Marketing metrics

FinTech marketing challenges – insights from industry roundtable

We’re at a crossroads, it’s called H2. The numbers aren’t where they need to be, do you persevere or pivot. Persevere and have confidence in your current direction, pivot to respond to the immediate external pressures, or take a moment to step back and reassess. Re-evaluate your current state of play and your goals, and decide whether your strategy is supporting the business goals.

With so many pressures on FinTech marketing leaders right now, what’s your plan?

I recently attended an industry roundtable and wanted to share some of the insights into the key challenges FinTech marketers are facing right now.

Implementation of AI in Marketing

The roundtable discussed the implementation of AI, focusing on the “how” and “where” of integrating this technology. While there is a clear understanding of AI’s availability and potential, the main challenges lie in navigating its vast landscape. Data security and regulatory compliance are critical to any marketing initiative in financial services, given the importance of data access, data sharing, and the protection of proprietary information.

Adapting to Market Changes

Given the current turbulent market conditions, agility in marketing strategies was a key topic. There is a notable gap in the understanding of agile marketing, highlighting the need for education on proactive adaptation rather than reactive measures. The discussion underscored the importance of strategic decision-making—knowing when to pivot and when to persevere. Despite the necessity for immediate results, participants acknowledged that these expectations often misalign with market realities. Budget constraints for testing new strategies remain a significant challenge, but there was consensus on the need for bold investments and calculated risks, alongside smaller-scale testing.

Market Performance and Inbound Inquiries

The first half of the year has seen most businesses struggle, with a notable decline in inbound inquiries. This situation has led to a reassessment and realignment of targets for the second half of the year.

Adoption of MarTech and SalesTech

Adoption rates for marketing technology (MarTech) and sales technology (SalesTech) remain low. There was a robust discussion on the necessity of high-quality data and system interoperability. The group explored strategies to encourage sales teams to adopt new technologies, emphasising the need to clearly demonstrate the value these tools bring to their processes. One innovative approach discussed was the potential launch of a pilot campaign to align marketing and sales teams, ensuring a shared understanding of technology benefits.

Marketing and Sales Alignment

A recurring concern was the inefficiency of lead conversion. A significant proportion of leads handed over to sales teams fail to progress, raising questions about alignment between marketing and sales. With only about 10% of leads converting, the discussion centred on strategies to maintain engagement with the remaining 90% and the cost implications of generating these leads. Effective collaboration between marketing and sales is essential to improve lead nurturing and conversion rates.

At Bright, we help businesses who are at a point when they want to see improvements in their effectiveness, efficiency or engagement but not sure how to move the dial. We believe that it’s the way your teams work that underpins your ability to adapt to change and drive results. 

By adopting agile marketing principles and practices, you can transform marketing within your organisation to boost collaboration, ensure continuous improvement and the become more empowered to demonstrate the value of marketing to the rest of the business.

If you’re interested in learning how to upskill your marketing team, contact us about our FinTech Agile Marketing Training.

August 1, 2024 Lydia Kirby Agile Marketing In Practice, Fintech, Marketing Efficiency, Marketing metrics

Communicating marketing value to the C-Suite: A strategic and agile approach for B2B Marketers

In the dynamic landscape of B2B marketing, securing investment from the C-suite hinges on effectively communicating the value of marketing efforts. Senior marketers in mid to large firms must demonstrate a balance between short-term demand generation and long-term brand building while showcasing resilience and adaptability.

The balanced approach: Brand building and demand generation

To gain C-suite buy-in, illustrate a strategy that balances immediate needs with sustainable growth. Short-term demand generation drives sales and meets targets, whereas brand building enhances market positioning and fosters customer loyalty. This dual approach is akin to a balanced diet: quick fixes might offer immediate energy, but long-term vitality requires a sustainable approach.

Effective communication strategies

To communicate marketing value effectively, marketers should:

Align with business objectives: Ensure marketing strategies are directly linked to business goals. This alignment helps the C-suite see how marketing initiatives drive company success.
Utilise data-driven insights: Present concrete data that highlights the impact of marketing campaigns on lead generation, conversion rates, and ROI. Data-driven insights lend credibility and demonstrate tangible benefits.
Showcase success stories: Highlight real-life examples where marketing efforts have led to significant business outcomes. These success stories resonate with executives and illustrate practical benefits.
Focus on KPI: Track and present key performance indicators (KPIs) that demonstrate both short-term and long-term value. These include customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV), brand awareness, and engagement rates.

