Results vs impact

Results and impact are tightly related, but I think it’s worth differentiating between the two so that we’re investing in the right B2B marketing mix for our complex buying (and selling) cycles.

Results to me are synonymous with “revenue-producing”.  Results equate to net-new sales, renewals, customer longevity and lifetime value.

Impact is everything that efficiently gets you there.

This is how we justify great content, smart design, a new disciplined process.  Few of these have a direct line to results.  But all of them, executed well, can have an enormous impact on driving results.

Do you see the difference?

Traffic for traffic’s sake is random.  Generating as many webinar registrants as possible generates a number that looks nice, but what kind of impact does it have?  What if you generated one-fifth of the registrations but got your most important prospects to pay attention for 45 minutes?  What kind of impact could that have?

How do you justify that new martech tool?  How much pipeline will it contribute?  If we spend money on a new outbound campaign instead of that martech tool, won’t we see more immediate results?

Immediate results, maybe.  But impact?  Choose the right tool for the right job and outcome, and impact grows exponentially.

Impact can be harder to precisely measure, but easier to justify.  This is where disciplined intent can be more important than precision in measuring and driving results.

I’m a results-oriented marketer.  But most what I do focuses on impact to drive results.

How do you differentiate between and balance the two?