Marketers need better data signals to measure success

More than a third of marketers have admitted that they don’t always understand the connection between the analytics they receive and future marketing decisions taken by their brand. Having more information doesn’t automatically mean having more understanding. In a separate report, 43% of B2B marketers said they actively distrust their brands' reporting metrics – so how can we receive and analyse data better?

Trust signals

Of course, companies are already measuring marketing success through coverage, impressions, clicks and website visits. While these metrics improve visibility – so long as they’re done right – they don’t guarantee meaningful impact, especially as AI search and other new technologies come to the fore.

The data you collect is key to driving decision-making: the more information you have to hand, the more you can trust that the activity and strategy you have in place is working for your company.

The landscape

Customers are no longer arriving at your website ready to purchase your service or product. Instead, this research is now happening in the dark through ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, social platforms, external articles, colleagues' opinions, and events. Consequently, potential customers are forming views on your business long before they land on your webpage or speak to a sales rep.

As budgets get tighter, that journey becomes even more complex, longer and harder to influence. The key to success will require confidence in your marketing strategy – and the better data you have, the sharper and more informed your decisions will become.

It’s all in the data

As mentioned, receiving and – more importantly – understanding your data is essential to ensure you’re not wasting your available budget on clicks and attention that doesn’t convert for your business.

Today’s PR and marketing efforts are centred around company visibility, building positive sentiment, driving awareness and positioning your leadership team and content effectively to the audiences that matter most. However, none of that delivers real impact unless the methods used to track and interpret the data is aligned with your business objectives.

That process starts with clearly understanding your audience. You need to get a sense of not just who they are, but how they make their decisions, and this means knowing which publications influence them, which channels they’re active on, which topics map to their pain points, and which Large Language Models (LLMs) they’re turning to for answers.

Every stage and every platform offer its own unique challenges, and without clarity and conviction, you’re guessing.

Precision, not just reach

The goal has moved beyond reach; more than ever it’s about precision. Without reliable data, companies risk spending on impressions that never reach prospects or appear in environments where buyers actually consume content. Just like earned and owned content, poor targeting can weaken trust signals and dilute the narratives you’re trying to build.

As with AI search, knowing which channels influence your audience, where they’re most receptive and which format to use drives meaningful engagement and allows smarter decision-making. Guiding social and advertorial activity with accurate insight means placements happen where and when they matter, ensuring your spend contributes positively to visibility and credibility.

Precision can only come from setting the right goals to measure against them. Having super sharp, clear objectives leads to tracking the most meaningful metrics for your business, rather than the ones that look impressive.

Don’t struggle with the metrics

This is where your PR and marketing teams become critical partners. You can work with them to help you make sense of the data gathered across all channels to spot the patterns, interpret what they mean and guide you on what’s next. They can tell you how AI is surfacing your brand in which models, which keywords and topics you’re ranking for, how your competitors are being positioned, and what impact your earned, owned and social content is having across the customer journey.

Once you can access the right data and analyse your impact, that’s when you can ensure your messages are landing in the right rooms, with the right audiences. If we can understand the data, then we can focus on generating real tailored success for your business.  

How we can help

If you’re interested in learning more about focusing on audience quality, publication relevance and conversion-focused tracking, speak to our team to learn more: hello@proactive-pr.com