metrics: 24
computable: 20
breakdowns: 6

Marketing Metrics

Metrics for measuring marketing performance, demand generation and brand health.

Funnel Metrics

Visitors

Definition: Unique visitors to owned properties (website, app).

Formula:

Visitors = Sum of unique visitors in period across traffic sources

Web analytics report unique visitors per traffic source, so the GASP Standard sums the per-source counts. A visitor who arrives through two sources counts once in each. Load one figure per source per reporting period so a returning visitor counts once within a source.

What it tells you: Top of funnel awareness and reach.

Visitor-to-Lead Rate

Definition: Percentage of website visitors who become leads.

Formula:

Visitor-to-Lead = Leads captured / Visitors × 100

Benchmarks:

Below 2%: Below average, optimize capture
2-3%: Average for B2B websites
3-7%: Good (majority of SaaS market)
7-12%: Excellent / top performers

By channel:

Referral traffic: ~2.9%
Organic search: ~2.6%
Email: ~2.4%
Paid search: 1.5-3.2%
Social: ~1% or less

Free trial impact:

With credit card required: ~2%
Without credit card: ~10%

What it tells you: Website and content effectiveness at capturing interest.

Sources:

Leads

Definition: Contacts who have expressed interest (form fill, signup, etc.).

Formula:

Leads = Total new leads captured in period

Leads are reported per lead source (such as organic, paid, referral, direct and events) and per lead stage as of period end.

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)

Definition: Leads that have demonstrated sufficient engagement and intent to warrant sales attention, based on criteria established between marketing and sales.

MQL criteria (typical):

Behavioral: Demo requests, pricing page visits, content downloads, webinar attendance
Firmographic: Company size, industry, role matches ICP
Engagement: Lead score threshold reached

High-intent signals (prioritize these):

Demo/trial requests
Pricing page visits
Buying guide downloads
Contact sales form fills

Formula:

MQLs = Leads meeting MQL criteria in period

MQLs are reported per lead source.

What it tells you: Volume of potentially sales-ready prospects.

Key distinction: MQLs show engagement but not confirmed buying intent. SQLs pass sales qualification (BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline).

Sources:

Lead-to-MQL Rate

Definition: Percentage of leads that become MQLs.

Formula:

Lead-to-MQL = MQLs / Total leads × 100

Lead-to-MQL Rate is reported per lead source.

Benchmarks:

Below 15%: Low quality leads or strict MQL criteria
15-30%: Average
30-50%: Good quality leads
Above 50%: May indicate loose criteria

Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)

Definition: MQLs accepted by sales as worth pursuing.

Formula:

SQLs = MQLs accepted by sales in period

What it tells you: Marketing and sales alignment on lead quality.

MQL-to-SQL Rate

Definition: Percentage of MQLs accepted by sales as qualified.

Formula:

MQL-to-SQL = SQLs / MQLs × 100

MQL-to-SQL Rate is reported per lead source.

Benchmarks:

Overall average (all industries): ~13%
B2B SaaS average: 20-30%
B2B SaaS top performers: 40%+
Website leads: ~31%
Referral leads: Highest conversion

By lead scoring approach:

Basic demographic scoring: ~20%
Behavioral scoring models: 39-40%

Speed-to-lead impact:

Response within 1 hour: 53% conversion
Response after 24 hours: 17% conversion

What it tells you: Quality of MQLs from sales perspective and marketing-sales alignment.

Sources:

SQL-to-Opportunity Rate

Definition: Percentage of SQLs that become pipeline opportunities.

Formula:

SQL-to-Opp = Opportunities created / SQLs × 100

Benchmarks:

Below 30%: Low conversion
30-50%: Average
Above 50%: Good

Lead Velocity Rate (LVR)

Definition: Month-over-month growth in qualified leads (MQLs).

Formula:

LVR = (Qualified leads this month - Qualified leads last month) / Qualified leads last month × 100

Origin: Popularized by Jason Lemkin (SaaStr), who calls it “the most important metric in SaaS” because it predicts future revenue 12-18 months out.

Why it matters: Revenue reports deals that already closed. LVR moves months earlier, because this month’s qualified leads become the pipeline that closes later.

Benchmarks (per Jason Lemkin):

10%/month: Target after $1M ARR
8%/month: Target after $3M ARR (supports 100%+ YoY growth)

Critical: Must use qualified leads (MQLs), not raw leads. Otherwise it becomes a vanity metric.

What it tells you: Pipeline growth momentum. If LVR is consistently positive, you have the raw ingredients for growth.

Limitation: Doesn’t measure conversion quality. Track alongside MRR growth.

Sources:

Efficiency Metrics

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

See Core Metrics for full definition.

Marketing typically owns a portion of CAC (marketing spend / new customers).

Marketing CAC

Definition: Marketing-only portion of acquisition cost: go-to-market cost booked to the marketing cost centre, divided by all new customers in the period.

Formula:

Marketing CAC = Marketing spend / New customers acquired

What it tells you: Marketing efficiency at generating customers.

CAC by Channel

Definition: Customer acquisition cost broken down by marketing channel.

Formula:

Channel CAC = Channel ad spend / Deals won in period via channel

Channels: Paid ads, organic search, email, events, content, referral, direct and other.

CAC by Channel is reported per channel: one value for each channel. Spend is campaign ad spend, which records its channel. New customers are deals won in the period, attributed to their first-touch channel. The cost ledger has no channel, so ledger cost cannot be split this way; Marketing CAC remains the total.

