15 marketing KPIs to track & how to choose the right ones

Proving that marketing drives business results is harder than it should be. Campaigns generate clicks, leads, and impressions, but leadership wants to know what is moving in the pipeline and revenue, and scattered reports rarely give a clear answer. Choosing the right KPIs for marketing is key to closing that gap.

So, what are marketing KPIs? Marketing KPIs are quantifiable measures that indicate whether your marketing is progressing toward a specific business goal, such as growing the pipeline, reducing acquisition costs, or retaining customers. Key performance indicators in marketing differ from everyday metrics: a KPI tracks progress toward an objective, while a metric, like email open rate or keyword ranking, tracks supporting activity that helps explain why a KPI is changing.

This guide covers 15 KPIs for marketing, organized by funnel stage, each with a definition, a formula, and guidance on when it’s the right fit. You’ll also learn how to tell KPIs from metrics, choose the ones that match your goals, and organize them in a HubSpot reporting dashboard. You don’t need to track every example. The aim is to select the few that best demonstrate marketing’s impact for your team.

Table of Contents

• What are marketing KPIs?
• Why Marketing KPIs Matter
• How to Choose the Right Marketing KPIs
• 15 Marketing KPI Examples to Track
• Marketing KPI FAQs

What are marketing KPIs?

Marketing KPIs (key performance indicators), sometimes called marketing performance indicators, are quantifiable measures that show how well your marketing efforts are progressing toward a specific business goal.

Unlike general business KPIs, they’re tied to what marketing can influence, and they’re tracked over time against a target.

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KPIs vs. Metrics

A marketing metric is any measurement of marketing activity, such as email open rate, page views, social impressions, and keyword rankings. The KPIs for marketing are the smaller set of measures that directly indicate whether you’re hitting an objective. Metrics help you understand why a KPI is moving, while KPIs show whether you’re on track.

The same measure can be a KPI for one team and a metric for another, depending on the goal. A simple test: if the number changed and no one would change a decision or report it to leadership, it’s probably a metric.

Example

Say your goal is to grow a qualified pipeline by 20% this quarter. Your KPI is the marketing-sourced pipeline. Supporting metrics, such as landing page visits, email click-through rate, and webinar registrations, help you diagnose why that number is rising or stalling.

For sales-specific measures, see our guide to sales metrics and performance metrics.

Why Marketing KPIs Matter

Marketing performance indicators provide a consistent way to demonstrate how your work contributes to the business. Without them, reporting tends to default to activity counts, like emails sent or posts published, that are hard to connect to revenue. With them, you can answer the questions leadership actually asks: what is working, where it is breaking down, and what we should fund next.

They connect activity to business goals.

KPIs link day-to-day marketing work to the outcomes the company cares about. If the business goal is to grow the pipeline, a KPI such as marketing-sourced pipeline shows whether campaigns, content, and events are contributing to it. The supporting metrics beneath it then show which activities are responsible. This keeps teams working toward shared targets rather than optimizing separate metrics in isolation.

They expose bottlenecks across the funnel.

Tracking KPIs by funnel stage shows where prospects stall. For example, if lead volume is healthy but few leads become sales qualified, the issue is likely lead quality or handoff, not traffic. If conversion is strong but traffic is flat, the constraint is higher up the funnel. Pinpointing the stage saves you from spending your budget on the wrong problem.

They support budget justification and ROI reporting.

Cost and return KPIs for marketing, such as customer acquisition cost, ROI, and LTV: CAC, put marketing spend in financial terms that finance and executive teams use. They help you defend the budget for programs that perform, reallocate away from those that don’t, and report results in a format that carries across teams.

Dashboards make that reporting repeatable. In HubSpot, you can share dashboards by email or Slack, export them, and control who can see which reports.

Pro tip: Before you add a KPI to a report, write down the decision it should inform, such as “shift budget between channels” or “fix the MQL-to-SQL handoff.” If you can’t name one, treat it as a supporting metric instead.

How to Choose the Right Marketing KPIs

The right marketing KPIs depend on one thing: the goal you’re trying to hit right now. Start with the objective, choose the funnel stage that most affects it, and then select a small set of KPIs for marketing that you can measure and act on. This approach keeps you from tracking everything your tools can report.

For a deeper dive into the selection process, see our guide to choosing KPIs.

Step 1: Start with one specific business goal.

