How to move beyond vanity metrics and build a measurement toolkit that supports better commercial decisions

Reflection: Which marketing metric gets the most attention in your organisation, and does it genuinely influence a better decision?


Why this matters now

Measurement is still one of marketing’s biggest credibility challenges. Marketing Week’s 2025 effectiveness survey found that only 39.2% of brand marketers currently measure whether their work is delivering business outcomes, while Gartner says only 52% of CMOs and senior marketing leaders can prove marketing’s value and get credit for it.

Manager focus: Choose measures that show business contribution, not just marketing activity

Executive focus: Report numbers that help explain what is working, what is not, and what should happen next

Key point: If measurement does not help a commercial decision, it is reporting theatre, not performance management.


Session aims

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

Distinguish meaningful metrics from vanity metrics


Build a small, defensible measurement toolkit


Connect daily activity to commercial outcomes


Use leading and lagging indicators together


Explain priorities clearly to colleagues and stakeholders

Key point: Good measurement creates clarity for both strategy and execution