Marketing teams today are overwhelmed with data. Dashboards are cluttered, reports are bloated, and leaders often struggle to answer one simple question:
"Which of these numbers actually matter?"
The truth is, not all metrics are created equal. If you want to prove marketing's value (and improve it) you need to focus on the KPIs (key performance indicators) that tie directly to business outcomes.
In this article, we’ll walk through 10 essential marketing KPIs that help you measure what matters most: the impact of marketing on revenue. And more importantly, how to use those numbers to drive meaningful action.
Making KPI Insights Actionable—DIY or With a Coach
At IMPACT, we guide businesses through the Endless Customers System™—a principle-based framework built to align sales and marketing, build trust, and grow revenue. We live and breathe these ideas every day, so you could say we’re a little biased.
But here’s the thing: you don’t need to hire us to put these ideas to work.
Every tactic, example, and KPI in this article is actionable on your own. Our goal is simple—give you the plan and the confidence to succeed whether you partner with us or take the DIY route.
If this guidance sparks results for your team, we’ll call that a win.
What Makes a KPI Worth Tracking?
Before we dive into the list, let’s clarify what makes a KPI truly valuable.
The best marketing KPIs are tied to revenue. They help you draw a straight line from what marketing does to what the business earns. They're also actionable, meaning they help you make smarter, faster decisions. And most importantly, they reflect real buyer behavior.
A great KPI gives you insight into your buyer’s journey and the effectiveness of your strategy. If it doesn’t inform a decision, it doesn’t belong on your dashboard. With that said, here’s our list of the 10 most important marketing KPIs you should be tracking.
1. Marketing-Attributed RevenueWhy it’s important: Marketing-attributed revenue is the most direct way to demonstrate your impact on business growth. This KPI tells leadership exactly how much revenue can be traced back to marketing efforts. It also helps you make data-driven investment decisions, identifying which campaigns and tactics generate the highest return.
What to do: Use a multi-touch attribution model to track how each piece of content, ad, or event contributes to a closed deal. Make sure your CRM and marketing automation tools are tightly integrated so no interactions fall through the cracks. Clean your contact data regularly and collaborate with sales to verify attribution accuracy. Then, build reports that visualize which efforts are generating the most revenue and where you should double down.
2. Influenced Pipeline
Why it’s important: Marketing’s role doesn’t stop at lead generation. Influenced pipeline shows how marketing supports opportunities even after they enter the sales process. This metric is especially valuable when deals originate elsewhere but are accelerated by marketing interactions.
What to do: Monitor touchpoints that occur after a deal enters the pipeline. These could be viewing a case study, attending a webinar, or engaging with email nurture content. Add campaign tracking to your CRM stages to flag these contributions. Use this data to prove that marketing doesn’t just drive awareness, but it also plays a key role in moving deals forward and boosting win rates.
3. Sales-Qualified Leads (SQLs)
Why it’s important: SQLs measure how many leads marketing is delivering that sales actually wants to talk to. This alignment is critical. If marketing is focused on volume over quality, it can waste time and damage credibility. A strong SQL pipeline reflects shared definitions and better collaboration.
What to do: Collaborate with sales to define SQL criteria. This might include demographics like company size or industry, plus behavioral indicators like meeting requests or pricing page visits. Use lead scoring to prioritize these prospects and build dashboards that track conversion from MQL to SQL. Over time, refine your content strategy and targeting to improve quality, not just quantity.
4. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Why it’s important: CAC shows whether your marketing investments are sustainable. If it costs more to acquire a customer than they’re worth to your business, you’ll have trouble scaling. A rising CAC can also signal poor targeting, inefficient channels, or bloated spending.
What to do: Calculate CAC by dividing total marketing and sales costs by the number of new customers in the same time period. Break it down by campaign or channel to understand where you’re overspending. Experiment with changes to targeting, ad creative, or offers to improve conversion rates and lower costs. Consider investing in automation or better sales enablement tools to shorten the sales cycle and increase efficiency.
