Marketing Metrics That Matter
The metrics B2B marketers prioritise are shifting. As buying journeys fragment and new AI-driven behaviours emerge, traditional dashboards are no longer enough to inform strategic decisions. In this roundtable, hosted by Joaquin Dominguez, Head of Marketing at Adzact, senior marketers explored which marketing metrics truly matter today—and which may lead teams in the wrong direction.
Host
Joaquin Dominguez , Head of Marketing at Adzact
Guests
Rajesh Char, Senior Director of Digital Marketing at Thermo Fisher Scientific
Joe Prather, Digital Marketing Analyst at Progress Software
Logan Lloyd, Email Marketing & Automation Manager at Sprout Social
Rob Kiser, Director of Product Marketing at AvePoint
From Vanity to Value: The Shift in B2B Metrics
The discussion opened with a frank assessment: many marketing metrics commonly reported today are either outdated or misleading. Vanity metrics such as email open rates, click rates, and even generic engagement numbers were called out as poor indicators of meaningful progress, particularly given the distortions caused by spam filters and automation.
Instead, the panel emphasised a core shift: from reporting isolated numbers to tracking how real users move through the journey—from first touch to purchase. For Joe Prather, understanding “which pages a user visits and how they navigate” gives a far clearer signal of marketing’s influence than aggregate figures alone.
In parallel, Logan Lloyd described how his team examines raw volume, conversion rates, and speed across funnel stages—then breaks those down by source, persona and behaviour. This more layered view allows teams to identify not only what’s working, but why, and for whom.
"The core of meaningful measurement is the website journey—understanding which pages users visit, where they pause, and how they move toward conversion. That tells you far more than any single metric ever could." – Joe Prather
The Benchmarking Dilemma: Know Yourself First
When it came to benchmarks, the group had differing views. Some warned against over-reliance on industry standards, which often lack contextual clarity. Others suggested macro trends can offer important perspective—particularly when internal metrics shift suddenly.
Rajesh Char shared that his team at Thermo Fisher had seen a steep drop in web traffic. Rather than assuming internal missteps, they used competitor benchmarking to confirm an industry-wide decline in search visibility—driven in part by Google's increasing use of AI-generated summaries (such as Gemini), which reduce the need for users to click through to websites.
The group agreed that internal benchmarks—comparing performance against past campaigns—remain the most useful baseline. Context is everything, and data must be used to tell a story, not just fill a dashboard.
Attribution: Imperfect but Informative
Attribution was acknowledged as a vital but imperfect science. The consensus was clear: while no model captures the full complexity of B2B journeys, directional attribution still plays a critical role in identifying which activities influence revenue.
For Rob Kiser, this means tracing back from revenue to examine the full funnel: lead generation, qualification, conversion, and ultimately win rate. Logan Lloyd described attribution as “directional” rather than definitive—helpful for identifying which tactics probably contributed, but never the whole picture.
Rajesh’s team uses a ROPO model (Research Online, Purchase Offline) to acknowledge that the final purchase often happens away from digital channels—but is still influenced by them. Account-level matching and omnichannel journey mapping allow them to better understand influence, even when touchpoints are indirect or asynchronous.
"In complex B2B journeys, ROPO—Research Online, Purchase Offline—is increasingly the norm. To understand marketing’s true influence, we have to map the full journey across all touchpoints, not just the final click." – Rajesh Char
The Impact of AI on Search—and Strategy
A major theme across the conversation was the changing role of search. With tools like Gemini and ChatGPT offering instant answers, fewer users are clicking through to company websites. This rise in “zero-click” searches is disrupting traditional SEO strategies—and challenging the reliability of web traffic as a metric.
However, there is an upside. Both Rajesh and Joe reported that while volume of traffic is declining, quality of visitors has increased—leading to higher conversion rates. This suggests that users arriving via search are now further along in their decision-making journey, even if they’re fewer in number.
Marketers are adapting by shifting focus from keyword rankings to “search visibility”—a more holistic view that includes paid, organic, and AI-driven placements. Being present in knowledge panels, featured snippets, and AI summaries is now just as critical as ranking in traditional search.
Moving Beyond the Individual: Account-Centric Measurement
B2B buying decisions are rarely made by individuals. Several participants emphasised the growing importance of account-level insights—understanding and measuring interactions across an organisation, not just a single lead.
This is particularly complex in sectors like biotech and software, where the person researching a solution may differ entirely from the one approving the purchase. Rajesh and Joe described how split-identity behaviours—e.g. a user browsing anonymously with a personal email, then converting later via a company account—require more sophisticated tracking.
Rob and Logan also outlined how their teams prioritise accounts not just on engagement, but on signals of fit—such as job seniority, business maturity, or external triggers like M&A activity. Metrics from these accounts are assessed differently, because they represent higher-value opportunities by default.
"We don’t just look at who’s engaging—we look at whether the account is at a moment that signals readiness, like a funding round or M&A. That context makes all the difference in prioritising where to focus." – Rob Kiser
Final Thoughts: Answering the “So What?”
As the session wrapped up, one theme resonated strongly: metrics must lead to action. All four panellists stressed that data should support clear business decisions—not just performance reviews. That means connecting each metric to a strategic question: What happened? Why did it happen? And what should we do about it?
For Rajesh, the goal is to answer not just the what and why, but the so what—the business impact. Logan echoed the same point, noting that executive teams need actionable outcomes, not just numbers.
Joe summed it up simply: the only metric that truly matters is the one that lets you take meaningful action.
"Metrics alone aren’t enough—you need to package them with context and business impact. Executives don’t just want to see numbers; they want to understand what changed and why it matters." – Logan Lloyd
Conclusion
This roundtable made it clear: modern B2B marketers must become storytellers, analysts, and technologists all at once. The metrics that matter most today are those that reveal behaviour, explain intent, and lead to smarter decisions. It’s not about abandoning dashboards—but about rethinking what we put on them, and why.
As attribution grows more complex and AI reshapes how buyers research, marketers must evolve how they measure, report and act. In this data-rich but signal-poor environment, only the clearest, most connected metrics will move the needle.
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