Crowdsourcing the most important metric in marketing

Almost one week ago, Sangram Vajre, co-founder of Terminus and host of the #FlipMyFunnel podcast, posed a very simple question: “What’s the one most important metric in marketing?” 

He received over 160 responses and counting, and there was a big consensus behind revenue. Other answers included “connection to your brand and business” (Karen Steele, CMO, Near), but most respondents were heavily focused on what would once have looked like sales goals. “Marketing-sourced revenue and pipeline velocity,” said Chris Walker, CEO, Refine Labs.

Indeed, Ashwin Vasudevan, Director of Marketing at KBX, went a step further: “Marketers need to take on sales job before doing marketing jobs — pipeline growth trajectory and ultimately closed pipeline deals (i.e. revenue in the door) should be the key metrics.”

Some, of course, couldn’t resist naming more than one. Prem K., Head of Marketing at Vasil Search, selected revenue, but also conversions and “a quantified Customer Satisfaction Score — NPS, CSAT, CES, Trustpilot scores, whatever. Heck, even Playstore reviews could count :)”

And he couldn’t resist adding: “The one your CEO likes the most.”

Why we care. Marketers talk about metrics all the time, especially as demonstrating ROI becomes ever more important. You might think there’s disagreement about what the most important metric is, as there’s so much debate around the topic. But when asked the straight question, there’s a consensus. It’s all about revenue.

About The Author

Kim Davis is the Editorial Director of MarTech. Born in London, but a New Yorker for over two decades, Kim started covering enterprise software ten years ago. His experience encompasses SaaS for the enterprise, digital- ad data-driven urban planning, and applications of SaaS, digital technology, and data in the marketing space.

He first wrote about marketing technology as editor of Haymarket’s The Hub, a dedicated marketing tech website, which subsequently became a channel on the established direct marketing brand DMN. Kim joined DMN proper in 2016, as a senior editor, becoming Executive Editor, then Editor-in-Chief a position he held until January 2020.

Prior to working in tech journalism, Kim was Associate Editor at a New York Times hyper-local news site, The Local: East Village, and has previously worked as an editor of an academic publication, and as a music journalist. He has written hundreds of New York restaurant reviews for a personal blog, and has been an occasional guest contributor to Eater.

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