B2B marketing budgets are influenced by data that less than half of the people responsible for marketing measurement and communications fully trust.
Only 49% of respondents have a lot of confidence in the accuracy and completeness of their data. However, according to a new study from 10Fold, measurement influences strategy or budgets for 88% of respondents in paid social, 87% in paid media and digital, and 85% in owned content.
The study, “The Communications ROI Reset: What B2B Leaders Measure, Trust And Act On,” surveyed 400 people responsible for marketing and communications at companies in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany. Interviewees included C-level executives, directors, department heads and managers.
Teams have the data, but struggle to connect it
Respondents draw data from a wide range of systems: 67% use website analytics, 67% use social analytics, 63% use CRM data, and 58% use marketing automation data.
Only 35%, however, have fully integrated reporting across earned media, paid social, content and digital channels. Another 19% have partially integrated reporting, while 18% have integrated reporting but with unclear or inconsistent attribution.
37% still use manual spreadsheets and only 46% include reports from agencies or other partners. The data exists, but linking a media placement, social interaction or content engagement to what a buyer did next remains difficult.
Executives have greater confidence in business results
Research shows why these connections are important. Revenue impact is the metric CEOs and boards trust most, at 34%. Pipeline influence and volume of media coverage each stand at 16%, while share of voice stands at 11%.
Communications measurement is already moving further downstream: 48% track leads or conversions influenced by earned media, with just over 45% tracking the number of media placements or mentions.
When measuring what happens after someone engages, 51% track click-through rates on social ads, while 41% track form fills or requests. Multi-touch attribution is the most common method for linking communications to outcomes, used by 43% of respondents. Another 25% use correlation or directional analysis.
AI visibility adds another layer of measurement
The visibility of AI adds another set of metrics for teams that already struggle to connect marketing activity to business outcomes.
54% measure AI search visibility or brand mentions in AI-generated content. 46% include AI visibility or optimization in executive reporting, demonstrating how quickly this metric has entered executive conversations.
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Earned media is also factored into the AI measurement: 42% track the number of LLM applications that cite media coverage of their brand.
The next challenge is connecting that visibility to business results. An AI mention can show that a brand appeared in a response, but teams still need to understand whether that exposure contributed to a website visit, lead, opportunity, or sale.
Before adding additional metrics, teams need to determine which signals help explain buyer behavior, which link to business outcomes, and which provide sufficient evidence to guide investment decisions.
The relationship can be downloaded here. (Registration required)
