The Marketing Measurement Scorecard
30 questions to answer before you trust your marketing numbers, or ask anyone else to.
Most companies I talk with are spending real money on marketing and can't say with confidence which part of it is working. This free scorecard covers the ground I look at when I start a marketing performance audit. Work through it with your marketing lead and someone from finance, score each question 0, 1 or 2, and you'll see where your measurement is solid and where to look first. It's a 7-page PDF, and there's no form to fill out.
Selling B2B, through a sales team, distributors or long buying cycles? Use the B2B Marketing Scorecard instead.
All 30 questions at a glance
01 Tracking and data foundation
If the inputs are wrong, every report built on them is wrong too.
1. Do the conversions in your analytics match the orders or leads in your backend system?
2. Do you know which conversion each ad platform is counting?
3. Are campaign naming and UTM rules written down and followed?
4. Is revenue from outside the website connected to marketing data?
5. Could you pull two years of weekly spend and revenue by channel in one day?
02 Attribution and reporting
Most companies have plenty of dashboards. Fewer have numbers that leadership agrees on.
6. Does the leadership team look at one agreed revenue number?
7. Have you compared the conversions your platforms claim with your actual sales?
8. Is new-customer revenue reported separately from returning-customer revenue?
9. Is branded search reported separately from non-brand search?
10. Does your monthly reporting explain why numbers moved?
03 Paid media efficiency
Spend tends to grow faster than anyone's understanding of what it returns.
11. Do you know your blended customer acquisition cost and how it has trended over 12 months?
12. Is each channel held to a target tied to margin or customer lifetime value?
13. Do you know where returns start to flatten in your largest channels?
14. Has anyone outside your agency reviewed your ad accounts in the last year?
15. Is your agency's pay separate from how much you spend?
04 Incrementality and modeling
The real question is what would have happened without the marketing.
16. Have you run a holdout or geographic test on a major channel?
17. Do you have a marketing mix model built on your own data?
18. Does your analysis account for factors outside marketing, like seasonality, pricing, economic conditions, weather and PR?
19. Could you estimate what would happen to revenue if you cut spend by 20%?
20. Are test results written down and used to move budget?
05 Budget and planning
A budget built from last year plus a percentage is a guess with a spreadsheet around it.
21. Is the annual marketing budget built from expected return by channel?
22. Is there a written process for moving budget during the year?
23. Does the marketing plan connect to the company's operating model?
24. Do you set aside part of the budget for testing?
25. Could you explain the marketing plan to a board, lender or buyer on one page?
06 Ownership and governance
When measurement belongs to everyone, it belongs to no one.
26. Is one person accountable for marketing measurement?
27. Does the company own its ad accounts, analytics and data?
28. Is your tracking setup documented?
29. Do marketing and finance review the numbers together each month?
30. Would your marketing numbers hold up in due diligence?
How do I score it?
Score each question 0 if the answer is no or nobody in the room knows, 1 if it's partly in place, and 2 if you could show the evidence today. Each section is worth up to 10 points, for a total out of 60.
A score of 48 to 60 means your numbers can carry real decisions. A score of 30 to 47 means a few weak spots are likely distorting how budget gets set. Under 30, the numbers can't yet support big budget calls or outside scrutiny, and tracking and ownership are the place to start.
Who is it for?
CEOs, CFOs, marketing leaders and operating partners at companies with $5M to $500M in revenue. It's most useful before a budget cycle, after an acquisition, ahead of a refinancing or sale, or when a new marketing leader or agency takes over.
I'm Dr. Linda Orr, a fractional CMO and marketing measurement specialist. I built Upwork's first marketing mix model, and this scorecard covers the same ground I look at when I start a marketing performance audit.
Our Impact By The Numbers
$88M in marketing budget modeled for Upwork, 100+ clients from $5M to $500M in revenue, 25+ years leading growth, and 86% client retention.
A FEW OF OUR HAPPY CLIENTS
Questions about the scorecard
Do I have to give my email to download it?
No. The PDF downloads directly, with no form to fill out.
What should I do with a low score?
Start with the lowest-scoring section. Tracking and ownership come first, because every other number depends on them. If you want an outside view, a Marketing Performance Audit covers all six areas and starts at $15,000.
How long does it take?
About 30 minutes if your marketing lead and someone from finance are in the room. The conversation it starts is usually worth more than the score.
Can you go through our results with us?
Yes. Bring your completed scorecard to a free 30-minute introductory call and I'll tell you which gaps matter most for your business and what it would take to close them.
Want a second opinion on your score? Bring your scorecard to a call and we'll go through it together.