The Marketing Dashboard imperative

Today it’s imperative that marketers have metrics on the results of their marketing spend. Not only does it allow them to prove their value, but it also enables them to refine their allocations of spend as they see results.

In my podcast interview (go to the iTunes Store and search on “demand generation.”) with Jon Miller, VP, Marketing at Marketo, Jon shared their Secret Sauce for Lead Generation and showed me how they use their dashboard in the manner below.

Is one source (blog for instance) a more cost-effective source of leads? Add more resources. Is something not working well, like PR? Take money away. Over time you can refine your marketing spend for optimal results. This is why a marketing dashboard is an imperative for B2B sellers.

Below is a sample marketing dashboard I found online. (More than happy to give credit, but could find no author info on the site.)  It contains the right columns and metrics, so compare it to what you are using.

I also created a really good one similar to the one below for Aplicor, but I cannot find it right now. You can also use a simple spreadsheet like the one below or make something more specific.

The key is to track the cost (cost per inquiry) and productivity (% of qualified leads/sales ready leads), as well as the cost of each channel. This enables you to track effectiveness of marketing spend.

Do you have examples of your marketing dashboards?  Send them to jeff.ogden at findnewcustomers.com.  I’d love to see what you are doing.  We also welcome your comments and reply to every one. Retweets are nice too.