5 Marketing Metrics Insights Agencies Should Track

Success in B2B marketing depends on tracking the right metrics, and this is no different in research and insights. While certain numbers may look impressive at first glance, they don’t always reveal what’s driving business growth. Understanding which metrics offer real value — and which are just vanity numbers — can help agencies make smarter decisions and refine their strategies.

The Pitfalls of Vanity Metrics

It’s easy to be drawn in by metrics showing enticing numbers, but not all tell a meaningful story. For example, a spike in social media followers, high website visits, and email open rates may create the illusion of strong performance, but they don’t necessarily translate into engagement or revenue. We marketers are often caught looking at these numbers and reassuring ourselves that marketing activities are making an impact.

This assumption is not entirely wrong, and while these metrics aren’t to be ignored, they work best when paired with data that demonstrates actual influence on business objectives. The key is discerning which figures truly indicate business success, and which ones look good on paper but are not that meaningful.

Metrics That Offer Actionable Insights

Conversion Rate

Tracking conversion rates helps agencies understand if they are reaching the right audience and if their marketing efforts are encouraging action. A high number of visitors or leads means little if they aren’t taking meaningful steps. True conversions go beyond visits or sign-ups — they refer to the number of leads that ultimately become paying customers. This metric is key for gauging the effectiveness of your funnel and refining strategies to boost actual revenue, but tread carefully: don’t expect immediate results from a campaign in conversion rates. It’s rather the result of a cumulation of marketing activities over a longer period of time.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

While it’s not a foolproof indicator of success, CTR measures how often people engage with an email or ad by clicking a link.

A strong CTR suggests that your messaging is relevant and compelling, and your content is resonating with the audience, while a low one signals the need for adjustments to content, targeting, or design.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Acquiring customers involves an investment, but the goal is to ensure that the investment is sustainable. CAC calculates the total spend required to bring in a new customer, revealing whether marketing and sales efforts are cost-effective. Divide total marketing and sales spend by the number of clients acquired over a set period, and keep track of it on a quarterly basis to see overarching trends. Keep in mind that new marketing and sales hires may temporarily disrupt the balance of this number.

Average Sales Cycle Length

Understanding the timeline required to convert a lead from first contact to a completed deal can highlight inefficiencies in the sales process. While the B2B buyer journey from visitor to customer may take up to 18 months, an overly extended sales cycle may highlight redundant steps, whereas a shorter one might suggest an efficiently optimized funnel. Take the number of days from the first lead touchpoint until the day of the sale for each deal closed and divide that by the number of deals closed during that period.

Return on Investment (ROI)

ROI remains one of the most telling metrics for marketing success. Comparing revenue generated to the investment made offers a direct measure of effectiveness. Whether your strategy is meeting expectations or needs adjustments, this metric provides a clear picture of what is working and what isn’t. As with most of these metrics, it’s worthwhile to have a ‘bigger picture’ perspective and look at a longer period of time before evaluating how marketing activities are performing as a whole.

An ideal ROI is between 400-500%, in other words, every dollar spent on marketing should yield between $4-5.

Using Vanity Metrics in the Right Context

Vanity metrics aren’t inherently bad, they simply need to be understood in context. When used alongside more actionable KPIs, they can help track progress, uncover patterns, and shape smarter strategies. Here's how to use them more effectively:

• Social media followers: A growing follower count can signal increased visibility and interest in your brand. Used in isolation, we can only make limited assumptions — but when tracked alongside engagement rates or conversions from social channels, it helps assess whether your content is resonating with the right audience. 
• Website traffic: An influx of visitors can indicate a successful campaign. However, pairing traffic metrics with bounce rates, session duration, and conversion data tells a much more meaningful story about user intent, acquisition, and quality of traffic. 
• Email open rates: A high open rate suggests that your subject lines are effective and your audience is curious. To understand the real impact, connect this with click-through rates and post-click actions to gauge whether your message is prompting meaningful engagement. 

While actionable metrics, such as ROI, CAC, and conversion rate, show where value is being created, early indicators like engagement and reach help you understand where interest is starting to build. Looking at both types together offers a more strategic and well-rounded view of your marketing performance.

Final Thoughts

No single metric can tell the whole story. For B2B marketers in insights agencies (and elsewhere), the real power lies in bringing different types of data together — using surface-level indicators to spot trends and deeper metrics to measure impact. When metrics are assessed collectively, they offer context, reveal patterns, and guide more confident, strategic decisions.

It’s also important to recognize that meaningful marketing outcomes often take time, especially in a landscape where campaigns vary in length and focus. Rather than judging success on immediate results, marketers should invest in consistent execution, give strategies time to mature, and analyze data holistically. This balanced, long-view approach is what drives sustainable marketing success.