As marketers in this day and age we should be aware of the importance and growing pressure to measure and demonstrate marketing’s ROI. A surprising 87% of marketers do not feel confident in their ability to impact the sales forecast of their organizations and 1 out of 5 marketers do not measure their marketing results at all.

But how can marketing efforts be measured, and which are the best metrics to use? While measuring ROI can be difficult, it is certainly not impossible. A marketing measurement checklist will help you intelligently analyze the success of your marketing, justify your marketing budget, and keep measurement from becoming an afterthought. Selecting the right metrics will help you manage your business more effectively and help you identify areas for improvement. Meaningful metrics fall into three distinct categories: Revenue, Performance, and Profit.

Consider these metrics for Revenue — Program ROI and Opportunity Creation. For Performance you should evaluate Response Rates and Conversions. And, for Profit its best to closely manage Average Selling Price and Margin.

All said, measuring direct impact on revenue or profit can be difficult, but it is important to do and critical to the well-being of an organization.