Communicating ROI of Content Marketing by Mukkul Dasgupta

Communicating ROI of
content marketing
Mukkul Dasgupta
Head of Insights APAC @ LinkedIn Marketing Solutions

“I don’t understand how you help me (personally) hit my
goals”
“You all look busy but I don’t what you’re doing”
“Quality of leads is poor”
“Quantity of good quality leads is low”
“Customers are not familiar with our brand or products /
services and that causes me to waste time in sales calls”
“Why can’t you just pivot what you’re doing to help me
close this deal now?”
Objective
How do we counter some
of these objections?

DOING good work =
Clark Kent / Diana Prince
COMMUNICATING that work =
Superman / Wonder Woman

WHY DOESN'T YOUR ORGANIZATION MEASURE THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) OF ITS
CONTENT MARKETING EFFORTS?
Why B2B Marketers Don't Measure Content Marketing ROI
G O A L S & M E T R I C S
No formal justification required
We need an easier way to do this
We don’t know how to do this
Too time-consuming
Other
Unsure
38%
38%
27%
21%
23%
3%

Always start from the end
“What do
senior
executives
care about?”

What do senior executives care about?
Revenue & Profits
How is marketing driving
revenue and profits?
CEO SALES VP CMO
Revenue / Sales
How is marketing
generating demand and
leads for my team?
Optimizing impact
How can I go from a
cost-center to a
revenue driver?

“If you can’t measure it,
you can’t improve it.”
P E T E R D R U C K E R

As a CEO, I would like to see …
WHERE SHOULD I INVEST TO DRIVE REVENUE AND PROFITS?
CEO
MARKETING
GENERATED
SALES
CLOSED
DEAL
SIZE
TIME TO
CLOSE
ROI
Marketing
influenced revenue
YES YES Rs. W A wks #%
Sales owned
revenue
NO YES Rs. X B wks #%
Marketing owned
revenue
YES NO Rs. Y C wks #%
OVERALL Rs. Z D wks #%

Sales & Marketing are
often misaligned
Sales & Marketing look at people through different lens
Sales thinks about accounts and individuals,
Marketing thinks about broad audiences
Sales & Marketing work sequentially, not in coordination
Sales is focused on moving prospects along the pipeline, whereas
Marketing is focused on generating leads (and dumping them off).
Sales & Marketing rely on different datasets
Sales is focused on CRM, Marketing uses a large and fragmented marketing
technology stack (all of which end up in Excel eventually)

Source: Average LinkedIn data for large tech companies including: Amazon, Cisco, Dell-EMC, Google, HPE, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle,
Salesforce from March to September 2017 (global impressions based on Sponsored Content, Off Platform & Sponsored InMail)
21M+
Members reached
by Marketing
only 34%
of new sales relationships
have been Influenced
by Marketing
349k+
New Connections
recorded by Sales Team
Sales & Marketing are
often misaligned

Sales
10 minute Marketing update at Sales meetings
1-2
min
KPI summary:
• What is your Marketing Influenced revenue YTD/QTD
• What is your pacing of your lead gen relative to your sales cycle
3-4
min
Demand Management details
• Statistics on handover of marketing leads to Sales vs. SLAs,
including feedback on MQLs, response / closing times, attributes
of better leads, etc.
2-3
min
Anatomy of a 'real’ opportunity
• Tell story of a specific account: company, leads generated, buying
committee profiles, etc.
• What was their journey: what actions were taken by both
marketing & sales, how many days per step, what comments, etc.
1-2
min
Q&A
• Provide any updates from marketing,
• Discuss improvements (e.g. where did SLAs break down & why),
• Table joint decisions that need to be taken, etc.
• What revenue has marketing
influenced?
• How am I pacing towards my
quotas?
• What is the quality of leads?
• What actions do I need to take?
What Sales cares about …
As a Sales VP, I would like to know …
WHERE ARE MY LEADS & DEMAND COMING FROM?

