How to Get Buy-In From Top Marketing Leaders & What KPIs Truly Matter

Whether you’re crafting a caller contented campaign, launching a YouTube series, aliases revamping your societal strategy, activity will inevitably ask: “How will this effect our company’s bottommost line?”

Answering this mobility isn’t ever straightforward. That’s why I ever make judge to place my cardinal capacity indicators (KPIs) earlier seeking executive buy-in. KPIs not only thief maine measurement occurrence but besides supply nan actual grounds needed to summation leadership’s support and move ideas into reality.

And you apt cognize really quickly nan trading scenery is changing — 56% of marketing leaders work together it has changed much successful nan past 3 years than successful nan past fifty. So, it’s clear to maine that nan barroom for securing buy-in has risen.

Leadership wants actual grounds of impact, often backed by AI-powered insights, customer understanding, and proven ROI.

To get a clearer picture, I said pinch trading leaders to stitchery their apical tips for receiving buy-in and to uncover which KPIs matter astir to them successful 2025.

Table of Contents

• What is executive buy-in?
• How to Get Buy-In From Top Marketing Leaders
• What Goals Matter Most to Marketing Leaders successful 2025 [+ KPIs to Track]

What is executive buy-in?

Executive buy-in is much than conscionable getting a motion of support from activity — it’s astir earning their progressive support for your thought aliases campaign. When leaders bargain into your plan, they go champions for it, thief unafraid basal resources, and region organizational obstacles that mightiness impede success.

As Kyle Denhoff, elder head of media astatine HubSpot, explains, “Securing activity buy-in goes beyond presenting beardown ideas; it’s astir aligning those ideas pinch nan broader goals of nan business. At HubSpot Media, we halfway our investments astir 2 halfway business objectives: build marque consciousness and thrust demand.”

Denhoff emphasizes nan value of ratio and alignment here: “When presenting to executives, nan cardinal is to necktie your initiatives to metrics they attraction astir while being businesslike (lean team, debased costs).”

By straight connecting your initiatives to nan KPIs that matter astir to leadership, you make a compelling lawsuit that resonates pinch their priorities.

How to Get Buy-In From Top Marketing Leaders

If you’re aiming to unafraid meaningful executive buy-in, present are immoderate cardinal steps I propose you follow.

1. Lead pinch business impact.

Don’t commencement pinch strategies — commencement pinch outcomes. Frame your inaugural successful position of business objectives and nan KPIs that matter astir to executives, specified arsenic Return connected Marketing Investment (ROMI) aliases Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

“It’s easy to get mislaid successful vanity metrics for illustration postulation aliases page views, but executives attraction astir about return-on-investment,” says Dhanvin Sriram, caput of contented trading astatine Neptune.AI, adding that showing tangible results is cardinal to getting executives connected board.

“For instance, we usage contented engagement metrics specified arsenic clip spent connected page, click-through rates, and bounce rates to measure nan effectiveness of our content.

If engagement is high, it’s often a motion of beardown contented that resonates pinch our target audience. Once we demonstrated that accrued engagement was starring to a higher conversion rate, executives understood nan relationship and were much supportive of our contented initiatives.”

Consider really your connection will lend to nan company’s bottommost line. For example, if you’re suggesting a caller societal media campaign, explicate really it will make qualified leads that tin person into sales, thereby expanding revenue.

Our information backs this up, too. According to nan Marketing Leader's Field Guide, 20% of leaders prioritize expanding gross and sales, truthful tying your run to financial outcomes is critical.

2. Back it up pinch data.

Numbers build trust. I for illustration to see manufacture benchmarks, competitor insights, and soul information to create a data-driven lawsuit for my initiative. I’ve learned this is truthful overmuch much powerful than coming to activity pinch a moonshot thought you want to effort — you need to person nan numbers to backmost it up.

As an example, let’s opportunity you’re proposing a run targeting dormant email subscribers. You tin usage humanities conversion information to estimate nan incremental gross this assemblage could generate. As a bonus, I for illustration including visuals for illustration charts aliases lawsuit studies to make nan lawsuit easier to digest.

Luca O’Neil, caput of maturation trading astatine Access Partnership, shares a unsocial strategy: showing nan information from a aviator test. For example, he piloted a LinkedIn advertisement run targeting a niche B2B segment.

“With a 35% summation successful qualified leads and a lower-than-average CPL, nan occurrence provided nan assurance needed to standard nan inaugural globally,” he said.

“Creating executive-friendly dashboards pinch applicable metrics helps prolong buy-in. I usage platforms for illustration HubSpot to connection concise overviews of pipeline impact, CLV, and engagement trends, ensuring executives person instant entree to information that supports decision-making,” he added.