Understanding stakeholder needs

Different stakeholders in the C-suite have varying requirements and priorities. Tailor your communication to address these needs effectively:

Chief Financial Officer (CFO): The CFO is focused on financial efficiency and return on investment. Highlight metrics like CAC, ROI, and LTV to demonstrate the financial impact of marketing activities. Show how marketing investments contribute to cost savings and revenue growth and establish agile budgeting to allow for adaptability.
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO): The CRO prioritises revenue generation and sales performance. Emphasise metrics such as lead quality, conversion rates, and sales pipeline growth. Take a RevOps approach and showcase how marketing efforts drive high-quality leads and support the sales team’s objectives.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO): The CEO looks at the overall strategic vision and long-term growth. Present a balanced view of short-term results and long-term brand building. Highlight how marketing aligns with the company’s strategic goals and supports sustainable growth.

Demonstrating value over time

Understanding and tracking the right KPIs is essential for demonstrating marketing value over time. Essential KPIs include:

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Measures the cost of acquiring a new customer. A lower CAC indicates more efficient marketing.
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): Estimates the total revenue a business can expect from a single customer account. A higher LTV signifies greater long-term value and is influenced by retention and expansion metrics.
Brand awareness: Metrics such as brand recognition, and social media engagement gauge the effectiveness of brand-building activities.
Funnel metrics: Track performance at each stage of the buyer journey:
a) Awareness stage: Impressions, click-through rates (CTR), and engagement rates.
b) Consideration stage: Lead generation, cost per lead (CPL), and lead quality scores.
c) Decision stage: Conversion rates, sales-qualified leads (SQLs), and win rates and value.
Retention and expansion metrics: Key for understanding customer loyalty and growth potential:
a) Retention rate: Measures the percentage of customers retained over a period.
b) Churn rate: Indicates the percentage of customers lost over a period.
c) Customer expansion: Tracks upsell and cross-sell success rates.
d) Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures customer satisfaction and loyalty, reflecting the long-term impact of brand-building efforts.

6. Avoiding vanity metrics: Vanity metrics, such as social media likes and website traffic, can be misleading as they do not necessarily correlate with business growth. Focus on actionable metrics that provide insights into customer behaviour and business impact.

Addressing budget cuts and resource reduction

Budget cuts and headcount reductions can significantly impact marketing effectiveness. To manage these challenges:

Show consequences with data: Use data to project the business impact of budget cuts, illustrating how reductions might lead to fewer high-quality leads, lower brand engagement, and ultimately affect revenue.
Leverage agile budgeting: Adopt agile budgeting practices that allow for rapid scaling up or down based on market conditions. This approach ensures flexibility without compromising long-term goals.
Avoid tactical short-termism: Balance short-term needs with long-term brand-building activities to avoid focusing solely on immediate results.

Building resilience in marketing teams

In today’s ever-changing business environment, resilience is key. Resilient marketing teams adapt to shifts and support evolving objectives, reflecting positively in performance. Strategies include:

Embrace change: Foster a culture open to change and quick to adapt. Agile marketing practices, such as regular sprint reviews and iterative planning, help teams stay flexible and responsive.
Invest in your team: Continuous professional development ensures your team has the skills needed to navigate new challenges and leverage emerging opportunities.
Foster collaboration: Promote cross-functional teamwork to drive more effective and innovative marketing solutions.

Agile marketing practices

Embed agile marketing practices that are data-driven and focused on continuous improvement because the way your teams work underpins the results you achieve:

Experimentation and learning: Implement a test-and-learn approach to discover what works best and iterate based on findings.
Data-driven decision making: Use data from experiments to refine strategies and demonstrate business impact.
Collaborative cuts: Work with the C-suite to make informed, collaborative decisions about budget cuts, ensuring they are strategic and support long-term goals.

And finally, lead by example

Demonstrate a growth mindset, take the feedback given and work with it. B2B marketers must adopt a strategic approach to effectively communicate their value to the C-suite. By aligning marketing initiatives with business objectives, leveraging data-driven insights, focusing on meaningful KPIs, and adopting agile practices, marketers can secure the necessary investment for success. Understanding the specific needs of different stakeholders, avoiding vanity metrics, and demonstrating the tangible impact of marketing activities will ensure the C-suite recognises marketing as a critical driver of business growth.

For more insights and agile marketing strategies, explore Bright’s Bright Ideas. By showcasing the strategic value of marketing, senior marketers can elevate their role and drive enduring success.

July 22, 2024 Zoe Merchant Marketing Effectiveness, Marketing Efficiency, Marketing metrics, Marketing Strategy

Much debate continues in the B2B world around the value of brand marketing. While some organisations believe you should invest in it, the results are more challenging to quantify than demand generation campaigns, which deliver leads for products and services.

According to a study by BCG*, 99% of B2B marketers agree that trust in their brand is essential. Yet of the companies studied, 44% allocate less than a third of their budget to brand marketing. Reasons for low investment include key stakeholders not seeing the impact and the inability to measure the value.

