How Ready Are You to Track Attribution Reporting in Marketo?
When used right, Marketo can breathe new life into your marketing efforts and shine light on the fastest path to an online traffic explosion. The downside? Before Marketo can start banging on all cylinders, you need to know your team’s marketing needs, spot holes in reporting, and establish goals.
Whether you’re a Marketo newbie or have been using the platform for years, you may be missing out on the best attribution reporting. I’m here to help you get to the bottom of your reporting readiness so you can hit the ground running. Here’s how to dig into your marketing efforts and determine how ready you are to track attribution reporting in Marketo.
What is marketing attribution reporting?
Basically, marketing attribution reporting maps out those actions your potential customers take as they waltz throughout the Buyer’s Journey. These insights reveal what moves are sparking action and what marketing or sales efforts just aren’t landing. Done right, marketing attribution reporting can also prove ROI and help you secure buy in from your company’s stakeholders.
Why track your Marketo marketing attribution reporting readiness?
If you’re a marketer, you’re busy. Is it really worth taking the time to assess your attribution reporting readiness?
The truth is simple: If you want to prove marketing ROI, hit your marketing goals, and see the best path to pulling in leads, you need to examine your current readiness. Even if you’ve been reporting in Marketo for a while, taking a long hard look at your attribution reporting can be a gamechanger.
Here’s what you gain by assessing your attribution reporting:
- See what marketing moves are working
- Find the gaps in your current reporting
- Understand where you need to go to reach your marketing goals
- Troubleshoot and improve your reporting
- Uncover new opportunities you never thought of
Not sure where to start? Here are some ways to start gauging your attribution reporting readiness in Marketo.
Pinpoint your attribution reporting maturity level for Marketo.
Every company will have unique strengths, weaknesses, and attribution reporting maturity levels. By drilling into where your company currently is, you’ll know what improvements you need to focus on to perfect your marketing attribution reporting.
Remember, marketing maturity runs along a sliding scale, but there are a few broad categories most companies fall into:
Low Marketing Maturity
If you’re new to marketing attribution reporting, your company is probably in the low maturity phase. You may be tracking the basics, such as urchin tracking module (UTM) parameters, but you probably aren’t reporting many of your sales touchpoints, or Salesforce isn’t lined up with your Marketo reporting.
Medium Marketing Maturity
Companies with medium maturity have mapped out some touchpoints across their critical interactions. This might even include both online and offline interactions. You may also have info streaming between Salesforce and Marketo. However, companies with medium maturity will have holes or blindspots in their reporting.
High Marketing Maturity
If your company has high reporting maturity, you’re tracking the whole spectrum of your sales and marketing interactions. Companies in the high maturity range are obviously in the best reporting position, but they can still work to find new integrations and time-saving upgrades.
It’s Complicated
Just because you’re pulling in a lot of reporting figures doesn’t mean your company has a healthy maturity level. Some companies will have too many tracking codes and not much of a plan. If you’re pulling in piles of information, but it’s chaotic, your company’s maturity level is too complicated.
Dig into your technical game.
Once you’ve nailed down your marketing team’s general maturity level, it’s worth digging into your technical setup. Basically, you’ll want to ask yourself, “Is my reporting technology setup for success?” The cleaner your setup, the easier it will be to implement your marketing attribution plan in the future.
Here are a few basic questions to consider:
- Is the right info synced between Salesforce and Marketo?
- Are reports free from duplicates and unnecessary data?
- Have you been in Marketo for at least six months and set up the basics?
Evaluate your marketing attribution strategy.
Even if you’re reporting across channels without a hiccup, it won’t matter much without a sound marketing attribution reporting strategy. Consider what story you’re trying to tell or what actions you want to record.
Your marketing attribution strategy will hinge on the model or models you use. They will feed your campaign efforts, determine which touchpoints you zoom in on, and help you evaluate which campaigns are successful. Here are a few popular Marketo attribution models to choose from:
Are there gaps in your attribution reporting?
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been tracking attribution reporting, there’s always room for improvement. And the only way to identify a clear path to more leads is to take a hard look at your current marketing strengths and weaknesses.
By assessing your readiness, you can see all the holes in your current strategy and adjust for next-level reporting. Ready to get started? Take our Marketo Attribution Reporting Readiness Assessment today.
Originally published at www.smartbugmedia.com.