And, of course, you can’t hide tying nan information backmost to a larger story. “Storytelling is conscionable arsenic powerful arsenic data. I’ve shared customer testimonials and lawsuit studies during committee meetings to exemplify really our trading initiatives effect existent people,” he said. “This attack makes trading consciousness much tangible and aligned pinch nan company’s mission.”

3. Present clear milestones.

Break your inaugural into manageable phases pinch specific, measurable goals for each stage. Define what occurrence looks for illustration and found regular check-in points.

I for illustration to show really small, first investments tin lead to speedy wins and outline really these successes tin beryllium scaled. This helps build assurance successful nan larger strategy and helps build a way to scaling further.

Going backmost to nan run for dormant email subscribers, this could look like:

By aligning your milestones pinch KPIs that executives attraction about, you supply a roadmap that illustrates really your inaugural will lend to nan company’s objectives.

What Goals Matter Most to Marketing Leaders successful 2025 [+ KPIs to Track]

What do leaders want? That’s nan mobility you should inquire yourself if you’re looking to get executive buy-in. According to HubSpot’s 2025 State of Marketing Trends Report and our Marketing Leader's Field Guide, trading leaders are chiefly focused connected 3 goals:

• Increasing gross and income (20%).
• Getting a amended knowing of your customers and their needs (16%).
• Increasing marque consciousness and reaching caller audiences (15%).

For each of these goals, let’s research why they matter, nan cardinal KPIs to track, and tips to unafraid executive buy-in.

1. Increase gross and sales.

In 2025, trading leaders look mounting unit to beryllium their department’s nonstop effect connected nan company’s bottommost line. Marketing is nary longer viewed arsenic a costs halfway — it’s expected to beryllium a gross driver.

If you activity backward from your company’s superior extremity of expanding revenue, it makes consciousness that reaching caller audiences and converting them into qualified leads would beryllium apical priorities.

As Jordan DiPietro, erstwhile HubSpot vice president of marketing, says, “As a trading leader, it’s important to take a KPI that is astir aligned pinch your company’s overarching business objectives — it could beryllium a gross metric, it could beryllium a scope metric, aliases successful nan lawsuit of HubSpot Media, it could beryllium both!

The important point is that your KPIs and nan action plans associated pinch those KPIs are ones that tin beryllium straight connected to nan KPIs of nan business.”

DiPietro’s squad focuses connected 2 main KPIs: wide scope (visits, opens, listeners, and views) and leads (net caller contacts driven by media content).

He elaborates, “Our scope KPI is suggestive of nan truth that HubSpot wants to turn top-of-the-funnel consciousness for nan business. Our media squad does this by expanding nan scope of our blog content, newsletters, podcast network, and YouTube network.

“Our gross KPI is suggestive of nan truth that HubSpot is simply a SaaS business — truthful we want to make leads that tin beryllium shared pinch nan income squad successful bid to move those leads into qualified leads and past into satisfied customers,” he adds.

What KPIs matter most?

• Return connected Marketing Investment (ROMI). This metric quantifies really overmuch gross is generated for each dollar spent connected marketing. It’s a favourite among CMOs who want to speak nan CFO’s language.
• Revenue Growth Rate. Track wide maturation and segment-specific maturation (e.g., caller customers vs. existing customers).
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). This metric has go progressively important arsenic integer advertizing costs rise. Smart teams way CAC trends crossed channels, segments, and campaigns, utilizing this information to continuously refine their acquisition strategy.
• Pipeline Velocity. This composite metric shows really quickly your trading efforts person to revenue.

Securing Executive Buy-In

To unafraid buy-in for a run tied to this goal, you request to framework it successful position of financial impact. Executives respond good to ROI-focused proposals.

• Speak their language. Instead of explaining advertisement walk successful position of clicks, coming it arsenic a $1,000 finance that could make $10,000 successful revenue.
• Leverage predictive analytics. For example, show really a caller run targeting dormant email subscribers could make $500K successful incremental gross based connected humanities conversion rates.

By straight connecting your KPIs to gross outcomes, you make it easier for executives to spot nan worth of your proposal.

2. Get a amended knowing of your customers and their needs.

With AI and precocious analytics astatine nan forefront, knowing customer needs is some easier and much captious than ever. Customers expect personalized, seamless experiences. Without heavy insights, brands consequence falling behind.

Carey Thiels is simply a request procreation strategist and trading consultant. She helps tech startups scheme and execute a trading strategy that will get them to exponential growth.

“Product take will show you really good your customers are utilizing your product. And, of course, renewal and/or churn complaint will show you if customers want to enactment aliases move connected to different alternative,” she says.

All of these factors are cardinal to knowing your customers and their needs better.

What KPIs matter most?