*Source: 2021 BCG B2B Brand Marketing Study

However, in the same study, when companies were segmented based on their marketing and brand maturity, a correlation was found that indicates that increased marketing maturity leads to higher returns on brand marketing spend. 

The bottom line is that B2B companies that underinvest in brand marketing or invest without a strategic plan are selling themselves short.

This leads us to the question of how can they develop their marketing maturity?

The main challenge the organisations face is looking at marketing spending from a long-term perspective. Creating a long-lasting impact in people’s minds is beyond logos and taglines; it’s about regular conversations with them, building trust and then delivering on their promise.

Brand marketing involves crafting a cohesive brand identity and messaging strategy to promote the brand through various channels like advertising, content marketing, and public relations. However, for the ecosystem to function effectively, brand marketing must be complemented by high-quality products/services and employee satisfaction. These elements contribute to positive brand experiences, fostering customer loyalty and advocacy. This holistic approach strengthens the brand’s reputation, enhances customer trust, and ultimately drives business success.

Regardless of the budget allocated, many organisations still grapple with prioritising short-term or incomplete metrics, leading to uncertainty about the true impact of their marketing efforts. As a result, they may question the effectiveness of their strategies or allocate resources ineffectively, hindering their ability to achieve desired outcomes.

To solve this, we recommend organisations look at the Balanced Scorecard. It provides a useful tool for translating strategy into measures to communicate a company’s vision. Harvard Business Ideas voted it the most influential idea ever presented.

The Balanced Scorecard.

Developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan of Harvard University and Dr. David Norton, the Balanced Scorecard revolutionised organisational performance measurement. Traditionally, companies focused solely on short-term financial metrics, but the Balanced Scorecard introduced non-financial strategic measures for a more holistic view. Kaplan and Norton’s approach, detailed in various publications, emphasises the importance of balancing financial indicators with measures of long-term success. They argue that while financial metrics reflect past performance, a comprehensive approach is needed to guide future value creation in the information age, prioritising investments in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation.

It starts with four perspectives, i.e. financial, customer-centric, internal processes, and organisational capacity. It asks the organisations to define their goals across these aspects, plan a strategy to achieve them, and then determine the metrics to measure the success.

If your company also focuses on or values another perspective, it must be included in the scorecard.

It sounds simple and intuitive. However, the most critical aspect is establishing a relationship among all these. For example, you need to invest in your internal processes to deliver a quality product or service to your customers and enable you to achieve financial performance. This allows you to define your goals and plan your actions according to them, and then it’s essential to pick the metrics based on these goals and actions. 

Let’s take an example of Company A and see how it can use the Balanced Scorecard to achieve its goals:

These metrics provide a comprehensive view of the SaaS provider’s performance. A strong financial performance, driven by ARR growth and healthy CLV, reflects effective marketing strategies in acquiring and retaining customers. Positive customer metrics, such as high NPS and CLV, demonstrate the brand’s ability to deliver value and build loyalty.

Efficient internal processes ensure that marketing efforts are optimised for maximum impact while investing in learning and growth opportunities for employees, which fosters innovation and keeps the brand competitive. Moreover, by monitoring marketing-specific metrics, the SaaS provider can gauge the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, optimise resource allocation, and enhance brand awareness and visibility in the market. This integrated approach ensures that marketing initiatives contribute to financial success and strengthen the brand’s reputation and market position over time.

In conclusion, as B2B companies navigate the evolving marketing landscape, embracing the Balanced Scorecard offers a strategic compass for long-term success, enabling them to build enduring brand value through consistent, trust-building conversations with their audience.

May 8, 2024 Tamanna Bhatia Agile Marketing In Practice, Marketing Effectiveness, Marketing metrics

Data…Data everywhere. What’s the right way to approach your reporting?

Digital marketers are experiencing an “issue” at the moment. We have a substantial amount of data to analyse and use to our benefit. Definitely not a bad problem to have, as you would much rather have too much data than not enough.

Taking Google Analytics as an example, GA has a staggering 150 default metrics, which can be viewed through over 100 various dimensions. That is just the default settings, and does not include any advanced views, filters or implementations you may well want to setup.

Looking at social media, Facebook analytics exports a whopping seven spreadsheets with over ten columns of data, while Twitter analytics exports include up to forty columns of data.

That’s a lot of data to sift through! This can make it exceptionally difficult to choose one, or even a few, KPIs to really focus on.

You would think having access to such a wide range of data would make our marketing strategies easier, and this is generally true for larger companies who are able to outsource their data analysis to data science experts. These companies have indeed prospered, but the smaller businesses tend to struggle with where to start with this seemingly insurmountable mound of data.

