Does digital marketing work for manufacturing companies?
Yes. Industrial buyers research suppliers online long before they call, comparing capabilities, certifications and product specifications. Digital marketing puts your company in…
How do we measure ROI on B2B marketing with long sales cycles?
Quick answer
Measure B2B marketing ROI by tracking every enquiry's source in a CRM, recording qualified RFQs, quotes sent and their value, and closed orders over time. Use leading indicators like qualified RFQs and pipeline value monthly, and calculate full ROI over six to twelve months as orders close. Include repeat orders in the value of each new customer.
Why ROI is tricky in B2B
An industrial buyer might enquire in January, request samples in March, and place an order in July. If you judge marketing only on orders closed this month, it will always look unprofitable. You need to track the whole journey.
Set up the tracking
- Capture the source of every enquiry: website form, search ad, LinkedIn, trade show, referral.
- Log every enquiry in a CRM with company, contact, product and source.
- Mark qualification: is it a genuine buyer with a real requirement?
- Record quotes sent and their value.
- Record orders won, lost and repeat orders.
Leading indicators to watch monthly
- Qualified RFQs by source.
- Cost per qualified RFQ.
- Quoted value generated by marketing.
- Quote-to-order rate.
Calculate ROI over the right period
Every six or twelve months, compare total marketing spend with gross profit from orders that started from marketing enquiries. Include repeat orders from those customers, since industrial relationships often last years.
Attribute fairly
Many buyers touch several channels — a LinkedIn post, a Google search, a website visit — before enquiring. Use your CRM and analytics to see the journey, and ask new customers how they first heard of you.
Share reports with sales
Marketing and sales should review the same pipeline report monthly, so both teams see which campaigns create real business.
| Time frame | Metric |
|---|---|
| Monthly | Qualified RFQs, cost per RFQ |
| Quarterly | Quoted value, quote-to-order rate |
| 6–12 months | Orders, gross profit, ROI |
| Long term | Repeat orders and customer value |
Key takeaways
- Track every enquiry's source through to orders.
- Use qualified RFQs and pipeline as monthly signals.
- Calculate full ROI over six to twelve months.
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