B2B marketing is broken.

The root of the issue lies in a need for more understanding of the complex nature of marketing. Marketing involves navigating a multi-dimensional equation to guide prospects from unawareness to consideration and purchase, a complex, non-linear journey with varying durations. Yet, stakeholders often seek results based on simplified, discrete metrics like “Just get me a 5x pipeline!”

In addition, many stakeholders don’t understand or appreciate the function’s complexity and the tangible value marketing contributes across multiple dimensions to propel company growth throughout the buyer’s journey and customer’s lifespan.

This dilemma demands a new approach to overcoming flawed expectations of what “marketing magicians” can do. CEOs need a clear path to help the CMO communicate and deliver the value of marketing.

The Marketing Performance Index is an objective framework for quantifying the impact of Marketing. It tracks the critical metrics for assessing a company's relative brand, demand, and market strength and provides a standardized marketing effectiveness score. This framework also integrates program efforts better, helps connect the brand to demand, and measures ongoing performance throughout the buyer's journey and the customer's lifetime.

How did we get here when much of what marketers do is objectively measurable?

Apart from pipeline creation, marketing is often judged very subjective and sometimes randomly. Suppose you think about the typical marketing sub-functions besides demand generation – product marketing, brand marketing, partner marketing, marketing communications, marketing operations, web marketing, etc. – most. In that case, if not all, these specialties are largely misunderstood. Non-marketers don’t fully understand what success looks like in these areas, can’t distinguish between best practices and poor ones, and thus apply a subjective lens to anything they can’t comprehend or precisely quantify.

It’s no wonder many marketers are always explaining, defending, and trying to prove value.

Let’s think about marketing at a higher level as orchestrating three primary objectives that are critical to any business:

1. Getting customers, by creating a healthy pipeline

2. Growing market share, by building market presence

3. Keeping and growing customers by building brand strength.

The Marketing Performance Index (MPI) is based on well-respected industry benchmarks, and extensive peer review,. The MPI is a standardized methodology that marketers can use to measure and improve overall marketing performance in a way that stakeholders can understand and accept.

The graphic below summarizes the 24 key performance metrics, comprising eight market presence, eight brand strength, and eight pipeline health metrics for tracking the areas that most influence marketing’s contribution to company growth and success.

In the next installment of the series, I'll explain these variables in detail: why I selected them, what success looks like, and which tactics can improve performance in each of the 24 metrics.