How to Know If Your Marketing Is Doing What You’re Paying For
Marketing is a line item in the budget for most B2B businesses. But whether it’s actually doing its job is a different question.
For many companies, it can be hard to evaluate what’s working. There might be external partners, freelancers, or internal staff doing their best to keep things moving. You see activity—maybe even a lot of it—but you’re not sure if it’s creating real value.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
TLDR: Many B2B businesses struggle to evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing spend. It’s crucial to ensure that marketing efforts support business goals like generating qualified leads, easing sales conversations, and growing profitable areas.
Steps to Evaluate Your Marketing Spend:
- Define Clear Marketing Goals: Ensure campaigns have specific business objectives.
- Measure Progress, Not Activity: Focus on metrics that show real business impact, not just clicks or impressions.
- Align Sales and Marketing: Ensure marketing efforts generate leads that sales can convert.
- Evaluate Marketing Partners: Ask partners to explain how their work supports your business goals.
- Focus on Key Audiences: Target the market segments that matter most for your current goals.
Unsure if your marketing spend is delivering real results? Let’s talk.
Marketing is a line item in the budget for most B2B businesses. But whether it’s actually doing its job is a different question.
For many companies, it can be hard to evaluate what’s working. There might be external partners, freelancers, or internal staff doing their best to keep things moving. You see activity—maybe even a lot of it—but you’re not sure if it’s creating real value.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
The real test: does it support your business goals?
Marketing isn’t about being busy. It’s about supporting growth.
- Are you seeing more of the right leads?
- Are sales conversations getting easier?
- Are you growing the parts of your business that drive profit?
If you can’t connect your marketing spend to one of these outcomes, it’s time to step back and refocus.
How to tell if your marketing spend is working
If you’re not sure what to look for, here’s what we see with B2B businesses who aren’t getting what they need from marketing:
- No clear marketing goal. You’re running campaigns or content, but there’s no defined business objective behind them.
- Measuring activity, not progress. Lots of metrics. Not much insight. You know how many people clicked, but not how many good leads came in.
- Spending spread too thin. Trying to do everything at once: social, ads, events, content. None of it feels connected.
- Sales and marketing aren’t aligned. Sales isn’t seeing traction from marketing efforts. Leads don’t match what they need.
- No one can explain how marketing supports business growth. You’re getting reports, but they don’t tie back to revenue, margin, or strategic goals.
These are indicators that you might be paying for marketing—but not getting the strategic return you expected.
A quick note on B2B marketing budgets
There’s no universal rule, but many B2B businesses spend between 2% and 8% of revenue on marketing, depending on their size, growth stage, and goals. If you’re spending less than that, you might not be allocating enough to see results. If you’re within that range and still unsure what it’s doing for you, that points to an alignment issue—not necessarily a budget one.
It also helps to remember that not all marketing activities are measured the same way. Lead generation efforts like paid search or email campaigns are often tied to short-term metrics (clicks, conversions, qualified leads). Brand awareness activities—like sponsorships or content that builds recognition—tend to influence results over a longer period and in more indirect ways.
Make sure you’re clear on what each piece of your marketing is meant to do, and how you plan to evaluate it.
Don’t get stuck on vanity metrics
Dashboards from SEO or ad partners highlight activity—not impact. If you’re seeing clicks, impressions, and traffic but can’t connect them to sales opportunities or business growth, you’re looking at surface-level metrics. Your partners should be able to explain how their work supports your business goals. If they can’t, that’s a problem.
We talk more about disconnects between marketing spend and business outcomes in The gap between marketing spend and business results.
What to do if you’re not getting what you’re paying for
If this sounds familiar, don’t overcomplicate your next step. Start here:
- Write down what you expect your marketing to achieve. Be specific. (More qualified leads? Easier sales conversations? Growth in a priority service?)
- Pick one audience or market segment to focus on. Not everyone. The one that matters most right now.
- Check if your current marketing supports that focus. Are your campaigns, content, and spend aligned with that goal?
- Look at where your time and budget are going. Are the tactics you’re paying for the right fit for this focus? For example, if you’re trying to grow a niche B2B service, is broad brand awareness spend really helping? This is where misalignment shows up.
- Ask your marketing partners to explain how their work ties to that outcome. If they can’t, that’s a red flag.
You don’t need a full reset. You need clarity—and a way to measure progress that means something to your business.
Related reading: If this sounds familiar, you’ll also want to read: Why most B2B marketing isn’t focused on profit—and how to fix it
Why focused marketing works – and feels easier
Most B2B businesses don’t need to overhaul their marketing. They need clarity on three things:
- What they’re trying to achieve
- Who they’re trying to reach
- What message connects those dots
When you get those pieces right:
- Spend gets focused where it matters
- Sales and marketing pull in the same direction
- You can track progress against real business outcomes
- New ideas are easier to evaluate—you can see if they fit your priorities
It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing the right things.
For a practical example, see What a well-built B2B campaign really delivers. And for more on spending smarter, read Doing less, getting more.
Bench Strength Marketing works with B2B businesses across Western Canada that want better alignment between what they spend on marketing and what they get back.
About the Author: Carla Trobak
Carla is a B2B Marketer and Partner at Bench Strength Marketing. She sees the big picture and loves to get her hands into the details.
