Marketing to pipeline board report

Turn channel and campaign metrics into a pipeline and revenue story that executives can act on in two minutes.

Inputs to load

• Plan versus actual for sourced pipeline, influenced pipeline and closed won revenue.
• Channel level spend and pipeline contribution, as shares of the total.
• Sales cycle length and stage conversion rates.
• The decision or approval the report supports.

Build the report in this order

1. The ask. One sentence stating the decision requested from the reader. If there is no decision, state what the reader should take away.
2. Result versus plan. Pipeline and revenue variance as percentages, split into sourced and influenced.
3. Why it happened. Maximum three drivers, each tied to a channel or a motion, each with its evidence.
4. What changes next. The adjustment, its expected effect and the date it will be reviewed.
5. Confidence. State attribution coverage and which numbers are estimates.

Separate leading from lagging

Show leading indicators (qualified demand, opportunity creation, stage velocity) next to lagging ones (closed won revenue). Judge recent cohorts against the sales cycle, not against calendar quarters. A cohort younger than the median cycle cannot be called a failure.

Translate channel language

Replace channel metrics with their business meaning. Cost per lead becomes cost per opportunity and cost per closed won deal. Traffic becomes share of pipeline. Impressions do not appear at all.

What good looks like

• The expert's tell: the first question a CFO asks is what happens if nothing changes. The report answers it before it is asked.
• The common mistake: reporting activity and averages. Averages hide the channel that carries the quarter and the one that drains it.
• A good output fits on one page, leads with the decision, shows variance to plan, names the risk and states how confident the numbers are.
• Bad news appears in the first third. A report that buries a miss loses trust faster than the miss itself.

Hard rules

• NEVER present influenced pipeline as sourced pipeline.
• NEVER report a metric without stating what decision it informs.
• NEVER hide low attribution coverage. State it, and state its effect on the conclusion.
• ALWAYS use variance to plan and shares of total, not raw volumes, unless absolute numbers are requested.
• ALWAYS end with the next review date and the trigger that would change the plan.