B2B marketers are awash in data that helps them gauge performance, but many struggle to draw a clear line between their initiatives and business outcomes. A lack of clear evidence leads to skepticism from sales teams and executives, potentially resulting in reduced budgets and misaligned strategies.
The question becomes: How can marketers use data to clearly showcase their impact on the bottom line?
Our recent webinar, “Measuring What Matters: Using Dashboards & Data to Uncover Pipeline & Revenue” brought together a panel of experts:
- Adam Kaiser, VP of Brand & Growth Marketing, 6sense
- Ellie Sawdy, Global Growth Marketing Manager, Syniti
- Nick Salvatoriello, Director of Partnerships & Strategic Alliances, 2X
The trio discussed how Ellie and Syniti have been able to prove the impact and ROI of their efforts with help from 2X and 6sense.
Watch the full conversation or get our takeaways below.
Building Effective Data-Driven Dashboards
Ellie shared Syniti’s journey in overcoming these data challenges(which are all too familiar to many B2B organizations):
- Data scattered across multiple systems (6sense, HubSpot, Salesforce)
- Difficulty in accurately understanding and interpreting data from various sources
- A fuzzy picture of marketing’s revenue impact
- Difficulty using business intelligence tools to create useful data visualization and analysis
6sense and 2X helped Syniti build comprehensive dashboards showing how marketing strategies are influencing accounts and directly impacting the sales pipeline. These dashboards integrate data from multiple sources and include the following components:
- Pipeline influenced and accelerated
- Closed-won revenue from influenced accounts
- Active campaigns
- Reach and engagement metrics
- Generation and performance of 6sense Qualified Accounts (6QAs)
The dashboards visually communicate the value of marketing’s efforts to various stakeholders, from sales teams interested in top accounts and conversion rates, to executives looking at overall business impact.
Building effective dashboards is an iterative process. It requires ongoing collaboration between marketing, sales, and data teams to ensure the information presented remains relevant and actionable. As Ellie noted, “It’s not set in stone. If you find that you’re not using one of the metrics, change it out to something else.”
Key Metrics that Drive Revenue
Ellie and Nick went deeper into the dashboard metrics that drive informed decision making for Syinti.
Pipeline Influenced and Accelerated
Pipeline influenced and accelerated measures how marketing activities contribute to moving potential deals through the sales funnel. This metric is particularly crucial for companies with long, complex sales cycles. It helps marketers demonstrate their impact even when they’re not directly responsible for closing deals, showing how they contribute to:
- Building interest from target accounts
- Warming up leads
- Nurturing relationships
- Moving prospects closer to a purchase decision
This data clearly shows the impact of marketing spend and helps optimize strategies to better support the sales process.
Closed-Won Revenue
The ultimate measure of success in sales and marketing, closed-won revenue represents the actual money brought into the business from combined sales and marketing efforts. It’s the clearest way to demonstrate ROI to executive leadership. With visibility into which marketing initiatives led to closed deals, teams can identify their most effective strategies and allocate resources effectively.
Active Campaigns
This metric tracks the quantity and variety of marketing initiatives currently in progress. Ellie said this is important to show sales and leadership, “We are going all guns blazing; getting stuff out there to your accounts and clients.”
Including this in your dashboard provides insight into the breadth and diversity of marketing efforts, and also supports in resource allocation and workload management for marketing teams.
Reach and Engagement
Reach and engagement metrics provide a real-time snapshot of how effectively marketing campaigns are capturing and maintaining the attention of target accounts. It includes metrics such as:
- Email open rates
- Ad click-throughs
- Content downloads
- Website visits
- Social media interactions
Ellie says these show sellers, “how their accounts are being targeted, what communications they’re seeing, how they’re progressing, and how we’re moving the needle on these accounts.”
They offer invaluable insights into which types of content and channels are most effective for different segments of the audience.
For sales teams, this information provides context for their outreach efforts, allowing them to tailor their approach based on the prospect’s level of engagement with specific marketing materials. Plus, tracking engagement can reveal trends in audience behavior and preferences, informing future marketing strategies.
6sense Qualified Accounts (6QAs)
The 6QA is a metric specific to users of the 6sense platform. It identifies high potential prospects based on both fit (how well they match your ideal customer profile) and intent (signals that indicate they’re actively in the market for your solution).
As Adam said, “Wouldn’t sales and marketing be a whole lot easier if we just knew who was looking to buy our product?”
6QAs help sales and marketing teams focus their efforts on accounts that are most likely to convert. By prioritizing these accounts, companies can use their resources more efficiently and potentially shorten sales cycles. This metric is particularly valuable in aligning sales and marketing efforts around the most promising opportunities.
Aligning Sales and Marketing Through Data
Great dashboards matter, a lot. Consolidating information from various systems bridges the traditional gap between the two departments for a more unified approach.
This level of transparency allows marketing to demonstrate its value to sales by providing clear, actionable insights. The dashboards drill down to the account level (check out the 27 minute mark), offering sales teams a granular view of each target account’s activities and engagement levels — enabling sales representatives to prioritize their efforts more effectively and tailor their outreach strategies based on where each account stands in the buying journey.
Best Practices for Reporting and Adoption
To maximize the impact of data-driven alignment, the speakers shared several best practices:
- Regular Updates: Make sure dashboards are updated in real-time or frequently to provide the most current information.
- Accessibility: Keep dashboards easily accessible to all relevant team members.
- Training and Education: Invest time in training both sales and marketing teams on how to interpret and use the data effectively.
- Continuous Improvement: Regularly solicit feedback from users and iterate on the dashboards.
- Collaborative Approach: Foster a culture of collaboration between sales and marketing teams, using data as a common language.
Conclusion
B2B marketers can use data to prove their influence on revenue and align more closely with sales teams. By focusing on key metrics and presenting them in accessible, clean, and user-friendly dashboards, marketing teams demonstrate their value and drive more informed decision making across the organization. The best practices shared in this webinar offer a roadmap for turning raw data into actionable insights that drive growth.