Pick the outcome marketing is accountable for this quarter or year, such as growing qualified pipeline, reducing acquisition costs, or increasing repeat purchases. If you’re setting marketing manager KPIs across several goals, choose KPIs for each goal separately rather than combining them into one long list.

Step 2: Match the goal to a funnel stage.

Your goal usually points to the stage that matters most. Use the awareness, consideration, and decision stages to narrow your options, and include digital marketing KPIs such as web traffic and conversion rates.

If retention or expansion is your goal, add customer-focused KPIs, such as customer retention rate or LTV, to the decision stage, or track them in the post-purchase stage.

Step 3: Test each candidate against SMART criteria.

KPIs for marketing are only useful if you can set a target and know when you’ve hit it. Check each candidate against these questions:

• Specific: Does it measure one clear outcome, such as “marketing-sourced pipeline,” instead of something vague like “performance”?
• Measurable: Can you calculate it with data you already have or can reliably collect?
• Achievable: Is the target realistic given your baseline, budget, and team capacity?
• Relevant: Does it connect directly to your chosen goal?
• Time-bound: Is there a clear period, such as monthly or quarterly, for tracking and review?

Step 4: Limit your set.

Choose a handful of KPIs that your team can actually influence, usually covering one or two funnel stages. Everything else becomes a supporting metric you check only when a KPI moves unexpectedly. A good set mixes leading indicators, which show early signals such as lead volume, and lagging indicators, which confirm results such as revenue.

Once you’ve settled on your set, keep those KPIs in one place. A HubSpot reporting dashboard lets you combine reports from your marketing, sales, and service data on a single page, so everyone reviews the same numbers.

Example

• Goal: Grow qualified pipeline by 20% this quarter.

• Stage focus: Consideration.

• KPIs: MQLs, SQLs, MQL-to-SQL conversion rate.

• Supporting metrics: Landing page conversion rate, email click-through rate, and webinar registrations.

Pro tip: Establish a baseline before setting a target. Pull the last two to four quarters of data for each KPI so your goals are based on your own trends, not guesses.

15 Marketing KPI Examples to Track

The right KPIs for marketing depend on your goal, so use this list as a selection tool rather than a checklist. Find the goal you’re working toward in the table below, then jump to the corresponding KPIs. You don’t need to track all 15. Most teams pick a few for their current objective and treat the rest as supporting metrics. Some entries, like follower growth, are often better as supporting metrics unless awareness is the goal itself.

Below are examples of marketing KPIs for each funnel stage, each with a definition, a formula for when to apply it, and notes on when the KPI is the right fit.

1. Website Visitors

Website visitors are the number of people who visit your site in a given period. It’s the broadest digital marketing KPI for awareness and the starting point for most funnel analyses, since every other web-based KPI depends on people arriving first.

Formula: Website visitors = count of unique users (or sessions) in a period, as reported by your analytics tool

For growth over time:

Visitor growth rate = ((visitors this period − visitors last period) ÷ visitors last period) × 100

Example: (12,600 − 10,500) ÷ 10,500 × 100 = 20% month-over-month growth

Best for: Teams with an awareness goal, or teams that need a baseline to compare against conversion and lead volume.

What we like: It’s easy to collect and easy for non-marketers to understand, and it serves as the denominator for conversion rate.

Calculation notes:

• Choose one unit and stick with it. “Users,” “visitors,” and “sessions” are counted differently across analytics tools, so changing between them will distort trends.
• Break visitors out by source (organic, referral, paid, social, direct, email) so the total doesn’t hide which channel is driving change.
• Volume alone doesn’t show quality. Pair it with conversion rate or engaged-session data.

Pro tip: Treat total visitors as a supporting metric unless awareness is your goal. Source-level traffic (such as organic or referral) is usually more actionable.

2. Organic Traffic

Organic traffic is the number of visits that come from unpaid search engine results. It shows whether your content and SEO are earning visibility for the topics your buyers search.

Formula: Organic traffic = sessions (or users) from unpaid search in a period

Organic share of traffic = (organic sessions ÷ total sessions) × 100

Example: 4,200 organic sessions ÷ 12,000 total sessions × 100 = 35% organic share

Best for: Content and SEO teams, and teams that want a lower-cost, compounding lead source.

What we like: Organic visitors arrive with a specific need, so this KPI pairs well with conversion rate to show whether your content attracts the right audience.