KPI Summary
HOW AM I PACING TOWARDS MY QUOTA?
x%
YTD / QTD
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov
Actual Target
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov
Actual Target
Marketing Influenced Revenue MQL Pacing SQL Pacing

Demand management details
QUANTITY OF LEADS: HOW DOES MARKETING’S ACTIVITIES SUPPORT ME?
METRIC
CURRENT
PERIOD
PREVIOUS
PERIOD
OUTREACH
TIME
OUTREACH
SLA STATUS NOTES
# of Marketing
Qualified Leads
(MQLs)
Y Z #
…
…
# of Sales Qualified
Leads (SQLs) Y Z #
…
…
# of Opportunities
Won (Deals closed) Y Z #
…
…
X
X
X
n%
n%

Marketing Qualified Leads Demographics
QUALITY OF LEADS
Top performing Bottom performing Notes
Industry
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• …
• …
Function
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• …
• …
Seniority
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• …
• …
Geography
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• …
• …
Other …
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• xyz (#%)
• …
• …

Anatomy of an opportunity – leads
MAKE THE LEADS ‘HUMAN’
Buying Committee
• Name: …
• Title: …
• Division: …
• Supportive: …
• Notes: …
• Name: …
• Title: …
• Division: …
• Supportive: …
• Notes: …
• Name: …
• Title: …
• Division: …
• Supportive: …
• Notes: …
• Name: …
• Title: …
• Division: …
• Supportive: …
• Notes: …
Sales Rep: John Smith focused on LinkedIn
account, US West Coast region
• Showcase the
quality of leads
brought in and
nurtured by
Marketing
• Consider entire
Buying Committee
and influencers,
not only the Key
Decision Maker
• Highlight
supportiveness
and other notes
with Sales input

Anatomy of an opportunity – sales
VISUALIZE JOURNEY OF A LEADSales Rep: John Smith focused on LinkedIn
2
4
12
2
18
4 4
6
4
2
2
6
6
6
4
2
6
6
2
8
2
6
4
2
1
2
2
6
4
4
2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17
#ofSales/MktgActions(linear)
Outbound Profile View Inbound Profile View New Connection Saved Leads Saved Account Sent Message
CRM Opportunity
Created
Deal
Closed
Sales Activity• Highlight sales
journey of the
account, e.g.
• what steps /
activities
• how long / when
• what were
outcomes /
feedback
• Showcase ongoing
nurturing and
support by
marketing to
account’s sales
journey
Marketing
Qualified
Lead
Sales
Qualified
Lead

Anatomy of an opportunity – sales
HOW MARKETING SUPPORTS THAT JOURNEYSales Rep: John Smith focused on LinkedIn
8
4
22
6
38
12 12
2
6
1212
3
2
6
2
8
2 6
5
6
6
449
1045
587
552
15
57
75
195
111
1425
1586
1844
281
1
10
100
1000
10000
Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17
#ofSales/MktgActions(logarithmic)
Sales Activity Marketing Clicks Marketing Impressions
Awareness & Lead Gen Nurture Prospects
~70 Marketing activities
per sales action
supported deal close
Sales Activity
Deal
Closed
Marketing
Qualified
Lead
Sales
Qualified
Lead
CRM Opportunity
Created
• Highlight sales
journey of the
account, e.g.
• what steps /
activities
• how long / when
• what were
outcomes /
feedback
• Showcase ongoing
nurturing and
support by
marketing to
account’s sales
journey

Marketing update Q&A
HOW DO WE CONTINUE TO IMPROVE?
• …
• …
Update
• …
• …
Discuss
• …
• …
Decide

Principles to choose better ROI-linked marketing metrics
Understand what
makes your business
profitable and how
marketing activities
drives those factors
Get clear on
business goals
Good enough,
‘directional’ data is
much better than
precise data.
Just do it!
Perfection is
failure
Absolute figures in a
B2B context are
irrelevant
less important
Everything’s
Relative
Pick metrics that
have a definable
future target value
that marketing
activities can impact
Know what
you’re chasing
Agree with sales
which (proxy) KPIs
they believe are most
helpful in winning
deals
Partner with
Marry sales

As a CMO, I would like to …
SHOW MY TEAM’S IMPACT & BE VIEWED AS A REVENUE DRIVER
CMO
NURTURE
REACH
ACQUIRE
Acquire (paying) customers3
2 Be in ‘consideration short-list’ by nurturing your audience
ROI can only be calculated at this
stage (with sales transaction data).
Everywhere else you’re only able to
use proxy KPIs for value / ROI
Make my brand known to the right target audience1

Map marketing activities and metrics to business goals
Acquire (paying) customers
NURTURE
REACH
ACQUIRE
2
3
Make my brand known to the right target audience
Be in the audience’s ‘consideration short-list’ by nurturing
them
1

