Multichannel Marketing ROI: Metrics to Track

Table of contents:

Multichannel marketing is about reaching potential customers across various platforms - like LinkedIn ads, email, and webinars - and tracking ROI to see what works. For SaaS companies, measuring ROI is tricky due to long sales cycles, recurring revenue models, and complex attribution. Here's what matters most:

Key Metrics: Track Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
Channel ROI: SEO delivers 748% ROI, email marketing 201%, and webinars 364%. Know which channels perform best.
Attribution Models: Use multi-touch attribution to credit all touchpoints fairly - like time decay or position-based models.
Tools: CRMs (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) and analytics platforms help track and optimize performance.
Retention: Monitor churn rates and retention to improve long-term profitability.

Measuring and optimizing these metrics helps SaaS marketers make smarter decisions, allocate budgets effectively, and drive consistent growth.

What Is Marketing ROI In SaaS Performance Reviews? - Saas Marketing Wizards

Revenue and Pipeline Metrics

Revenue and pipeline metrics are crucial for measuring the ROI of multichannel marketing in SaaS businesses. They link marketing efforts directly to business outcomes, offering insight into how campaigns drive both potential and actual revenue. Without these metrics, it becomes challenging to pinpoint which channels contribute to growth. These numbers provide the foundation for understanding how multichannel strategies convert into measurable revenue.

Marketing Sourced Pipeline

Marketing Sourced Pipeline refers to the total dollar value of sales opportunities generated through marketing efforts. This metric directly reflects how marketing contributes to revenue and helps guide resource allocation.

To track this effectively, integrate tools like CRM and marketing automation platforms. These systems allow you to follow leads from their first interaction to the creation of sales opportunities. For instance, if a webinar campaign generates $500,000 in qualified sales pipeline, that figure clearly demonstrates marketing’s role in driving growth.

A great example of successful pipeline generation comes from PipelineRoad, which has generated over $88 million in pipeline for its clients. One standout case is their partnership with Reworld, where they created more than $12 million in pipeline and over 600 highly qualified MQLs in a short time frame. Gagan Sood, CTO of Reworld, shared:

"The impact of PipelineRoad on Reworld's lead generation success has been truly exceptional. We witnessed remarkable results, with over $12 million in pipeline created and more than 600 highly qualified MQLs generated within a short span of time. Their strategic insights and actionable data have been instrumental in driving our revenue growth."

To get the most out of this metric, set clear and measurable KPIs from the start. Platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot can track the total dollar value of opportunities classified as "marketing sourced" and display results in a straightforward format, such as $250,000.

Marketing-Attributed Revenue

Marketing-Attributed Revenue measures the actual revenue credited to marketing across multiple touchpoints using multi-touch attribution models.

Attribution models like linear, time decay, and position-based ensure that revenue is distributed fairly across all contributing marketing activities. For example, a time decay model might give more credit to interactions closer to the final conversion, while a linear model distributes credit equally across all touchpoints.

Effective attribution tracking often requires strong collaboration between RevOps and MarketingOps teams. As Mike Williams, VP Commercial Operations, put it:

"Their MarketingOps team has truly changed the way we manage our CRM data - for the better. It's so easy now, I wish we had done this a long time ago."

With accurate attribution, you can directly link marketing efforts to revenue outcomes, making it easier to evaluate total marketing contributions and optimize future campaigns.

Total Revenue Contribution

Total Revenue Contribution represents the overall revenue generated from multichannel marketing campaigns. It’s calculated by integrating data from tools like CRMs, analytics platforms, and marketing automation systems. Tools such as Google Analytics with Ecommerce Tracking, Salesforce, and specialized attribution platforms can automate this process, delivering revenue data in US dollars.