What it tells you: Which channels are most efficient.

Cost per Lead (CPL)

Definition: Cost to acquire a lead.

Formula:

CPL = Marketing spend / Leads generated

What it tells you: Top-of-funnel efficiency.

Cost per MQL

Definition: Cost to acquire a marketing qualified lead.

Formula:

Cost per MQL = Marketing spend / MQLs generated

Benchmarks (B2B SaaS 2025):

Average range: $30-$120
SMB-focused: $50-$150
Mid-market: $150-$400
Enterprise: $400-$1000+

Cost per Lead (CPL) for context:

B2B SaaS paid channels: ~$310
B2B SaaS organic: ~$164
Blended average: ~$237
Demo request leads: $600-$800

By channel:

Google Ads: $150-$250
LinkedIn: $100-$200
Bing: $80-$180
SEO/Organic: Significantly lower

What it tells you: Lead generation efficiency and channel performance.

Sources:

Marketing Sourced Pipeline

Definition: Pipeline value attributed to marketing efforts (first-touch attribution).

Formula:

Marketing Sourced Pipeline = Sum of opportunity value where first touch = marketing

Benchmark: Strong programs generate 30-50% of sales pipeline from marketing.

What it tells you: Marketing’s contribution to sales pipeline.

Marketing Sourced Revenue

Definition: Closed revenue attributed to marketing efforts (first-touch attribution).

Formula:

Marketing Sourced Revenue = Sum of closed won revenue where first touch = marketing

What it tells you: Marketing’s contribution to actual revenue.

Marketing Influenced Pipeline/Revenue

Definition: Pipeline or revenue where marketing touched the deal at any point (multi-touch attribution).

Formula:

Marketing Influenced = Pipeline/Revenue where any touch = marketing

Typically 2-3x higher than sourced (multiple touches on most B2B deals).

Note: B2B buyers average 6-8 touches before purchase, so influenced is often more representative than sourced.

Sources:

Channel Metrics

Organic Traffic

Definition: Visitors from unpaid search.

Formula:

Organic Traffic = Visitors where source = organic search

What it tells you: SEO effectiveness and brand awareness.

Paid Media Efficiency (ROAS)

Definition: Return on ad spend: closed won revenue from the paid ads channel in the period, divided by paid ad spend.

Formula:

ROAS = Revenue attributed to ads / Ad spend

Express as ratio (e.g., “3:1” or “3x”).

B2B SaaS Benchmarks:

Below 2x: Below average, but may be acceptable if LTV is high
2-3x: Average for mid-market SaaS
3-4x: Good
4x+: Strong / top quartile

By segment:

Enterprise: 2-3x typical (long sales cycles)
Mid-market SaaS: 2.6x average, 4.1x top quartile
SMB: Higher ROAS expected

By channel:

Google Ads (Search): ~2.8x average
LinkedIn: ~2.2x average
Facebook: ~1.9x average
Branded search: Very high (captures existing intent)

Important: Lower ROAS can be acceptable if customer LTV is high. Always consider LTV:CAC alongside ROAS.

Sources:

Email Metrics

Metric	Formula	B2B SaaS Benchmark
Open Rate	Opens / Delivered × 100	25-40%
Click Rate (CTR)	Clicks / Delivered × 100	2-4%
Click-to-Open Rate	Clicks / Opens × 100	5-7%
Unsubscribe Rate	Unsubscribes / Delivered × 100	<0.3%
Bounce Rate	Bounces / Sent × 100	<2.5%
Spam Complaint Rate	Complaints / Delivered × 100	<0.1%

Cold email/outbound (SaaS SDRs):

Open rate: 38-42%
Reply rate: 3-8% (good: 5-10%)
Meeting booked rate: 1-2%

Important: Apple Mail Privacy Protection (46% of email clients) inflates open rates by preloading images. Treat opens as directional only; focus on replies and conversions.

Sources:

Content Performance

Metric	Formula
Downloads	Content pieces downloaded
Engagement Rate	Engaged visitors / Total visitors × 100
Content-to-MQL	MQLs from content / Content engagements × 100

Brand Metrics

Brand Awareness

Definition: Percentage of target market aware of brand.

Measurement: Survey-based or search volume proxy.

Definition: Brand mentions relative to competitors.

Formula:

Share of Voice = Brand mentions / (Brand + Competitor mentions) × 100

NPS (Marketing context)

Definition: Net Promoter Score for prospects/market (vs customers).

What it tells you: Brand perception in broader market.

Summary Table

Metric	Type	Primary Indicator Of
MQLs	Funnel	Marketing output
MQL-to-SQL Rate	Funnel	Lead quality
Lead Velocity Rate	Funnel	Pipeline momentum
Marketing CAC	Efficiency	Marketing cost efficiency
Cost per MQL	Efficiency	Lead generation efficiency
Marketing Sourced Pipeline	Attribution	Marketing contribution
ROAS	Channel	Paid media efficiency
Organic Traffic	Channel	SEO and brand strength

Related Metrics

These metrics are connected in the GASP relationship graph.

Downstream: what metrics on this page drive

MQLs measures Lead (Entity)
SQLs drives Pipeline Value (Sales)
SQLs measures Lead (Entity)
Lead Velocity Rate measures Lead (Entity)
Marketing CAC drives CAC (Core)
Marketing CAC measures Customer (Entity)
Marketing CAC measures Subscription (Entity)
Cost per Lead measures Lead (Entity)
Marketing Sourced Pipeline measures Opportunity (Entity)