When Your Marketing Report Shows Failure

If you want to get real about how well your marketing campaigns are working, you need a distilled marketing report. And by distilled, we’re talking about a report digestible for sales, marketing, and the C-suite crowd. When done well, a B2B marketing report tells your team:

• what to improve,
• what to invest in,
• and what not to do again.

Chew well on that last point, for you need to know what campaign failed and why in order to plan out a more lucrative marketing future.

Michelle Tresemer, affectionately known as the Foundations First digital stunt brain, is gaining recognition as an expert who can be counted on to deliver practical, no-bullshit advice. Evidence to that point is the growing number of industry blog articles that count on her input. Databox’s Maham S. Chappal’s November 17, 2020 piece, “18 Essential Things Every B2B Marketing Report Should Include,” is a comprehensive guide to B2B marketing reports. It draws from key marketing influencers, including Tresemer. And she does not disappoint.

Learn from Your Digital Marketing Mistakes

One of the critical things to include in a marketing report, according to Tresemer, is what failed. “As odd as it sounds, I like to include at least one fail. As in, which campaign did not do well that we should not do again. Knowing what doesn’t work is often more valuable than figuring out what DOES.” She goes on to say that not making the same mistake over and over again “frees up precious resources for tactics that do drive leads.”

One way for B2Bs to do that is by utilizing Google Analytics. Tresemer says, “…we use UTM parameters to track all of our campaigns. Then it’s simply a matter of looking at the campaign metrics to see what worked and what didn’t.”

Know What Your Customers Cost You

Another key feature of a good B2B marketing report is customer acquisition costs. “One important metric that you must include in a high-level B2B marketing report is the marketing costs for new customer acquisition,” says Avinash Chandra, CEO of BrandLoom Consulting. Since marketing to new customers costs more than marketing to your existing customers, it’s essential to know if your costs and ROI expectations are in sync. If they’re out of whack, it’s time to initiate some changes.

Be Brave When Constructing Your B2B Marketing Reports

Catriona Jasica of Top Vouchers Code echoes Tresemer’s inclusion of failed campaigns on reports. She says reports need to include news that is good, neutral, and bad, for all of it adds up to understanding what future strategic and tactical adjustments you need to make.

The bottom line, according to Juli Durante of Impulse Creative, is to measure and report “your progress and contribution toward the company’s goal.” In other words, create a report that tells the damn truth about what needs improvement, which campaigns merit further investment and which ones don’t, and what platforms are working for you. Those truths are the only way forward.

Know Your Target Market’s Needs to Prevent Future Failures

More often than not, campaigns fail because they don’t offer tangible and relatable solutions for a target market’s problems. That means you need to get to know your target audience beyond the usual demographic categories.

Cindy Skach, of Skach Marketing Group recommends “a good first step is talking to your in-house folks who work most directly with your customers: your sales staff and/or account managers.” They’ve got a good read on your customers’ pain points; they’re the ones in direct contact with customer questions and concerns. Utilize your in-house resources by opening the lines of communication between marketing and sales.

Still Confused on Why a Campaign Failed? We Can Help.

Sometimes the sting of failure can blind a good team to why a campaign went South. Communication breaks down. That old habit of blaming sets in. Silos fortify. When that happens, getting everyone refocused on the ideal customers’ needs requires some neutral guidance and expertise.

We’re here to discuss how to move forward. Our speciality is helping B2Bs create solid marketing foundations align teams around a successful strategy. We can help you analyze why your campaign failed and redirect your efforts around your clients’ needs and problems. Feel like having a heart-to-heart about a recent failure? Book a consult now. We can help you turn that failure into a useful marketing tool.

Read “18 Essential Things Every B2B Marketing Report Should Include” for many more expert tips at.