Marketing Goals Commonly used metrics Recommended metrics
Grow Brand Awareness
Ensure brand is associated with relevant products
and services by the target audience.
• Impressions, Traffic,
Views, View time
• Brand Lift
• Target Audience Share of
Voice
Improve positive brand sentiment
Improve the opinion of the brand among the target
audience over time.
• Likes / Shares / Comments • Brand Sentiment
Own thought leadership for select topics
Build a reputation as a trusted leader with industry
expertise in specific topics that are strategic to your
business and serve as a competitive differentiator.
• Number of posts
• Number of Followers
• Topic Ownership &
Engagement
Brand awareness metrics (closer) aligned to business goals
BUSINESS GOAL: REACH RIGHT AUDIENCE AND MAKE MY BRAND KNOWN TO THEM
*Metrics lists are illustrative only and non-exhaustive

Brand Lift
REACH: GROW BRAND AWARENESS

(Target Audience) Share of Voice

Brand Sentiment

Topic Ownership & Engagement
Quiet Threats
Laggards
Thought Leaders
Noise Makers

Topic Ownership & Engagement
“No one ever got
fired for buying IBM”

‘Vanity’ metrics are out of fashion now a days …
“Vanity metrics can’t be linked to any meaningful
business goals, aren’t actionable and therefore aren’t
relevant. If you mention them in front of a CMO or CEO
you will be laughed out of the room.”
J a s o n M i l l e r ,
G l o b a l C o n t e n t M a r k e t i n g L e a d e r @ L i n k e d I n

Use vanity metrics as indicators to optimize your
future content,
not to measure ROI.
We should call them
vanity metrics
‘Content Optimization Metrics’
… but that is because we use them incorrectly

Audience engagement metrics aligned to business goals
BUSINESS GOAL: BE IN CONSIDERATION SHORT-LIST BY NURTURING YOUR AUDIENCE
Grow (loyal) audience base
Expand your brand’s followers to serve as future
prospective customers and for ongoing user research
• Number of Followers /
Subscribers
• Segmented Follower /
Subscriber cohorts
Increase audience action / engagement
Keep your audience warm for when they are ready to
buy
• Clicks, Click Through Rate
(incl. opens, downloads,
registrations, completes)
• Social actions (e.g. Likes,
Shares, Comments)
• On-page engagement (e.g.
time on site, bounce rate)
• Same … but do not use for
‘marketing performance’
reporting; instead use them
for:
✓ Content optimization
(e.g. via A/B testing)
✓ Troubleshooting
underperforming
campaign
*Metrics lists are illustrative only and non-exhaustive Vanity metrics

Which word resonates with the audiences on LinkedIn?
Version A: “Guide” Version B: “ebook”
90% Higher CTR

Use Optimization metrics to find problems in campaigns
Below Average
CTR
Clicks
Engaged Members
Hypothesis: Our content isn’t valuable
Hypothesis: Our updates are not well constructed
Clicks Per Engaged
Member
Hypothesis: We are not providing engaged members with
enough new content
Impressions
Reach Hypothesis: We are not reaching the right audience
Impression
Frequency
Hypothesis: Our target audience has not been adequately
nurtured
Hypothesis: We are reaching the wrong audience too
frequently

Map marketing activities and metrics to business goals
Acquire (paying) customers
NURTURE
REACH
ACQUIRE
2
3
Make my brand known to the right target audience
Be in audience’s consideration short-list by nurturing them
1

would you choose the cheapest car on the market?
SHOW OF HANDS
If you were in charge of choosing the ‘company car’,

If the cheapest vehicle is not the best choice for
the company car …
(i.e. return on investment )
Then why is the cheapest lead the best ROI for your
marketing spend?

True business success is about quality, not only quantity
CPL ≠ ROI
𝐶𝑃𝐿 =
𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠
𝑅𝑂𝐼 =
𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒
𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑
FOCUS ON REVENUE NOT JUST COST

What is the most important question for your business?
It’s simple question: Was
our marketing campaign
PROFITABLE or not?