To ensure accuracy, maintain clean funnel data and build detailed reports that align marketing activities with revenue goals. Here's a breakdown of average ROI and attribution complexity across key channels:

Channel	Average ROI	Revenue Attribution Complexity
SEO	748%	High – Long attribution window
Email Marketing	201%	Medium – Clear tracking paths
Webinars	364%	Medium – Event-based attribution
LinkedIn Ads	94%	High – Multi-touch journeys
PPC	36%	Low – Direct attribution

Real-time reporting dashboards and regular optimization reports are essential for monitoring performance. These tools help identify areas needing improvement and allow for data-driven adjustments. By setting clear goals and KPIs upfront, SaaS marketers can measure Total Revenue Contribution, highlight marketing's direct impact on sales, and make more informed budget decisions. Together, these metrics provide a roadmap for refining multichannel marketing ROI.

Cost and Profitability Metrics

To truly understand marketing ROI, you need to go beyond revenue metrics and dive into the cost side of the equation. These metrics reveal whether your marketing investments are delivering a positive return or simply draining resources. By pairing cost analysis with earlier revenue tracking, you can get a clear picture of how your marketing efforts are performing overall.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) tells you how much it costs to bring in a single new customer across all marketing channels. You calculate it by dividing your total marketing spend by the number of new customers acquired.

For instance, in the B2B SaaS sector, the average CAC is about $728. However, this number can vary widely depending on factors like company size, market position, and the complexity of your target audience. To get an accurate CAC, make sure you’re factoring in costs from all channels.

Here’s an example: If your company spends $50,000 in a month across email marketing, paid search, social media, and content marketing, and you acquire 100 new customers, your CAC is $500. Now, think about sustainability - if you’re spending $500 to acquire a customer who only brings in $400 in lifetime value, something needs to change.

A key metric to watch is the LTV-to-CAC ratio. For B2B SaaS companies, a healthy ratio is 6:1, meaning for every dollar spent acquiring a customer, that customer should generate six dollars in lifetime value. This ratio helps you gauge whether your marketing efforts are truly driving growth.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

ROAS, or Return on Ad Spend, measures how much revenue you generate for every dollar spent on advertising. For example, if you spend $1,000 and earn $1,940 in revenue, your ROAS is 1.94. This metric helps pinpoint which advertising channels are the most cost-effective.

Not all channels perform the same. SEO, for instance, might yield impressive long-term returns, while paid ads often deliver more predictable but modest results. A higher ROAS indicates that your ad spend is translating into revenue - an essential sign of positive ROI.

To get the most out of ROAS, look at it holistically. Don’t just evaluate individual channels - consider how they work together to drive overall profitability. This broader view can guide smarter budget allocation.

Complete Campaign Cost Analysis

When calculating ROI, don’t stop at media spend. A full campaign cost analysis includes all direct and indirect costs to ensure accurate results.

Here are some often-overlooked expenses you should include:

Technology and Tools: CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, analytics software, and attribution tools all add to your monthly costs.
Personnel Costs: Salaries for your marketing team, agency fees, and payments to contractors or freelancers are part of your overall investment.
Content Production: Expenses for design, video production, copywriting, photography, and graphics can add up quickly.
Infrastructure Expenses: Hosting fees, domain costs, landing page builders, and email service providers are foundational but often overlooked.

For example, if you spend $10,000 on paid ads, $5,000 on marketing automation tools, $8,000 on personnel, and $2,000 on content creation, your total marketing spend is $25,000. Ignoring these indirect costs can lead to inflated ROI calculations and poor decisions.

Using platforms like Salesforce or Zoho, which offer advanced analytics and reporting, can help consolidate all these cost categories. This comprehensive approach ensures more accurate profitability assessments and smarter budget planning.

Another critical factor is multi-touch attribution. Instead of crediting only the final touchpoint, this method assigns value to all interactions a customer has with your brand. For example, a customer might first see your product in a LinkedIn ad, engage with your SEO content, receive nurturing emails, and finally convert through a paid search ad. Without proper attribution, you might misjudge which channels are truly driving profitability.

To maintain sustainable growth, it’s essential to regularly track these metrics against your KPIs. For ongoing campaigns, monthly reviews are a good practice, while paid advertising often requires weekly monitoring to seize quick optimization opportunities.

