You’re spending thousands on marketing, but do you know if it’s all paying off? If this question makes you nervous, you’re not alone. Many B2B companies struggle to connect their marketing spend directly to revenue, leaving critical questions about ROI unanswered. Additionally, an incredible 87% say measuring the long-term impact of a campaign is becoming increasingly difficult.
This challenge, however, comes with stakes. Without clear ROI tracking, marketing budgets can be misallocated, leadership grows skeptical of marketing’s value, and opportunities for business growth are missed. With B2B buyer behavior evolving rapidly, the integration of AI and automation, and increased competition for skilled talent, getting ROI right is more crucial than ever.
Today, we'll unpack why marketing ROI tracking is broken for most companies, what's at stake, and, most importantly, how you can fix it.
The ROI Tracking Problem in B2B Marketing
Why Is Marketing Attribution Such a Challenge?
Marketing attribution is the process of identifying and assigning value to the different marketing touchpoints that influence a customer's journey toward a conversion, such as a purchase or lead generation. It helps you understand which marketing efforts are most effective and allocate resources.
B2B marketing operates within a unique and complex landscape. Compared to B2C, where a customer’s purchase decision is often quick and singular. B2B has a much longer and more complex sales process.
Here are the key factors that make ROI tracking especially difficult in B2B:
- Long, Multi-Touch Sales Cycles
Before the close of a sale, there can be numerous touchpoints across email campaigns, webinars, downloadable resources, and in-person meetings.
- Multiple Decision-Makers
Sales decisions often involve committees, not individuals, making it harder to uniformly attribute a deal to a single marketing effort.
- Offline and Online Interactions
B2B often requires in-person meetings, phone calls, and demos, which, when separated from digital efforts, create data silos.
- Disconnected Systems
Many companies fail to completely integrate their CRM, ERP, and marketing platforms, leading to disconnected data that makes attribution inaccurate.
- Lack of resources or expertise
Some companies may lack the resources, tools, or expertise to effectively track and analyze ROI.
Real-Life Issues That Stem from Poor Attribution
- Marketing produces qualified leads that convert, but sales claims all the credit for revenue.
- Marketing spends resources on campaigns that drive leads, but they get labeled as unsuccessful due to no measurable link to the final deal.
- Both sales and marketing teams work in silos, creating a blame game when targets are missed.
This disconnect prevents companies from pinpointing what’s driving their growth, leaving them in the dark when it comes to effective marketing.
The Cost of Poor Marketing Attribution
Failing to accurately track and attribute marketing ROI comes at a steep cost. Here’s what’s at stake when attribution is broken:
1. Wasted Budgets
Without data to show which campaigns work, businesses double down on what feels right rather than what works, draining resources on inefficiencies.
2. Loss of Leadership Trust
Leadership teams become skeptical of marketing’s contributions, ultimately reducing investment in potentially high-ROI marketing initiatives.
3. Missed Optimization Opportunities
Winning channels and strategies go unnoticed, leaving growth opportunities untapped.
4. Sales and Marketing Misalignment
Without clear data, the gap between marketing and sales widens, hurting collaboration and overall productivity.
5. Impact on Revenue Forecasting
With no grip on how marketing affects deals, forecasting becomes unreliable, making scaled growth unpredictable.
Root Causes of ROI Blind Spots
To fix broken ROI tracking, you first need to understand the root causes. Here are some common offenders:
1. Outdated Systems
An outdated CRM or ERP system not integrated with marketing platforms undermines the data flow needed for proper attribution. This is often the case with companies still using paper processes or Excel files.
2. Poor Data Hygiene
Failing to use standardized lead source fields or tracking leads to fragmented, inaccurate data. The data hasn’t been cleaned, improved, or monitored for months, if not years.
3. Siloed Teams and Processes
Disconnected marketing and sales teams often lead to inconsistent workflows and missed information. If these teams don’t know the difference between a marketing qualified lead (MQL) vs. a sales qualified lead (SQL), then it’s worth investigating alignment and processes.
4. Reliance on Vanity Metrics
Metrics like impressions and clicks might look impressive, but they fail to connect efforts to revenue. You are wasting your time if the metrics don’t agree with your overall business objectives!
Now that you understand the root cause of your ROI blind spot, let’s take a look at how to fix it.
How to Fix It: Building a Revenue Attribution System
The good news? A broken ROI tracking system can be fixed. Follow these steps to create a solid revenue attribution system:
Step 1: Audit Your Tech Stack
- Identify where your data is stored and which pieces are missing. Pinpoint inefficiencies in your CRM, ERP, and marketing integrations.
Step 2: Implement Multi-Touch Attribution Models
- Use models like first-click, last-click, or time decay to track full customer journeys. Platforms like HubSpot make setting up multi-touch attribution easy.
- First-click gives all credit to the first interaction that introduced the customer to the brand. Last-click gives all credit to the final touchpoint before a conversion. Finally, time decay gives more credit to the touchpoints closer to the conversion, with less credit given to the first interactions.
Step 3: Track the Full Marketing & Sales Funnels
- Ensure every lead’s source, campaign ID, and pipeline stages are logged and trackable. This creates a seamless flow of data from campaigns to closed deals. It also helps to align their efforts to progress opportunities through the funnel.
Step 4: Set Up Reporting Dashboards
- Deliver tailored reports that highlight relevant metrics:
- Executives need ROI summaries, revenue impact, and high-level KPIs.
- Marketing Teams need granular campaign performance metrics.
- Sales Manager needs insight into lead generation, closing rates, and sales performance at each stage of the funnel.
Step 5: Align Sales and Marketing
Establish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between sales and marketing teams. Share KPIs, create a feedback loop, and hold regular meetings for alignment.
By fixing these issues, you will have better insight into your marketing ROI. Over time, you and your team will identify opportunities for improvement.
Why Marketing Attribution Is Worth Investing In
By fixing your ROI tracking system, the benefits flow across your entire organization:
- Improved Confidence in Spend: Leadership gains trust in marketing investments.
- Better Budget Allocation: Money is spent more wisely, leading to scalable campaigns.
- Enhanced Team Alignment: Greater collaboration between sales and marketing enhances efficiency.
- Fine-tuned Customer Journey: Clear picture of how customers interact with a brand across different channels and touchpoints.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Use data to justify your marketing investments and optimize your campaigns for maximum impact.
- Higher ROI: Reducing waste and optimizing campaigns lowers CAC and grows your bottom line.
Investing in marketing attribution is a strategic move that can lead to significant improvements in marketing ROI, customer experience, and overall business performance.
Start Closing Your Attribution Gaps Today
You can’t grow what you can’t measure. Without a reliable ROI tracking system, how will you handle shifting buyer behaviors, talent shortages, and the need for automation?
The first step is simple. Audit your current attribution gaps and begin building a system that works.
Need help? DaBrian Marketing offers a complimentary Marketing ROI Audit to help you pinpoint weaknesses in your tracking and attribution process.
