- Start from enquiries and work backwards: the KPIs that matter are the ones that explain them.
- Five to eight KPIs are enough for a small team. Track the same ones every month.
- Compare with the same month last year as well as last month, so seasonality doesn't mislead you.
- When results drop, check tracking first, then the market, then the channel, then the offer.
Choosing marketing KPIs that matter
A KPI (key performance indicator) is a number you track because it tells you whether marketing is doing its job. For most B2B firms, that job is to produce enquiries that turn into customers. So the useful marketing KPIs are the ones that explain enquiries: how many there were, where they came from, how efficiently they were produced, and what's likely to happen next month.
Everything else, such as followers, impressions and time on page, is supporting detail. It can help explain a change, but it doesn't belong at the top of your report.
The core marketing KPIs for a small B2B team
| KPI | What it tells you | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries (form submissions, calls, emails) | Whether marketing is producing demand | GA4 key events; your CRM or inbox; call tracking |
| Enquiries by source | Which channels produce them | GA4, Traffic acquisition with key events; UTMs on campaign links |
| Qualified enquiries | How many were the right kind of customer | Your CRM, or a simple tag on each enquiry |
| Website conversion rate | How well the site turns visits into enquiries | Key events divided by sessions in GA4 |
| Organic search clicks | Visibility in Google for the searches that matter | Search Console, Performance |
| Business Profile actions | Calls, website clicks and direction requests from Google | Google Business Profile, Performance |
| Cost per lead | How efficiently paid activity produces enquiries | Spend divided by enquiries; see customer acquisition cost |
| Pipeline or revenue from marketing | Whether enquiries became business | Your CRM, reviewed with sales |
If you only have time for three, track enquiries, enquiries by source and qualified enquiries.
Set up the data first
A report is only as good as its tracking. Before you build one, check:
- Every form submission is a key event in GA4, as are phone number clicks and email clicks. See how to use Google Analytics.
- Campaign links carry UTM tags, so email, social and partner traffic is labelled correctly. See UTM tracking.
- Search Console is linked to GA4, so you can see search data alongside behaviour.
- Someone records what happens to each enquiry: qualified or not, and whether it became a customer. A column in a spreadsheet works if you don't have a CRM.
Monthly marketing report template
Keep it to one page. Directors read one page; they skim five.
1. Headline numbers
| Metric | This month | Last month | Same month last year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiries | ||||
| Qualified enquiries | ||||
| Website sessions | ||||
| Website conversion rate | ||||
| Organic search clicks | ||||
| Business Profile calls and website clicks | ||||
| Marketing spend | ||||
| Cost per qualified enquiry |
2. Enquiries by source
| Source | Enquiries | Qualified | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic search | |||
| Google Business Profile | |||
| Direct | |||
| Referral and partners | |||
| Social | |||
| Paid | |||
| AI assistants (chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai and similar referrals) |
3. What worked, what didn't (three bullet points each, with the evidence)
4. Next month's priorities (no more than three)
That's the whole report. Add detail only when it explains a change.
Building a simple marketing dashboard
If you want a live view rather than a monthly document, a dashboard can pull the same numbers automatically. Looker Studio (free) connects to GA4, Search Console and Google Sheets; your CRM may have reporting built in. Keep the dashboard to the same KPIs as your report, so the two always agree.
Why is my marketing not working?
When enquiries drop, resist the urge to change everything at once. Work through the causes in order, because the first ones are the quickest to check and the most often missed.
| Check | Question | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tracking | Did enquiries really fall, or did tracking break? | Submit a test form; check GA4 Realtime; compare GA4 with your inbox or CRM |
| 2. Seasonality | Is this normal for the time of year? | Compare with the same month last year, not just last month |
| 3. The market | Did demand change? | Search Console impressions; Google Trends for your main services |
| 4. Visibility | Did you drop in search or lose a listing? | Search Console clicks and positions by page; your Business Profile status |
| 5. The website | Did something break or change? | Forms, speed, a recent redesign, a plugin update; see how to do a website audit |
| 6. The channel | Did one source fall while others held? | Enquiries by source; platform changes; campaigns that ended |
| 7. The offer | Are people visiting but not enquiring? | Conversion rate on key pages; competitor offers; see website conversion rate |
Most drops are explained by the first four. A sudden fall to near zero is almost always tracking or a broken form. A gradual fall over months usually points to visibility, competition or the offer.
When to stop a channel
Give a channel a fair test before you judge it: enough time and budget to produce a meaningful number of enquiries, tracked properly. Then compare cost per qualified enquiry across channels. If one consistently costs far more and produces lower-quality enquiries, cut it back and move the effort to what works. Review this quarterly rather than monthly, because monthly numbers for small teams swing a lot.
A monthly routine that takes an hour
- Week 1, day 1: export last month's numbers into the template (30 minutes).
- Check for anomalies: anything up or down sharply against last year? Find the reason before reporting it.
- Write three "worked" and three "didn't" points, each with evidence.
- Choose three priorities for next month.
- Share it, and keep a copy so trends build up over the year.
Questions
What are the most important marketing KPIs?
For most B2B firms: enquiries, enquiries by source, qualified enquiries, website conversion rate, organic search clicks, and cost per qualified enquiry. Revenue or pipeline from marketing is the ultimate measure if your CRM can track it.
What should be in a monthly marketing report?
Headline numbers compared with last month and the same month last year, enquiries by source, what worked and what didn't with evidence, and no more than three priorities for next month. One page is enough.
How many KPIs should I track?
Five to eight is plenty for a small team. Track the same ones every month so you can see trends.
Why is my marketing not working?
Check, in order: whether tracking is working, whether it's a seasonal dip, whether demand changed, whether your search visibility dropped, whether something on the website broke, whether one channel fell, and whether visitors are arriving but not enquiring.
What's the difference between a KPI and a metric?
Every KPI is a metric, but not every metric is a KPI. A KPI is one of the few numbers you've chosen because it directly reflects whether marketing is meeting its goals.
Every guide is checked against the platform it describes before it’s published, and re-checked when the platform changes.