Customer Value and Retention Metrics

While cost metrics reveal what you're spending, customer value and retention metrics show the long-term impact of your multichannel marketing efforts. These indicators help determine if your strategies are building lasting customer relationships that fuel growth - or just attracting fleeting attention.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) estimates the total revenue a customer brings in over their entire relationship with your business, factoring in recurring payments, upsells, and renewals. For SaaS companies, CLV is particularly important - it helps define how much you can invest in acquiring customers while staying profitable.

To calculate CLV, multiply the average monthly revenue per customer by the average customer lifespan (in months) and subtract related costs. However, for accuracy, you need to integrate data from all customer interactions, such as email campaigns, paid ads, and social media touchpoints, using tools like CRM and analytics platforms.

For example, if a customer generates $3,000 in lifetime value, you can afford to spend up to $500 on acquisition to maintain a healthy 6:1 LTV-to-CAC ratio. Without this insight, you risk overspending on customers who churn quickly or underspending on strategies that attract loyal, high-value customers.

Predictive analytics can refine CLV further by factoring in churn probabilities and upsell potential.

To boost CLV through multichannel marketing, focus on personalized engagement across channels. Use targeted upsell and cross-sell campaigns, automate lead nurturing, and address customer concerns proactively through feedback monitoring. These strategies not only increase customer value but also enhance retention and reduce churn.

Retention and Churn Rates

Retention and churn rates are two sides of the same coin. Retention rate measures the percentage of customers who stick around over a set period, while churn rate tracks those who cancel or fail to renew. For B2B SaaS companies, an annual churn rate of 5–7% is considered healthy. Low churn and high retention are signs that your marketing touchpoints are effectively maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Tracking these metrics requires tools like CRM systems, subscription management platforms, and marketing automation software to monitor customer activity and subscription trends. Multi-touch attribution models can help identify which channels and campaigns contribute most to retention - or, conversely, to churn.

Cohort analysis is another powerful tool. It allows you to observe trends over time by grouping customers based on when or how they were acquired. This helps you identify patterns and fine-tune your strategies to improve retention.

Impact on Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Retention directly impacts Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) - a key metric for SaaS businesses. MRR represents the predictable income generated from active subscriptions each month. Multichannel marketing influences MRR in three major ways: acquiring new customers, reducing churn, and driving expansion revenue through upsells.

By leveraging diverse channels like email, social media, and content marketing, you can increase conversion rates and keep customers engaged longer.

To measure the impact of your multichannel efforts on MRR, integrate data from multiple sources, such as subscription billing systems, CRM platforms, and marketing attribution tools. This comprehensive approach highlights how each channel contributes to your recurring revenue.

A common benchmark is 10% month-over-month MRR growth, which signals effective multichannel strategies. If you're falling short of this target, it’s worth examining underperforming channels and adjusting your retention strategies.

For instance, one SaaS company used a multichannel approach combining LinkedIn ads, email nurturing, and personalized onboarding. By monitoring CLV, retention, and MRR together, they discovered that personalized onboarding emails reduced churn by 15% and boosted CLV by 20% within a year. This data-driven strategy allowed them to allocate resources more effectively and focus on the most impactful channels.

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Practical Steps for SaaS Marketers

Turning data into actionable strategies is where the magic happens for SaaS marketers. While tracking metrics is essential, the real value comes from using those insights to drive meaningful results. Here's how you can transform raw data into a strategic, multichannel marketing approach that delivers measurable outcomes. These steps align seamlessly with the revenue, cost, and retention metrics discussed earlier, keeping your strategy firmly rooted in data.

Align Objectives with Measurable Metrics

Before diving into campaigns, it’s crucial to define success in clear, measurable terms. Every initiative should have a specific business goal and quantifiable KPIs that tie directly to revenue.

Start by identifying your primary objective - whether it’s boosting qualified leads, increasing free trial signups, or driving paid conversions. Then, set concrete targets. For instance, if your goal is to grow paid subscriptions, focus on metrics like marketing-attributed revenue or the conversion rate from trial to paid users.

Consistency is key when tracking metrics across channels. Use standardized definitions for metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). This makes it easier to compare performance and spot trends.

Here’s a quick look at industry benchmarks to guide your planning:

SEO: 748% ROI
PPC: 36% ROI
Email marketing: 201% ROI

Using these benchmarks, you can set realistic goals, allocate budgets wisely, and quickly identify areas where performance might be lagging.