5. Content-Assisted Conversions
Why it’s important: Your content attracts leads, and it can also help close deals. Buyers interact with multiple assets before they make a decision. Tracking content-assisted conversions shows how well your content supports the entire journey.
What to do: Use attribution tools to identify which blogs, videos, or downloads were viewed between lead creation and close. Look for patterns in high-performing content and create more of what works. Repackage proven assets for different channels and stages in the funnel. When you connect content to conversions, you can justify content investments and sharpen your editorial focus.
6. Lead-to-Customer Conversion Rate
Why it’s important: This KPI measures how efficiently your leads are turning into customers. A strong conversion rate reflects effective messaging, smooth handoffs, and good qualification. A weak rate could signal misalignment, bad-fit traffic, or a leaky funnel.
What to do: Track the total number of leads generated and compare it to the number of customers acquired over a specific period. Analyze by campaign, source, and persona to uncover where things are breaking down. Improve your forms, refine your CTAs, and enhance sales enablement materials to support better follow-through. Test lead scoring adjustments to ensure sales is getting the right people at the right time.
7. Website Engagement by Page Type
Why it’s important: Your website is often your best salesperson. Engagement data reveals which sections are attracting and retaining visitors and which are falling flat. Understanding how buyers interact with awareness vs. decision-stage content helps you prioritize updates.
What to do: Segment pages into categories like blog content, product pages, and pricing. Track time on page, bounce rate, and scroll depth. Tools like Hotjar, Lucky Orange, or Microsoft Clarity offer visual insights through heatmaps and session recordings. Optimize high-impact pages first, and make iterative updates based on real behavior.
8. Self-Reported Attribution
Why it’s important: Not everything can be tracked with pixels. Self-reported attribution fills in the gaps that traditional tracking can’t cover, like podcast mentions, in-person events, or word-of-mouth referrals. It gives you a human perspective on what’s working.
What to do: Add an open-text field to your high-intent forms that asks, “How did you hear about us?” Make it required. Review the responses weekly and tag common themes. If one source keeps appearing, like a Slack group or influencer, explore new content or partnerships to amplify it. This qualitative insight often reveals what quantitative data misses.
9. Time to Revenue
Why it’s important: Time to revenue tracks how long it takes for a lead to turn into a paying customer. The faster the path, the healthier your pipeline. A shorter time to revenue also improves cash flow, forecasting accuracy, and customer satisfaction.
What to do: Measure the number of days between a lead’s first interaction and their deal closing. Analyze by source and segment to identify where delays occur. Are there too many steps? Is the handoff slow? Is your sales content underperforming? Use insights to streamline your process and remove bottlenecks.
10. Video Watch Time on Decision-Stage Content
Why it’s important: Video gives buyers a deeper understanding of your product and people. When done well, it increases clarity, reduces friction, and accelerates decisions. Watch time shows whether your content is landing and where interest drops off.
What to do: Focus on decision-stage videos like product walkthroughs, pricing explainers, or team introductions. Track watch time, completion rates, and drop-off points with tools like Vidyard. Use that feedback to refine scripts and improve clarity. Embed top performers on landing pages and in email sequences to maximize their influence.
What to Do With These KPIs
Having KPIs isn’t enough. You need to use them to drive action.
Build a shared dashboard between marketing and sales. Review it together on a regular cadence. Use it to spot trends, remove friction, and prioritize what’s working.
If a KPI doesn’t influence a decision, remove it. The goal is clarity and alignment.
Start with these 10 KPIs, and tailor your dashboard over time. The right mix will depend on your goals, business model, and buyer journey.
Data is the Foundation for Strategy
Data is only as powerful as the decisions it drives. When you focus on KPIs that align with revenue and buyer behavior, you stop guessing and start leading.
These 10 KPIs are a strong foundation for any marketing team looking to build alignment with sales, drive smarter decisions, and show real impact.
The thing that drives impact is your strategy. That’s why we created the Endless Customers System™. Not only is it a strategy that drives results, but it also builds trust and helps you become the most known and trusted brand in your market.
Would you like to build the trust that drives your KPIs? Let’s talk about how coaching can help you connect the dots between content, data, and revenue.