In smaller businesses, resources tend to be much tighter and the luxury of spare time is sparse. The result of this is that employees don’t tend to digest the data, explore trends and ask questions. Instead, employees get into a routine of running the same reports over and over on a monthly basis, while not gaining much insight into what value the data at hand provides.

This is more common than not among small businesses, but there are steps and mindset changes one can take on to streamline your data reporting, to allow you more time to be inquisitive and find the value needed for your marketing strategies.

Marketing analytics is not rocket science, so don’t treat it as such.

Take A/B testing, also known as split-run testing, for example. It’s been around for what feels like decades now!

Have some ideas on how to improve your email? Go ahead and test it using various test buckets. Looks like our audience prefer our teal button more than our yellow button, great! How about our landing pages? Can we AB test our hero banner? Sure, why not. Let’s nail down what our audience responds best to.

Does A/B testing really represent how your customers respond generally, or just in that current moment they received your content? It’s difficult to tell and is why A/B testing can be so frustrating at times.

The results of the tests can often be inconclusive. Sometimes your test sample is too small to have a statistical weight behind it to make these difficult decisions. Other times, there are factors which are out of your control, that might influence your results, like a website loading speed issue.

The point here, is that A/B testing, or any other form of testing, may not yield the results for what works best from a marketing perspective. Having a controlled environment, like any scientific test, is paramount to obtaining an accurate depiction of your results. However, in Digital Marketing, controlled environments are few and far between.

These methods should not be discarded by any means, but we also need to be cautious when implementing them, because again, marketing is anything but a controlled environment.

Some metrics matter, others don’t.

Now back to those ridiculously large social media analytic reports. Here’s the honest truth: I rarely use even 50% of those metrics. Why?

Well, to begin with, it’s important you know what you are gaining value from when looking at these reports. Many metrics are just slight variations of themselves, or sometimes have very convoluted definitions as to what those metrics are. If they are too similar, or too vague I omit them from my report.

The fear of missing out is the real crux of the issue here. FOMO again.

Reporting on every metric available, due to fear of missing out on something, isn’t the best strategy, because it clouds the real valuable metrics. If a metric isn’t valuable, don’t use it, as it’s only going to make it more difficult for you to spot relevant trends in your data.

Just keep in mind that platforms like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, although they provide you with endless amounts of data to sift through, only you and your business can know what’s really important.

It’s about the ingredients, not the meal.

Before you start cooking up an analytics report, think about the value you are hoping to find in the data. Play devil’s advocate and ask yourself what results you would expect to see if your initial conclusions were wrong.

In doing this, you’ll be much better suited to finding patterns and trends you may not have spotted with your initial conclusion-based approach.

Stop searching for the right answers, and look for the right questions

Question yourself, your approach and your data regularly. If you feel you’re eventually questioning everything, don’t be overwhelmed. You’re doing it right.

The world is changing constantly, along with the platforms we use and HOW we use them. Your perceived concept of the “right answers” may be true one day, and wrong the next.

Keep adapting and be open to change.

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned working with digital marketing data, it’s that you have to be a perpetual sceptic. Of the metrics, of your reporting, of yourself.

December 18, 2018 Sian Heaphy Marketing metrics 23 comments

3 key google analytics tips to impress your boss

In this blog, I will take you through the 3 best analytics tips I’ve been given to track website performance and impress your boss. Make good use of them.

Tip 1: Customised dashboards

It can be easy to get overwhelmed with data from Google Analytics but your colleagues are still expecting you to create amazing reports, to share analysis with them and to spot opportunities or issues. Relatively unknown but very useful, Google Analytics offers customised dashboard to help you monitor your performance.

You can easily use customised dashboards for social media, for SEO, traffic acquisition, branding and content marketing… You just need to have a look and choose what you need.

They are free and accessible in just a click. Since every business is different, the monitoring objectives are, so you will need to make some changes or get inspired to develop your ideal table edge.

1. Select the customised dashboard you want (you can also use the search bar to look for relevant terms)

2. Click Import

3. Select the website you want to monitor (in select a view)

4. Click create

Tip 2: Customised alerts

It can also be frustrating not to be instantly aware of what happens in real-time on your website. You cannot afford to spend every minute of your day on Google Analytics trying to to spot unusual behaviours. The ability to spot in real time a particularly successful campaign or an issue could be invaluable

After identifying the key performance indicators, you can associate a tolerance level to be told when there is an unusual behaviour on your website. Whenever the tolerance level is reached, Google Analytics will notify you and you can take the required actions to change the situation.

1. Click on Admin

2. Under View, click on “Custom alerts”

3. Click New alert

4. Create your alert and click save

Get some inspiration with the 5 examples of customised alerts by Google