Critical Demand Generation Metrics

Which metrics point toward demand generation success, anyway?

Like all things demand gen, the answer isn’t so cut and dry, as it depends on several factors. Here are a few things you might measure to gauge whether your demand generation efforts are delivering the right results:

Visit to Lead Conversion Rate

Too often, marketers aggressively focus on the first number of marketing-qualified leads that can be generated through a campaign. While this is a critical metric, it ignores the middle-of-the-funnel touchpoints and metrics that determine how effectively your organization is providing content, nurturing relationships, and passing qualified leads to sales.

MQLs to SQLs to Meetings to Conversions

Building on conversions in general, brands may also want to track things like how many MQLs convert to SQLs and how many SQLs book meetings. Then, of course, how many of those meetings lead to closed deals. These insights can inform your organization of weaknesses within the funnel and areas where improvement may be needed.

Cost-per-lead

Cost-per-lead is calculated by dividing your advertising costs by the total number of leads generated from your marketing efforts. This metric can reveal how much you’re spending on average per campaign, persona, or channel.

Your ideal varies considerably by industry, though B2Bs can expect to pay a lot more to bring new leads into the pipeline, particularly when using highly-targeted paid channels.

Cost-per-Acquisition

Cost per acquisition can make or break your business. Simply put, if your customer acquisition costs are higher than your average customer lifetime value, there’s no way your organization will be able to turn a profit.

Tracking this metric can serve as a starting point for a deeper dive. It’s a red flag warning, that when taken seriously, can help you fine-tune campaign goals, strategies, and targeting.

Percentage of MQLs that Closed

Marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are leads that qualify for nurturing and/or retargeting based on data that aligns with a certain set of criteria (i.e., these leads are likely to convert… )sometime down the road.

In the context of a demand generation program, MQLs should be defined using closed-loop analytics, with marketing receiving feedback to inform their strategy moving forward.

Tracking the number of MQLs that convert and reporting back to marketing allows you to ensure you’re targeting the right people on the right platforms.

Average deal size

Calculating the average deal size is pretty straightforward; it’s the average value of each new deal closed during the sales cycle. Depending on what you sell, deal size might be linked to customer lifetime value–i.e., SaaS products billed monthly or annually, subscriptions, long-term contracts.

Average deal size plays a major role in forecasting, allowing teams to accurately project revenue, set quotas, and manage the pipeline in a sustainable fashion.

Additionally, looking at your average deal size by persona can also information about which accounts your company should target to maximize revenue.

Customer Lifetime Value

Customer lifetime value, or CLV, represents the total amount a customer is likely to spend over the entire duration of their relationship with your brand. This metric offers an inside view into your ability to continue delivering a great experience to your customers after the close.