Crowdsourcing the most important metric in marketing

Almost one week ago, Sangram Vajre, co-founder of Terminus and host of the #FlipMyFunnel podcast, posed a very simple question: “What’s the one most important metric in marketing?” 

He received over 160 responses and counting, and there was a big consensus behind revenue. Other answers included “connection to your brand and business” (Karen Steele, CMO, Near), but most respondents were heavily focused on what would once have looked like sales goals. “Marketing-sourced revenue and pipeline velocity,” said Chris Walker, CEO, Refine Labs.

Indeed, Ashwin Vasudevan, Director of Marketing at KBX, went a step further: “Marketers need to take on sales job before doing marketing jobs — pipeline growth trajectory and ultimately closed pipeline deals (i.e. revenue in the door) should be the key metrics.”

Some, of course, couldn’t resist naming more than one. Prem K., Head of Marketing at Vasil Search, selected revenue, but also conversions and “a quantified Customer Satisfaction Score — NPS, CSAT, CES, Trustpilot scores, whatever. Heck, even Playstore reviews could count :)”

And he couldn’t resist adding: “The one your CEO likes the most.”

Why we care. Marketers talk about metrics all the time, especially as demonstrating ROI becomes ever more important. You might think there’s disagreement about what the most important metric is, as there’s so much debate around the topic. But when asked the straight question, there’s a consensus. It’s all about revenue.