Customer acquisition metrics aligned to business goals
BUSINESS GOAL: ACQUIRE (PAYING) CUSTOMERS
Generate Leads
Capture leads for sales team follow-up
• Number of Leads (MQL, SQL)
• Cost Per Conversion / Lead
• Qualify leads through a Lead
scoring model (based on lead
quality demographics)
• LTV : CAC ratio
Customer Acquisition Cost
(CAC), relative to revenue
earned from that customer
Convert / Retain customers
Generate customer sign-ups, renewals, and upgrades
• Cost Per Conversion / Lead • Transaction value / revenue
• Churn
• Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
*Metrics lists are illustrative only and non-exhaustive

Test your
scoring
model with
historical
data
Select your
scoring
criteria
Determine
your ideal
target (lead)
Align sales
and
marketing
objectives
Steps to establish a Lead Scoring Model
EXAMPLE LEAD SCORING MODEL
Source: Marketo Definitive Guide to Lead Scoring (https://www.marketo.com/definitive-guides/lead-scoring/)

Lead Scoring Criteria
• Title / Role / Seniority
• Company info (industry,
size, revenue growth)
• Relationship (potential vs.
key, complementary
products used, budget)
Explicit
Demographics
Encouraging
Behaviours
Discouraging
Behaviours
• Online/Live demo/trial
• Phone calls / guides /
blogs / webinars
• Roadshow / events
/surveys / community
• Email unsubscribe
• Non-product visit (e.g.
career page, press room)
• No website activity for
long period
• Negative social comment

Example Lead Scoring Model
DEMOGRAPHIC BEHAVIOUR
SCALE Criteria Score Criteria Score
Critical
(10-15 pts)
Dir / VP
<3 mon
+12
+10
Visits pricing pages
Downloads reviews
+10
+12
Important
(5-9 pts)
Manager
3-6 mon
+7
+5
Watches detailed demo
Heavy web activity
+10
+5
Influencing
(1-4 pts)
Analyst
>6 mon
+4
+3
Downloads any white paper
Watches any video
+4
+2
Discouraging
(negative)
Consultant
>9 mon
-4
-2
Email unsubscribe
Negative comment
-10
-4

Scoring sample output
SCORE 50+ 25-49 0-24 <0
50+
25-49
0-24
<0
LEAD
SCORE PRIORITY ACTION
0-24 Suspect Nurture
25-49 Lead
Move to marketing
qualification screen or
nurture with buy cycle
content
50+
Sales
Ready
Send to Sales for
qualification
Behaviour
Demographic

Sample ROI calculator: Lead Generation
VARIABLE VALUE DATA SOURCE
A Advertising Spend 1,00,000 Campaign Reports
B # of actions (e.g. clicks, lead forms) 1,000 Campaign Reports
C Cost Per Action 100 A ÷ B
D # of (unqualified) Leads generated 75 Your site / platform
E % of Leads generated per action 7.5% D ÷ B
F # of MQLs 15 Marketing team data
G % leads into MQLs 20% F ÷ D
H # of SQLs 8 Sales team data
I % leads into SQLs 11% H ÷ F
J # of deals won from SQLs 2 CRM
K % of SQLs closed / won 25% J ÷ H
L Average (or actual) deal size 2,50,000 CRM
M Revenue from advertising 5,00,000 J × L
N ROI from advertising 500% M ÷ A
AssumptionInput KPIsLegend: Calculation

No, this is not an easy journey
CHANGE MANAGEMENT OF PEOPLE-PROCESS-TOOLS IS NEEDED
Process
Tools
People

Summary of takeaways
• Brand Awareness - Use survey and engagement-based indicators to
measure change in brand perception
• Vanity Metrics - Use content optimization and troubleshoot,
not reporting ‘ROI’
• Focus on Quality, not only Quantity – CPL ≠ ROI, use a Lead Scoring
Model (in lieu of revenue data)
• Align with sales – speak the same language, go beyond MQL dumps,
and get actual sales data from Sales/Finance
• Change Management – you need to drive change across People-
Processes-Tools to make this a reality

Four-minute mile: Roger Bannister
ONCE YOU BELIEVE SOMETHING IS POSSIBLE, YOU CAN MAKE IT REAL
• 1940s = 4:01 min
• 6 May 1954 = 3:59.4
(Roger Bannister)
• 21 Jun 1954 = 3:57.9
(John Landy)
• 1955 = 2 more people
• 1956 = 6 more …
• 1957 = 6 more …

Communicating ROI of Content Marketing by Mukkul Dasgupta

Communicating ROI of Content Marketing by Mukkul Dasgupta

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Communicating ROI of Content Marketing by Mukkul Dasgupta