Do you think your company’s CEO cares about web traffic, impressions or leads as much as your marketing team? Probably not! Because what she really cares about is revenue.
So, as a B2B marketer, you need to be able to show the impact your demand generation efforts are having on the bottom line. Otherwise, you’re just working in a silo and your marketing efforts will eventually get cut.
But how do you show the impact of demand generation on revenue? The answer is simple: by tracking and reporting the right metrics.
That’s why, in this blog post, we’ll show you 10 of the most important demand generation metrics so you know how to communicate the value of your demand gen campaigns. We’ll also show you how you can use exegraphic data to get even better results with your demand generation metrics by knowing which companies to target.
Let’s get started!
10 demand generation metrics for B2B marketing
#1 Number of marketing qualified leads (MQLs)
The first important metric to track is the number of MQLs as it can show you how effective your demand generation process is at generating qualified leads and if there are any problems you need to fix ASAP.
If you’re generating demand from a lot of leads but they’re not qualified, it may be a sign that your demand generation campaign is targeting an outdated ideal customer profile (ICP) that relies too heavily on superficial information, like employee job titles and company size.
What can you do instead? Dig deeper to understand the characteristics that actually affect buying decisions at your target companies, such as how your ideal customers operate and execute their company mission. These characteristics are what we call exegraphics.
For example, let’s imagine you’re a software company that sells a product that helps small businesses with inventory management. If you read through a target company’s job ads and website (or use Rev’s AI-powered platform to collect that information at scale) you might find that company is currently expanding its eCommerce operations but is struggling to keep track of what’s selling where.
You could use this insight to produce demand generation marketing content that’s tailored to their specific needs and pain points. And it’s that type of content that will help you move potential customers through your demand generation funnel and generate better MQLs!
#2 MQL to SQL conversion rate
You need to monitor the number of marketing qualified leads that convert into sales qualified leads (SQLs). This metric is important because it tells you how efficient your demand generation funnel is at converting leads into customers.
If you’re not converting a high percentage of your MQLs into SQLs, it could be because your leads are getting stuck at the top of the funnel. And this is important for your marketing team to know because it can be improved with a few changes to your demand generation strategy.
Here are a few ways to improve your MQL to SQL conversion rate:
- Make sure your MQL criteria are clear and aligned with your sales process
- Work closely with your sales team to ensure a smooth handoff of MQLs
- Create targeted content for each stage of the buyer’s journey
- Use exegraphic data to score your leads and prioritize the ones most likely to convert
#3 MQL churn rate
How many MQLs you’re bringing in is only part of the equation. You also need to keep track of how many of these leads you’re able to retain and move through your funnel. This metric, known as MQL churn rate, can help you identify any bottlenecks in your demand generation funnel and make adjustments accordingly.
To improve your MQL churn rate:
- Optimize your lead scoring model to better identify and prioritize top-quality leads
- Improve your lead nurturing strategy
- Invest in better targeting and audience segmentation techniques
- Analyze exegraphic data to identify characteristics associated with high-quality MQLs
#4 MQL and SQL to customer conversion rate
Ultimately, the goal of demand generation is to increase the number of people interested in signing up for your product or service.
While you won’t always be able to directly attribute this metric to your demand generation campaign, it can be helpful to understand whether your campaigns correlate with an increase in conversions.
Here are some ideas on how to use demand generation content to increase conversions:
- Create valuable demand generation content such as ebooks, white papers or blog posts that position your company as an authority in your niche
- Use calls-to-action (CTAs) in your demand generation content that encourages people to sign up for your product or service
- Offer incentives such as discounts or coupons for people who sign up after engaging with your demand gen content
#5 Customer lifetime value (CLV)
Customer lifetime value is the total value a customer will bring to your company throughout their relationship with you. And this one’s essential for your demand generation campaigns because it can help you:
- Set a target CPA (cost per acquisition) that you are willing to spend to acquire a new customer
- Determine which channels are most effective at acquiring high-value customers
- Prioritize accounts that have a higher CLV
#6 Cost per acquisition (CPA)
CPA is the total cost of acquiring a new customer. And if your demand generation campaigns are generating a lot of low-quality leads, then your CPA will be higher than it needs to be.
