Measuring the ROI of outsourced marketing.
Outsourced marketing shouldn’t be judged by how much work gets done. A packed content calendar and a monthly report might look impressive, but they don’t automatically mean your marketing is working.
The real question is whether your investment is helping you achieve the commercial goals that matter to your business. Let’s explore that.
Universal list of metrics.
What are you trying to achieve?
There’s no universal list of marketing metrics. What you measure should depend on what you’re trying to achieve.
If generating new business is the priority, you might look at qualified enquiries, leads, opportunities and sales. If you’re focused on improving performance, conversion rates can show whether more of your website visitors or prospects are taking action.
You might also track revenue, customer acquisition cost and website traffic, depending on your objectives and marketing activity.
The important thing is connecting these metrics to your wider business goals. More traffic is useful, for example, but only if that traffic is reaching the right people and ultimately contributing to opportunities and revenue.
If you want to see ROI movement within a wider growth strategy, we can help.
How do you calculate marketing ROI?
A simple way to calculate marketing ROI is:
ROI = (Revenue generated – Marketing cost) ÷ Marketing cost × 100
So, if you spent £10,000 on marketing and generated £30,000 in attributable revenue, your ROI would be 200%.
But real marketing isn’t always that tidy, right? Customers rarely discover a business through one channel, click one link and immediately buy. They might see an advert, read your content, have some tea, visit your website several times, go on a spirit journey, and then speak to your sales team before ever becoming a customer.
That’s why good reporting looks at the bigger picture instead of pretending every pound of revenue can always be attributed to one activity.
Look beyond vanity metrics.
Likes, followers and impressions can tell you something about your marketing, but they shouldn’t be the whole story.
A post getting thousands of impressions doesn’t necessarily mean it generated a single customer. And in the same vein, gaining followers isn’t particularly useful if none of them are potential buyers.
Look instead at what your marketing is creating:
- Leads
- Qualified enquiries
- Sales opportunities
- Customers
- Revenue
These metrics give you a much clearer view of whether your marketing is contributing to growth.
Set clear KPIs before you start.
The best time to decide how you’ll measure success is before the work begins.
Agree your objectives, establish a baseline and decide which KPIs actually matter. Then set a regular reporting rhythm so you can see what’s changing.
And don’t be afraid to adjust. If something isn’t working, your marketing team should be asking why and changing the plan accordingly.
Need a more agile team?
Hope for the best.
Make your marketing accountable.
Outsourcing shouldn’t mean handing over your marketing and hoping for the best. A good partner should give you visibility over what’s happening, why it’s happening and what it’s achieving.
If you want a marketing team focused on commercial results rather than vanity metrics, let’s talk.
Get in touch