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Understanding CLV by conception helps trading leaders make smarter acquisition and retention investments
• Net Promoter Score (NPS). A straightforward metric for gauging customer restitution and loyalty.
• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT). Measures really satisfied customers are pinch your merchandise aliases service.
• Customer Retention Rate. Higher retention signals your efforts to understand and meet customer needs are working.

Securing Executive Buy-In

Executives attraction profoundly astir customer satisfaction, but they’re much apt to beryllium persuaded by numbers and tangible outcomes.

• Present customer stories. Use study data, testimonials, aliases lawsuit studies to show really gathering customer needs has led to measurable success.
• Link to marketplace share. Highlight really amended customer insights tin lead to a competitory advantage, whether it’s winning caller audiences aliases reducing churn.

Jason Marshall, CMO astatine Huntress, besides emphasizes this approach: “Tracking KPIs tin thief trading leaders build a compelling lawsuit to get nan support they need. By projecting nan gross a customer generates complete their life pinch nan business, trading leaders tin research strategies to amended customer retention while avoiding attrition.”

3. Increase marque consciousness and scope caller audiences.

In 2025, opinionated retired is nary mini feat. The integer scenery is much crowded than ever, pinch brands competing fiercely for nan aforesaid attention.

While gross remains nan apical priority, there’s a beardown attraction connected deepening customer knowing and expanding reach. This suggests a balanced attack betwixt short-term income goals and semipermanent marque building.

Brand consciousness is nan instauration for early growth. It ensures your institution remains applicable successful nan eyes of your assemblage and top-of-mind erstwhile they’re fresh to make a purchasing decision. Reaching caller audiences is peculiarly important arsenic marketplace dynamics displacement and existing customer bases evolve.

Denhoff shared pinch maine really he thinks astir this extremity astatine HubSpot. “The HubSpot Blog receives complete 10M visits per month, each an belief for our brand. HubSpot Media is goaled connected Leads first, Reach second. We’re focused connected filling nan lead pipeline for nan income team.”

He highlights really marque consciousness efforts align straight pinch gross generation, a important relationship for earning executive buy-in. By increasing HubSpot’s assemblage done owned media for illustration blogs, podcasts, newsletters, and YouTube channels, HubSpot Media reports connected full assemblage scope monthly, providing a tangible awesome of accrued marque visibility among cardinal assemblage segments.

For example, Denhoff explains really a video connected increasing your LinkedIn institution page mightiness see a call-to-action to download a premium guide. By converting viewers into leads via gated content, HubSpot Media not only boosts scope but besides drives meaningful pipeline maturation — yet supporting nan company’s broader gross goals.

What KPIs matter most?

• Share of Voice (SOV). This metric helps trading leaders understand their brand’s beingness comparative to competitors.
• Engagement-to-Reach Ratio. Rather than conscionable search followers aliases reach, smart marketers measurement meaningful engagement.

Securing Executive Buy-In

Brand-building initiatives often look skepticism from leaders focused connected short-term results. The cardinal is connecting marque metrics to gross outcomes.

• Use beardown examples. Demonstrate really a 20% summation successful marque consciousness connected LinkedIn led to a 10% boost successful income wrong a cardinal marketplace segment.
• Leverage benchmarks. Use manufacture information to show really competitors are investing successful brand-building and nan risks of falling behind.

Huang Xiong’s acquisition backs this up.

“As for 2025 KPIs, nan game’s evolving. Sure, we’re still search CAC, LTV, and ROAS — those are nan backbone — but now we’re looking deeper into engagement and community,” says Xiong, an email information trading consultant.

“Two KPIs I’m loving correct now are customer engagement people (how often group interact pinch our content) and organization maturation complaint (growth of our societal beingness and user-generated content). These aren’t conscionable numbers; they show if we’re building existent connections pinch our audience.

“Marketing is little astir one-off income and much astir creating loyal customers who really attraction astir your brand. Bottom line: Focus connected nan numbers that show nan afloat story, not conscionable nan sale.”

Use KPIs to lend to your company’s success.

I’m each for innovative ideas and moonshot plans, and I deliberation it’s an important value of a awesome marketer. However, I’ve learned that successful bid to move these ideas into reality, you request captious components for illustration KPIs to measurement occurrence and meaningful executive buy-in.

If you can’t spot a beardown relationship betwixt your KPIs and nan business’s KPIs, it mightiness beryllium clip to reassess your focus. Shifting your strategy to amended effect nan bottommost statement will not only heighten your contributions but besides thief execute buy-in from leadership.

By starting pinch business impact, backing up your proposals pinch data, and presenting clear milestones aligned pinch nan KPIs that matter astir to executives, you’ll summation your chances of securing nan executive buy-in you request to succeed.

Editor's note: This station was primitively published successful October 2022 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.