Use Multi-Touch Attribution Tools

Modern B2B buying journeys are anything but simple. Relying on single-touch attribution can leave you with an incomplete picture. Multi-touch attribution, on the other hand, helps you understand how different channels work together to drive conversions.

Choose an attribution model that matches your buyer’s journey. For instance:

Linear attribution splits credit equally across all touchpoints.
Time decay models give more weight to interactions closer to conversion.
Position-based models emphasize the first and last touches but still account for middle interactions.

Integrate your attribution tools with platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Marketo to capture data from all channel interactions. This ensures accurate credit distribution and a clearer understanding of what’s driving revenue.

For example, one SaaS company used Salesforce and Google Analytics to implement multi-touch attribution across paid search, content marketing, and webinars. They discovered that webinars outperformed paid ads in lead-to-MQL conversion rates. By reallocating budget toward webinars and refining ad spend, they achieved a 30% ROI improvement within six months.

To stay proactive, set up automated alerts for any significant deviations in your metrics. This allows you to address underperforming campaigns quickly before they eat into your budget.

Monitor and Optimize Campaign Performance

Effective monitoring turns marketing into a well-oiled, data-driven machine. Build dashboards that consolidate performance data from all active channels. These should highlight key metrics like CAC, ROAS, conversion rates, and Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) in one central view.

Tools like Tableau, Power BI, and native dashboards in HubSpot or Salesforce can help you create customizable views tailored to your KPIs. Depending on the campaign, review these dashboards daily or weekly, and conduct monthly tactical reviews alongside quarterly strategic evaluations.

During these reviews, dive deep into trends, compare results to industry benchmarks, and use cohort analysis to identify patterns. Pay close attention to channel performance and attribution reports - they can uncover opportunities for budget shifts, creative updates, or channel prioritization. For example, if your lead-to-MQL conversion rate falls below the 39% benchmark, investigate which channels are underperforming and make adjustments.

Adopt a continuous improvement cycle: monitor, identify opportunities, test changes, measure results, and scale what works. This ensures your marketing evolves in step with shifting market dynamics and customer behavior.

Stick to a focused set of actionable KPIs to avoid drowning in data. Centralize your marketing data and establish a regular review schedule to keep your strategy sharp and responsive.

PipelineRoad's Role in Optimizing Multichannel Marketing ROI

PipelineRoad

Improving multichannel ROI takes more than just tracking numbers - it requires a partner who understands the intricacies of B2B marketing and consistently delivers results. That’s where PipelineRoad shines. They specialize in helping AI and SaaS companies tackle these challenges with a well-rounded approach that blends fractional leadership, expert marketing services, and a reliable Go-To-Market (GTM) framework.

At the heart of PipelineRoad’s strategy is their structured 5-step GTM roadmap. This framework is designed to directly address the ROI challenges outlined earlier, focusing on metrics like revenue, costs, and customer value. It all starts with a discovery audit, where they evaluate your current go-to-market strategy, SEO performance, online presence, and competitive landscape. This step identifies market opportunities, gaps, and baseline metrics, setting the stage for measurable ROI improvements.

Next comes strategic planning, where insights from the audit are transformed into a tailored plan that aligns with your business goals. This phase defines key performance indicators (KPIs) and success metrics, ensuring every decision ties back to revenue and cost efficiency. Instead of guessing which channels will work best, PipelineRoad crafts a clear roadmap with precise resource allocation and financial targets. With this blueprint in hand, they move seamlessly into execution.

Implementation and execution - often a stumbling block for SaaS companies - is where PipelineRoad’s team excels. They coordinate efforts across account-based marketing, SEO, paid search, social media, and events. By managing these channels cohesively, they ensure each one contributes effectively to overall ROI.

In the monitoring and optimization phase, PipelineRoad continuously tracks campaign performance across all channels. They use data-driven insights to refine strategies, turning underperforming efforts into revenue-generating campaigns. Regular optimization reports keep everything on track, ensuring no opportunity is missed.

