My CFO is asking for the "Bottom Line" impact of our automation spend. How do you calculate the ROI of things like lead nurturing and automated social posting? Are there specific attribution models (First Touch, Last Touch, Multi-Touch) that work best for demonstrating the value of automation?
3 answers
To satisfy a CFO, you need to talk about "Velocity" and "Value." Measure how much faster a lead moves from MQL to SQL through an automated track versus a manual one. That’s your "Time Savings" ROI. For revenue, I suggest a "Linear Multi-Touch Attribution" model. It gives credit to every touchpoint in the journey. If a lead was nurtured by three automated emails before they bought, those emails deserve a percentage of that deal’s value. We also track "Influenced Revenue," which shows how many closed-won deals engaged with at least one automated campaign during the sales cycle. POSTED BY: Patricia Moore DATE: 14-08-2024
Are you currently tracking the "Cost per Lead" (CPL) and how it has changed since you implemented these automated workflows?
Look at "Customer Retention" rates. Automation isn't just for new leads; it’s for keeping the ones you have. Compare the churn rate of users in an automated onboarding flow vs. those who aren't.
Excellent point, Elizabeth. Retention is the silent driver of ROI. If automation keeps a customer for six months longer, that’s a direct impact on the company's valuation and long-term health.
Richard, our CPL actually went down by 22% because our automated retargeting is much more efficient than our manual ad spend used to be. But the real win was the "Customer Lifetime Value" (CLV). By automating our upsell emails to current customers, we increased our expansion revenue significantly without hiring more account managers. That’s the kind of "efficiency gain" that our leadership team really cares about, as it shows we can scale the company's revenue faster than our overhead costs.