Having just wrapped up our Google Analytics Bootcamp, I thought it would be timely to revisit the topic of marketing metrics and how to tie them to the most valuable business KPIs for Allinial Global managing partners and executive committee members.
According to a poll from our 2021 Executive Team Conference, the top three most valuable KPIs for Allinial Global firm leaders were:
- Revenue/Employee
- Service/Client
- Profit
So, which KPIs should accounting marketers track to move the needle in the right direction?
1. Business KPI: Revenue/Employee
Marketing KPI to Track: % of Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) from Digital Sources (including but not limited to email, website, paid and organic social, and virtual events)
Digital leads aren’t the only way to improve this business KPI. Most firms still rely heavily on referral sources for new business, with lead percentages from digital sources in the single digits.
However, I encourage you to track your digital SQL percentage because it can be easily (though not entirely) attributed to you, the marketing employee. Although you likely had help hosting the webinar, publishing and search-optimizing the blog post, or launching a new website, few will dispute the impact of your contribution.
More importantly, the ability to generate digital leads is crucial for growing your firm’s advisory services, especially for CAAS, SOC, and cybersecurity practices, the top three emerging areas for growth in the accounting profession.
Don’t feel discouraged if your current percentage is low. You can’t improve something that isn’t tracked. So even if you’re at 0%, start your digital marketing engine now. And yes, leads from current clients absolutely count. In fact, current clients are one of the best ways to test the waters for messaging, targeting, or pricing with any new service. Want to grow your CAAS practice? An email campaign with your nonprofit clients is a great start. SOC practice? Start with your healthcare, financial institutions, or technology clients. In May, Allinial Global will help you add Facebook advertising to your toolbox with a webinar. So please keep your eyes out for that. And of course, we can’t forget about organic social.
Before moving on, let’s note the distinction between Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) and Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). It’s exciting to see that people are signing up for your email list, registering for webinars, or requesting industry benchmarking studies—all MQLs. Perhaps your executive committee even asks to see these metrics. But of these MQLs how many fit your ideal client profile? Most importantly, how many convert to clients? Keep your eyes on quality.
2. Business KPI: # of Services/Client
Marketing KPI to Track: # of Services/Client or Average # of Services/Client
As I mentioned earlier, generating leads from digital sources absolutely counts for existing clients, and here’s your proof. Service per client is one of the most valuable business KPIs for executive committees. And the tactics for improving this metric are similar – email, and social (paid and organic) with a good dose of internal marketing.
When it comes to growth, we tend to overemphasize new clients and overlook the importance of increasing wallet share with existing clients. Whether your firm calls it a client saturation score or measures revenue per client, the name of the game is cross-selling. Our marketing community call today will focus on cross-selling, so please join us if you can.
I recommend that you focus on improving this KPI for A or B clients only, as you won’t want to offer more services to C clients who are painful to serve. Not all clients are created equal.
3. Business KPI: Profit
Marketing KPI to Track: Revenue Won from Digital Sources/Amount Spent on Digital Marketing
To paraphrase Ron Baker from the VeraSage Institute, growth for growth’s sake is the mentality of cancer cells. Yes, growth is desirable, but managing costs and maximizing profit are equally important. Ideally, marketers should manage client acquisition costs when it comes to digital wins.
I recommend tracking only digital leads won and digital marketing investment for this KPI, as investments and marketing activities largely controlled by the marketing team are the simplest to track. For in-person events, sponsorships, and other business development expenses, cost tracking and allocation can get tricky fast.
I also recommend excluding annual subscription fees for marketing technologies, including CRM and marketing automation. They are table stakes and are used to communicate with existing clients and employees, too.
So, what should be included in the denominator? SEO costs (if outsourced), costs associated with pay-per-click, social media, or banner ads, and retargeting and influencer marketing campaigns.
Use your judgment about what should be included in the numerator. The goal is to improve the percentage from year to year, so it’s important to be consistent about what you include.
So there it is: three KPIs that your executive committee members find most valuable and how you as a marketer can move the needle in the right direction. There are many other ways to move the needle, but I need to manage the word count on this already lengthy blog post, too.
Are you tracking these KPIs already? If so, how are things going? If not, which one are you most excited to start tracking?
Join our growing Global Marketing Community to share your thoughts and learn from your peers.
