Metrics that Matter - Insights from Gartner's CMO Value Playbook

In this issue of the CMO Digest, we are building on the themes from our last blog – how CMOs can align with C-Suite priorities – by focusing more on the metrics that matter. Gartner have published extensively on this topic and we are using their insights to help shape ours.

In complex financial institutions, factors like regulation, channel fragmentation, and market volatility make it difficult to isolate marketing’s impact on revenue – and even harder to get credit for it. It’s no surprise, then, that Gartner reports only 35% of CMOs regularly communicate marketing’s business impact to senior stakeholders – revealing a clear opportunity to improve how marketing performance is framed and valued at the top table.

That’s why in this article we are focusing on the key ratios we can employ with confidence, to establish a baseline over time, enabling the isolation of influencing factors while clearly demonstrating marketing's commercial contribution.

Today, Gartner’s research found that only 17% of marketing leaders feel “very confident” in their ability to prove marketing’s contribution to business outcomes – a telling sign of how difficult it is to gain recognition in cross-functional, revenue-shared environments, and one we are on a mission to change.

The good news: The answer isn’t more data

While CMOs face mounting pressure to demonstrate the value of marketing in commercial terms the answer isn’t just more data –it’s more meaningful metrics.

According to Gartner, organisations with high marketing measurement maturity achieve up to $4 in value for every $1 invested in analytics and performance tracking.

In distributed organisations –particularly in industries like financial services – one of marketing’s greatest challenges is proving its impact amidst shared ownership of outcomes. As Gartner notes, without an agreed definition of marketing value, it’s easy for other functions to dominate the revenue narrative. Marketing must move beyond what it did to clarify how it contributed.

As Gartner’s CMO Value Playbook makes clear, the most effective marketing leaders don’t just measure activity – they connect marketing to outcomes that matter across the C-suite. This requires shifting from channel-level reporting to a disciplined framework of:

• Leading metrics: indicators of future impact

• Lagging metrics: proof of past performance

• Operational metrics: data for in-flight optimisation

But success doesn’t stop at selecting the right metrics – the value lies in who sees what, and why. CMOs must tailor performance reporting to the strategic priorities of the CEO, CFO, CSO/CRO, and CTO. At the same time, they must protect their teams from executive distraction by keeping operational metrics within the department.

A Metrics Model with a Purpose

To earn a voice in strategic decisions, CMOs need to ensure their measurement model speaks the language of growth, return, and efficiency. That’s where ratio analysis  – a cornerstone of management accounting – comes in.

By adopting ratio-based metrics like ROMI, CAC:CLTV, and Lead-to-Close conversion, marketing becomes measurable on the same terms as every other function. This shifts perception from marketing as a cost centre to marketing as a revenue partner.

Critically, these ratios allow marketing to focus on influence rather than ownership. You don’t have to “own” the sale to show how marketing improved conversion velocity, campaign ROI, or cost-per-acquisition. As Gartner advises, effective CMOs must frame impact in commercial terms – even when attribution is shared.

Attribution: Reframing the narrative

In global or complex financial institutions, marketing is rarely the sole owner of revenue. Sales, product, digital, and channel teams all have their own dashboards – and their own claims to impact.

Rather than competing for credit, Gartner encourages CMOs to shift the conversation from ownership to contribution. Metrics like:

• Marketing-influenced pipeline

• Conversion velocity uplift

• Touchpoint efficiency

• Brand-to-demand conversion

…help clarify how marketing improves performance across the funnel, even if it doesn’t “close” the deal.

This approach allows CMOs to participate meaningfully in commercial conversations without sparking turf wars – and to build credibility with finance through transparent, ratio-led reporting.

As Gartner notes, “Marketing value is best demonstrated by the outcomes it enables – not just the activities it controls.”

Metrics That Matter: Tailored to the C-Suite

• CEO: Growth, Trust, Strategic Differentiation

“How is marketing accelerating our business ambition?”

Marketing must demonstrate its role in accelerating enterprise growth, building trust, and opening new markets.

- Brand equity score / Share of voice
- Marketing-sourced revenue or pipeline
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) uplift
- Customer acquisition growth (by segment)

• CFO: ROI, Efficiency, Commercial Impact

“Is this a good investment? What’s the return?”

Marketing needs to present financial efficiency, measurable return, and clear links to commercial performance.

- Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI)
- CAC:CLTV ratio
- Campaign profitability
- Spend-to-impact ratio

• CSO/CRO: Revenue Velocity and Conversion

“Is marketing helping us close deals faster?”

Marketing should prove how it shortens sales cycles, improves lead quality, and supports pipeline growth.

- Lead-to-Close Ratio
- Marketing-influenced pipeline contribution
- MQL to SQL conversion rate
- Content engagement in open opportunities

• CTO / CIO: Tech Effectiveness and Digital Maturity

“Is marketing delivering on digital and AI investments?”

Marketing must show how its use of MarTech, data, and AI drives digital transformation and customer insight.

- MarTech utilisation rate
- Predictive performance from AI models
- Digital channel ROI
- Data quality indicators

Internal vs External Metrics: Know What to Share

Not every metric needs to – or should leave the marketing department. Operational metrics are critical for internal optimisation, but they don’t belong in the boardroom.

Internal-Only Metrics:
- Email open/click rates
- Social post engagement
- Landing page conversion
- A/B test results
- Campaign speed-to-launch

As Gartner recommends, it’s worth ensuring you have stakeholder-specific dashboards that present only the most relevant business outcomes per executive – eliminating the noise of channel-level metrics, building trust through commercial focus and ensuring you have more control of the conversation.

Embrace Ratio Thinking: Measure Influence, Not Just Ownership

Ratios translate raw metrics into performance insights that stakeholders understand and trust. They show not just what happened, but how efficiently it happened.

These ratios bring marketing into financial parity with other departments – where performance is measured not by activity, but by return.

More than that, Garter has proven that organisations using multi-touch attribution as part of their ROMI model report a 21% improvement in budget efficiency.

Metrics Maturity Roadmap: One View to Drive Progress

In line with our other CMO Digests, we’ve created a clear, single-view roadmap that aligns with Gartner’s measurement model and can be mapped to your organisational maturity – designed for real-world implementation, not theoretical perfection.

>  Download here to start aligning your metrics to commercial priorities

Final Thought: Proving, Improving, Leading

Metrics are not the end goal. The goal is influence – to secure marketing’s place at the strategic table. By applying the right ratios, framing performance around stakeholder value, and building a structured, time-bound roadmap, CMOs in financial services can do more than prove marketing works.

They can show how well it works, why it matters, and where it goes next.

Resources:

Gartner CMO Playbook
Gartner’s 3 Techniques to Prove Marketing’s Value  
Gartner’s Top Business Partner Metrics Communications Can Impact