For content marketing KPIs, pair it with organic leads (leads attributed to organic search) and keyword performance, such as rankings and impressions from your search tool. Rankings are supporting metrics that explain why organic traffic is moving.

Calculation notes:

• Traffic from AI assistants and answer engines may be classified differently depending on your analytics setup. Check how your tool categorizes these sources, and see our guide on tracking AI search KPIs.
• Seasonality can affect organic traffic, so compare with the same period last year when possible.

Pro tip: Track organic leads or conversions, not just visits. Traffic growth on topics that never convert is a signal to adjust your content strategy.

3. Referral Traffic

Referral traffic is the number of visits that arrive through links on other websites, such as publications, partner sites, directories, and review pages. It shows where outside sites are sending people to you.

Formula: Referral traffic = sessions (or users) from referring domains in a period

Referral share = (referral sessions ÷ total sessions) × 100

Example: 900 referral sessions ÷ 12,000 total sessions × 100 = 7.5% referral share

Best for: Teams running partnerships, PR, guest content, or link building, and teams evaluating which external sites drive valuable visitors.

What we like: It highlights relationships and placements that work, so you can invest more in the partners and publications that drive engaged visitors.

Calculation notes:

• Analytics tools define “referral” differently. Some count social and email separately, while others fold them in. Confirm how your classifies sources so comparisons stay consistent.
• Look at referral quality, not just count. Compare conversion rate and engagement by referring domain.

Pro tip: When a referring site sends visitors who convert, look at what that placement offered. Replicating the format or audience is often easier than finding a brand-new channel.

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4. Follower Growth

Follower growth measures the net change in your social audience over a period. It’s a basic indicator of brand reach and audience interest on a platform.

Formula: Follower growth rate = ((new followers − lost followers) ÷ followers at start of period) × 100

Example: (450 gained − 50 lost) ÷ 8,000 at start × 100 = 5% growth

Best for: Brand and social teams whose goal is awareness, especially on newer channels where you’re building an audience.

What we like: It’s simple to track, and it can give you early signals about whether content and campaigns are resonating on a platform.

KPI or metric? Follower count on its own is often a vanity metric because it doesn’t show whether those followers see, engage with, or buy from you. It becomes a stronger KPI when awareness is the stated goal, and it works best alongside engagement and social referral traffic.

Calculation notes:

• Use net growth (gains minus losses) so a spike in follows doesn’t hide churn.
• Report by platform, since audiences and growth patterns differ.
• If you run paid campaigns to grow followers, separate paid and organic growth.

Pro tip: Pair follower growth with the share of followers who engage. A smaller, active audience is more valuable than a large, silent one.

5. Social Media Engagement

Social media engagement measures how people interact with your content, including likes, comments, shares, saves, clicks, and mentions. It shows whether your content resonates with the audience you’ve built.

Formula (by reach): Engagement rate = (total engagements ÷ reach or impressions) × 100

Formula (by followers): Engagement rate = (total engagements ÷ followers) × 100

Example: 1,200 engagements ÷ 40,000 impressions × 100 = 3% engagement rate

Best for: Social and content teams tracking content marketing KPIs to see which formats, topics, and platforms earn attention.

What we like: It helps you spot content that’s working so you can repeat it, and it can show interest that follower count misses.

Calculation notes:

• Pick one denominator and use it consistently. Platforms report engagement rate differently, so compare only like with like.
• Decide what counts as an engagement. Clicks and shares often say more about intent than likes.
• Use the metric for individual posts as a supporting metric, and the aggregate trend as the KPI.

Pro tip: Connect engagement to outcomes by tracking social traffic and conversions. High engagement that never leads to a visit may point to entertaining content that doesn’t support your goals.

6. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of people who complete a desired action, such as submitting a form, signing up for a trial, or making a purchase. It shows how effectively your pages, offers, and campaigns turn interest into action.

Formula: Conversion rate = (number of conversions ÷ number of visitors or recipients) × 100

Example: 60 form submissions ÷ 2,400 landing page visitors × 100 = 2.5% conversion rate

Best for: Teams optimizing landing pages, forms, ads, and email, and teams diagnosing why traffic isn’t turning into leads.

What we like: It separates traffic quality from traffic volume. If visits rise and conversions stay flat, the problem is likely the offer, page, or audience, not reach.