RevOps and automation services are another key part of PipelineRoad’s approach. Their team handles CRM management, data enrichment, and detailed reporting, helping to streamline your sales funnel and uncover actionable insights. This process simplifies the often-complex task of consolidating data and measuring ROI across multiple channels.

The results? They speak for themselves. For example, some clients have seen a 540% increase in marketing-qualified leads. One standout success story is Reworld, which achieved outstanding results through PipelineRoad’s multichannel strategy.

"The impact of PipelineRoad on Reworld's lead generation success has been truly exceptional. We witnessed remarkable results, with over $12 million in pipeline created and more than 600 highly qualified MQLs generated within a short span of time. Their strategic insights and actionable data have been instrumental in driving our revenue growth."
– Gagan Sood, CTO of Reworld

Transparency and accountability are integral to PipelineRoad’s process. They provide dashboards that track performance across campaigns and A/B tests, offering clear insights into KPIs and goals. This level of visibility allows you to see exactly how each channel contributes to your ROI, helping you make informed budgeting decisions. By tying each effort back to key ROI metrics, they ensure every marketing dollar is spent wisely and delivers predictable revenue growth.

For SaaS companies looking to move beyond basic metric tracking, PipelineRoad offers the expertise and proven methods to turn marketing investments into consistent, measurable revenue. Their end-to-end approach covers everything from initial strategy to ongoing optimization, ensuring your multichannel marketing efforts deliver real results.

Conclusion

Metrics like CAC, ROAS, CLV, and MRR aren’t just numbers - they’re the backbone of sustainable growth. Together, they provide a complete view of ROI, helping you understand which strategies deliver results and which ones drain resources. By keeping a close eye on these metrics, you can make smarter decisions, ensuring your marketing dollars work harder.

Here's a compelling example: SaaS companies that prioritize tracking and optimizing their key metrics see up to 32% higher marketing ROI and 23% greater marketing efficiency compared to those that don’t. This isn’t just about staying competitive today - it’s about creating a long-term advantage that grows stronger over time. Achieving this requires a culture that values data and ties every decision to measurable outcomes.

For SaaS marketers looking to step up their game, the path forward is clear. Building a structured measurement framework - with defined goals, consistent KPIs, and regular reviews - sets the stage for steady, scalable revenue growth. The data proves it: when you track the right metrics in the right way, they become your guide to smarter marketing and bigger business impact.

In the fast-paced SaaS world, every dollar matters, and growth goals keep rising. A focused, data-driven approach to tracking ROI across channels isn’t just helpful - it’s essential for staying ahead. With a solid measurement strategy in place, you’ll turn insights into action and action into measurable success.

FAQs

What are the best ways for SaaS companies to track the ROI of multichannel marketing?

SaaS companies can measure the ROI of multichannel marketing by focusing on clear metrics and implementing a well-organized Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy. It all begins with a discovery audit - a deep dive into the company’s current marketing efforts, online visibility, and competitive positioning.

Next, a customized strategic plan is developed to align with the company’s goals and market potential. To keep things on track, continuous monitoring and data-based adjustments are crucial. This approach not only helps fine-tune performance but also ensures that marketing efforts translate into sustainable revenue growth and better returns on investment.

What are the advantages of using multi-touch attribution models to measure marketing ROI?

Multi-touch attribution models shed light on how various marketing channels work together to impact your overall performance. By giving credit to multiple touchpoints throughout the customer journey, these models reveal which strategies are driving engagement and conversions.

For SaaS companies, this means smarter budget allocation, better campaign adjustments, and improved ROI. With the insights gained from multi-touch attribution, you can make informed, data-backed decisions that align with your goals and help boost revenue.

What is Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and why does it matter for SaaS marketing and budgeting?

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is a crucial metric for SaaS companies. It estimates the total revenue a business can expect to earn from a customer throughout their relationship. By analyzing CLV, businesses can pinpoint their most profitable customers and focus on strategies that enhance long-term revenue.

CLV is also essential for smarter budget planning. It guides marketers in deciding where to allocate resources, ensuring they concentrate on campaigns and channels that attract and keep high-value customers. This approach not only optimizes spending but also supports steady and efficient growth.