Of course, demand generation isn’t the only thing that affects CPA. Things like our sales process and product also play a role. However, there are a few demand gen activities you can do to improve your CPA:
- Improve your lead scoring system so that you’re only targeting leads that are likely to convert into customers
- Nurture your leads with targeted content so they are more likely to convert when they are contacted by sales
- Use exegraphic data to identify and prioritize accounts that are a good fit for your product and show signs of being ready to buy
#7 Content performance metrics
Your demand generation campaign can only be as successful as the content that supports it. That’s why it’s important to track a few key metrics related to your content, such as:
- Views
- Downloads
- Shares
- Engagement
You shouldn’t obsess too much over those metrics though. On their own, these metrics are vanity metrics that don’t tell you the full story of how effective your content is at generating demand or leads.
However, when looked at in conjunction with other demand generation metrics, content performance metrics can give you a good idea of which content pieces are resonating with your audience and driving them further down the demand generation funnel. As a result, you’ll know which content pieces to double down on and which ones need improvement.
If you want to improve the performance of your demand gen content, here are a few things you can try:
- Revisit your ideal customer profile and ensure it’s still reflective of your best customers and not just static firmographic data
- Develop a better understanding of what type of content each of your buyer personas needs at each stage of the buyer’s journey
- Use exegraphic data to learn where key decision makers at your target companies are most likely to consume content (e.g. LinkedIn articles vs. Twitter posts)
#8 Close rate per channel
Your demand generation strategy will likely include multiple channels, such as paid advertising, organic search, social media and email marketing. It’s important to track the close rate for each channel so you can see which ones are performing well and invest more in those channels.
For example, you might find that your paid search campaigns have a higher close rate than your organic search campaigns. Knowing this information, you may decide to invest more in paid search as opposed to social media or organic search.
#9 Marketing cycle length
Demand generation drives more qualified leads to the top of the sales funnel, which can help shorten the sales cycle and increase close rates.
Unfortunately, many companies get stuck in a long marketing cycle because they’re not generating enough demand. So, if you show that your demand generation campaigns contribute to shorter marketing cycles, stakeholders will take notice.
Some things that might indicate your demand generation campaigns have helped to shorten the marketing cycle include:
- More prospects moving from one stage of the marketing funnel to the next
- Increased website traffic from targeted channels
- Higher conversion rates from marketing qualified leads to sales qualified leads
#10 Contribution to total revenue
This is the ultimate metric that ties everything else together. If your demand generation campaigns don’t contribute to the bottom line, you need to re-evaluate your strategy. Why? Because, at the end of the day, you’ll have a hard time justifying your demand generation spend if it’s not directly impacting revenue.
But how do you measure this one? Here are a few ways to track the contribution of demand generation to revenue:
- Calculate the percentage of new customers that came from demand generation initiatives
- Look at the total revenue generated from new customers in a certain time period and compare it to the amount you spent on demand generation during that same period
- Use customer lifetime value (CLV) to see how much revenue each new customer generated throughout their relationship with your company
How exegraphic data can help you run more effective demand generation campaigns
Exegraphic data is critical—yet often a missing piece—for understanding your target market well enough to generate demand that leads to sales. But what exactly are exegraphics? Exegraphics are any behavioral characteristic of a company that could be valuable in determining whether or not they’re fit or ready to buy your product or service.
For example, let’s say your company sells marketing automation software. By tapping into exegraphics, you could see which companies resemble your best customers—which ones have the characteristics you care about the most. Maybe that’s marketing orgs that are heavily investing in marketing sophistication and executing with a small team.
Using that information, you could then generate demand by running a webinar on how lean marketing teams can use marketing automation software to improve the efficiency of their campaigns and get better results.
Final thoughts
By understanding and tracking these key demand generation metrics, you can show your stakeholders the value of demand generation and how it contributes to achieving key performance indicators across all areas of the business.
To get even more ROI from your demand generation campaigns, you can use exegraphic data to make sure you’re targeting the right companies with exactly the type of content that can influence them to buy.
How can you get started with exegraphics? Contact us and get a view into the exegraphics behind your best customers—so you can immediately adjust your strategy.