KPI or metric? It depends on the level. A single landing page’s conversion rate is usually a supporting metric. Conversion rates between funnel stages, such as visitor-to-lead, lead-to-MQL, and MQL-to-SQL, are better KPIs because they show where the funnel loses people.

Stage-to-stage formula: (Number who moved to the next stage ÷ number at the previous stage) × 100

Example: 150 SQLs ÷ 600 MQLs × 100 = 25% MQL-to-SQL conversion rate

Pro tip: Segment conversion rate by traffic source or campaign. A blended average can hide a high-converting channel that deserves more budget, or a weak one that’s dragging the number down.

In HubSpot: You can build a custom funnel report on your lifecycle or deal stages to see conversions between stages, then add it to a dashboard alongside your other KPIs.

7. Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)

A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a lead that marketing has identified as more likely to become a customer than other leads, based on criteria your team defines. Those criteria usually combine engagement, such as downloading a guide or attending a webinar, with fit, such as company size or job title.

Formula: MQL volume = number of leads meeting your MQL criteria in a period

To measure quality, pair it with a rate:

MQL rate = (MQLs ÷ total new leads) × 100

Example: 200 MQLs ÷ 1,000 new leads × 100 = 20% MQL rate

Best for: Demand generation teams that hand off leads to sales and need to show lead volume and quality.

What we like: It gives marketing a measurable output that sits between traffic and pipeline, which helps with early reporting before deals close.

Calculation notes:

• There is no universal MQL definition. Agree on the criteria, often through lead scoring, with sales, and write them down.
• Volume alone can mislead. If MQLs rise but few become SQLs, the criteria may be too loose or the lead quality too low.
• Review the definition regularly, since it should shift as your offers and buyers change.

Pro tip: Report MQLs alongside the MQL-to-SQL rate. Together, they show whether you’re delivering volume and leads that sales actually want.

8. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)

A sales-qualified lead (SQL) is a prospect that the sales team has vetted and agreed is ready for direct outreach. Typically, an SQL has shown buying intent, such as requesting a demo or pricing, and matches your ideal customer profile.

Formula: SQL volume = number of leads accepted by sales in a period

MQL-to-SQL rate = (SQLs ÷ MQLs) × 100

Example: 90 SQLs ÷ 360 MQLs × 100 = 25% MQL-to-SQL rate

Best for: Teams aligning marketing and sales, and teams that want to measure lead quality instead of lead volume.

What we like: Because sales accepts or rejects the lead, SQLs are a shared checkpoint. They show whether marketing’s definition of a good lead matches sales’ definition.

Calculation notes:

• Define who qualifies as a lead and when. In many organizations, sales or a sales development team makes the final call, even when marketing’s scoring helps.
• Track rejected and recycled leads and the reasons. Patterns in rejection reasons show exactly where lead criteria or targeting need work.
• Consider a service-level agreement (SLA) for follow-up time so lead quality problems aren’t mistaken for slow response.

Pro tip: Review a sample of rejected MQLs with sales each month. A short conversation about why leads were rejected often improves your scoring criteria faster than any report.

9. Revenue Attributed to Marketing

Revenue attributed to marketing is the portion of closed revenue that can be traced back to marketing campaigns or touchpoints, based on the attribution model you use. Among marketing KPIs, it’s the most direct answer to the question leadership asks most: how much revenue did marketing contribute?

Formula: Revenue attributed to marketing = total closed-won revenue from deals credited to marketing under your attribution model

To see it as a share of the business:

(Revenue attributed to marketing ÷ total new revenue) × 100 = % of revenue attributed to marketing

Example: $450,000 attributed to marketing ÷ $1,500,000 total new revenue = 30%

Best for: Marketing managers and demand generation leaders who need to demonstrate contribution to revenue. It’s a core item among marketing managers; find additional B2B-specific guidance in our resource on B2B marketing KPIs.

What we like: It translates campaign activity into the same terms finance and sales already use, which makes budget conversations easier.

Attribution caveats:

• It’s an estimate, not an exact measure. First-touch, last-touch, and multi-touch models each assign credit differently so that the same deal can yield different results depending on the model used.
• Not every touchpoint is visible. Offline conversations, word of mouth, and private social sharing often go untracked.
• Long sales cycles complicate it. A deal closing this quarter may reflect marketing activity from many months earlier.
• Definitions matter. Decide with sales whether you’re reporting “marketing-sourced” revenue (marketing created the lead) or “marketing-influenced” revenue (marketing touched the deal), and keep that definition consistent.

Data you need: This KPI depends on connecting campaign data to CRM records, so each contact, deal, and closed amount can be linked to the campaigns and sources that touched it. Consistent source tracking, such as UTM parameters and lead source properties, makes the data more reliable.

Practical example: Tools that connect campaign data to CRM deal records, such as HubSpot’s marketing analytics and reporting, let you view revenue by campaign or source in one place, rather than reconciling separate spreadsheets.

Pro tip: Report the attribution model alongside the number (for example, “30% of new revenue, multi-touch model”). It prevents confusion when the figure changes after you switch models.

10. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the average amount you spend to win one new customer. It shows whether your acquisition spending is efficient enough to be profitable.

Formula: CAC = total acquisition costs for a period ÷ new customers acquired in the same period

Example: $60,000 in marketing spend ÷ 120 new customers = $500 CAC

Best for: Teams deciding how much to spend on acquisition, or comparing the efficiency of channels and campaigns.

What we like: It turns budget questions into a unit-cost question, which is easy to compare against what a customer is worth (see LTV below).

Calculation notes:

• Include fixed costs, like salaries and tools, as well as variable costs, like ad spend and contractors, if you want a full picture. Whichever you choose, apply it consistently.
• Use the same time period for costs and new customers. In longer sales cycles, spending in one quarter may produce customers in the next.
• Channel-level CAC depends on attribution, so treat it as an estimate.

Pro tip: Report CAC next to LTV. A CAC that looks high may be fine if customers stay and spend over time.

11. Return on Investment (ROI)

Marketing return on investment (ROI) measures the return you earn relative to what you spend on marketing, expressed as a percentage.

Formula: Marketing ROI = ((return attributed to marketing − marketing cost) ÷ marketing cost) × 100

Example: ($150,000 return − $50,000 cost) ÷ $50,000 × 100 = 200% ROI

Best for: Marketing leaders reporting overall or program-level returns to finance and executives.

What we like: It’s a common financial language across teams, making it useful for budget reviews.

Calculation notes:

• Decide whether “return” means revenue or gross profit. Gross profit is a stricter, more accurate view because it accounts for the cost of delivering the product.
• Direct attribution is hard. If sales had grown anyway, subtract your average baseline (organic) growth from the return before calculating the return.
• ROI depends on your attribution model, so state the model and time period with the number.

Pro tip: Calculate ROI by program or campaign as well as in total. A strong blended ROI can hide a poor-performing channel.

12. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Return on ad spend (ROAS) compares the revenue an ad campaign produces with the amount spent to run it. It’s narrower than ROI because it looks only at ad campaigns and their costs.

Formula: ROAS = revenue attributed to ads ÷ ad spend

Example: $40,000 in ad-attributed revenue ÷ $10,000 in ad spend = 4.0, or 4:1

Best for: Paid media managers tracking advertising KPIs to optimize campaigns, creative, and channels.

What we like: It’s fast to calculate and works well for comparing ad campaigns.

ROAS versus ROI: ROAS excludes costs beyond ad spend, like creative, tools, and team time, and it measures revenue, not profit. A campaign can have a healthy ROAS and still lose money once margins are included. Use ROAS and other advertising KPIs to optimize ads, and ROI to judge overall profitability.

Pro tip: Set a break-even ROAS for each product based on its margin. It tells you the minimum return an ad needs to avoid losing money.

13. Lifetime Value of a Customer (LTV)

Customer lifetime value (LTV) is the total revenue, or ideally gross profit, a business can expect from a single customer over the length of the relationship.

Formula (purchase-based businesses): LTV = average purchase value × purchase frequency × customer lifespan

Example: $50 average order × 4 orders per year × 3 years = $600 LTV

Formula (subscription businesses): LTV = (average revenue per account × gross margin %) ÷ churn rate

Best for: Setting acquisition budgets and comparing the long-term value of channels or customer segments.

What we like: It shifts the question from “what does a customer cost?” to “what is a customer worth?”, which helps justify spending on higher-value segments.

LTV: CAC ratio: Comparing LTV to CAC indicates whether the acquisition is sustainable. If CAC exceeds LTV, you’re spending more to acquire customers than they generate in revenue. A ratio of about 3:1 is a commonly cited rule of thumb, but the right target varies by business model and margin.

Pro tip: Calculate LTV by segment or acquisition channel. Averages can hide the fact that some customers are far more valuable than others.

14. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures customer loyalty and satisfaction based on how likely customers are to recommend your company to others.

How it works: Customers answer one question on a 0-10 scale: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”

• Promoters: 9 to 10
• Passives: 7 to 8
• Detractors: 0 to 6

Formula: NPS = % promoters − % detractors

Example: 60% promoters − 15% detractors = NPS of 45

NPS ranges from −100 to +100.

Best for: Teams focused on customer loyalty, brand perception, and referral potential can connect NPS insights to a broader customer experience strategy in our guide to customer experience and marketing.

What we like: The open-text follow-up question provides marketing-customer language you can use in messaging, positioning, and research.

Interpretation notes: Compare your score with your own past results and with others in your industry, since typical scores vary widely. Survey timing and audience also affect results, so keep them consistent.

Pro tip: Read the comments, not just the score. Themes in promoter and detractor feedback often point to messaging or expectation gaps that marketing can fix.

15. Customer Retention

Customer retention measures how many customers continue buying from you over a given period. It matters to marketing because retained customers increase lifetime value, reduce reliance on new customer acquisition, and provide the feedback you need to improve targeting and messaging.

Formulas:

Customer retention rate = ((customers at end of period − new customers acquired during period) ÷ customers at start of period) × 100

Churn rate = (customers lost during period ÷ customers at start of period) × 100

Repeat purchase rate = (customers with two or more purchases ÷ total customers) × 100

Examples:

• Retention: (540 customers at end − 80 new) ÷ 500 at start = 92% retention
• Churn: 40 customers lost ÷ 500 at start = 8% churn
• Repeat purchase: 180 repeat customers ÷ 600 total customers = 30%

Best for: Churn and retention rate suit subscription and recurring-revenue businesses. Repeat purchase rate suits e-commerce and other businesses that rely on repeat orders.

What we like: It shifts attention from acquiring customers to keeping them, and it can reveal which marketing channels bring in customers who actually stay.

Where marketing fits: Retention is shared with product, sales, and customer success, so marketing doesn’t own it alone. Learn more about how customer success teams approach retention in our guide to customer success metrics.

What to do with it: If retention or repeat purchase rate falls, find where customers drop off, such as after onboarding or at first renewal. Then build a campaign for that moment, such as education content for new customers or a win-back offer for lapsed ones.

Pro tip: Segment retention by acquisition channel or campaign. If customers from one source churn faster, shift the budget toward the sources that bring in customers who stay.

Marketing KPI FAQs

What are KPIs in marketing?

Key performance indicators in marketing are quantifiable measures of progress toward a specific marketing or business goal, such as growing a qualified pipeline, reducing customer acquisition costs, or improving retention. They differ from metrics, which track individual activities like email opens or keyword rankings. KPIs show whether you’re on track, and metrics help explain why a KPI is moving.

What are the 5 marketing metrics?

There isn’t a single official list, but five commonly tracked marketing metrics are:

1. Email click-through rate: Clicks ÷ delivered emails × 100
2. Bounce rate: The percentage of visits that leave without further interaction
3. Keyword rankings: Where your pages appear in search results for target terms
4. Social impressions: How many times your content was displayed
5. Cost per click (CPC): Ad spend ÷ number of clicks

These measure the performance of specific tactics. A metric becomes a KPI when it’s tied directly to a goal. For example, organic traffic can be a KPI if growing search visibility is your objective, and a supporting metric if your objective is pipeline.

What are the top 3 KPIs in marketing?

For teams focused on proving revenue impact, three common marketing KPIs are revenue attributed to marketing, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and funnel conversion rate (e.g., MQL-to-SQL). Together, they show how much revenue marketing generates, what it costs to acquire a customer, and where prospects drop off. That said, the top three depend on your goal. A team focused on awareness or retention would choose differently.

What are the most important KPIs for marketing?

The most important marketing KPIs are the ones tied to your current business goal. As a starting point:

• Awareness: Website visitors, organic traffic, referral traffic
• Lead generation: Conversion rate, MQLs, SQLs
• Revenue and efficiency: Revenue attributed to marketing, CAC, and ROI
• Retention: Customer retention rate, churn, LTV

Choose a small set that covers your goal, and treat everything else as supporting metrics. Tracking fewer, more relevant KPIs makes it easier to act on what you see.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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