina of @IBM Click To Tweet“Three things I am always focused on are driving quality traffic/leads, generating demand and creating a strong sales partnership so we have the same goals that we can work towards together.” — Sophia Agustina (IBM)
“Three things I am always focused on are driving quality traffic/leads, generating demand and creating a strong sales partnership so we have the same goals that we can work towards together.” — Sophia Agustina of @IBM Click To Tweet“As marketers, our challenge is — how do we create an experience that truly elevates? How can we authentically reach out to convert as well as keep relationships going?” — Nick Bennett (Airmeet)
“As marketers, our challenge is — how do we create an experience that truly elevates? How can we authentically reach out to convert as well as keep relationships going?” — @NickB2005 of @Airmeet Click To Tweet“The game-changer for us is the BI data — know the target accounts, the imperatives around those accounts and how are we clustering them. What is actually of interest based on what they are consuming.” — Carol Mallia (Citrix)
“The game-changer for us is the BI data — know the target accounts, the imperatives around those accounts and how are we clustering them. What is actually of interest based on what they are consuming.” — @CarolMallia of @Citrix Click To TweetAre you leveraging data to inform your marketing strategy from the beginning? Is your data working for you and creating credibility for your marketing department and strategy? Let’s all challenge ourselves and our marketing departments to go beyond the surface data and identify and utilize the metrics that matter that elevate our marketing efforts to create growth and drive sales for our brands.
Thank you to this fantastic group of B2B marketers for sharing their time and expertise!
Check out our other posts and content from #B2BMX this week:
