Instead of chasing perfect attribution, recognize that customers will explicitly tell you how they found you. At Drift, prospects on sales calls would frequently mention being fans of their podcast. This qualitative data from the front lines is often the most direct and powerful measure of brand impact.
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For content without direct attribution, prove its value by systematically collecting qualitative feedback. Create a 'Trophy Room'—a document with screenshots of positive social media comments, Gong call mentions, and Slack messages—to tell a compelling story of impact beyond hard metrics.
The key to justifying brand marketing isn't a perfect dashboard, but internal education. A marketing leader's primary job is to explain to the CFO and sales team that buying decisions are not linear and are influenced by multiple, often unmeasurable touchpoints over time.
Focus on deep engagement metrics like total listening time over easily manipulated vanity metrics like downloads. A smaller, highly engaged audience that spends hours with your content is more valuable than a large, fleeting one that listens for only seconds.
Brand campaigns reach the 95% of buyers not currently in-market. Instead of relying on vanity metrics, Square ties this investment to business outcomes by tracking the subsequent lift in organic traffic, which they've found converts better than paid channels.
To measure the combined success of brand and ABX, track metrics in layers. Look at short-term ABX results (pipeline influence) and long-term brand signals (share of voice). The magic is connecting them: prove that accounts with high brand engagement also show better ABX response rates, demonstrating the multiplier effect.
Instead of chasing quantifiable but often misleading metrics like MQLs or pipeline attribution, focus on qualitative feedback from sales. Successful brand marketing means the sales team enters 'warm rooms' where customers are already familiar with and receptive to the company, eliminating the need to start from zero.
To get buy-in from financial stakeholders, translate the 'soft' concept of brand love into hard metrics. Loved brands can command higher prices, maximize customer lifetime value, and reduce customer acquisition costs through organic advocacy, proving brand is a tangible asset.
AI now enables the tracking of every customer touchpoint, including interactions outside of marketing-controlled channels. This provides a complete view from first contact to close, finally solving the long-standing challenge of accurate marketing attribution and ROI measurement.
While difficult to attribute directly, strong brand recognition provides critical "air cover" for sales teams. When prospects already know who the company is, sales reps can skip the introductory explanation and focus immediately on selling the solution. This shortens the sales cycle and increases the effectiveness of outreach, justifying brand investment.
Solely judging marketing by last-touch attribution creates a false reality. This narrow metric consistently favors predictable channels like search and email, discouraging investment in brand building and creative storytelling that influence buyers throughout their journey. It's a losing battle if it's the only basis for decision-making.
