Marketing teams often get caught up in vanity metrics that look impressive in reports but don’t actually help them make better decisions. The real breakthrough comes when you understand the difference between input and output metrics—and more importantly, how to use both strategically.
Input metrics are the things you can directly control and adjust in your marketing activities. Output metrics are the results those activities produce. Think of it like cooking: input metrics are your ingredients, cooking time, and temperature. Output metrics are how the dish tastes and whether people enjoy it.
Most marketing teams focus heavily on output metrics because they’re easier to celebrate and report upwards. But here’s the thing—by the time you’re looking at output metrics, it’s often too late to change course effectively.
What Are Input Metrics?
Input metrics represent the controllable elements of your marketing efforts. These are the levers you can pull, the dials you can turn, and the variables you can adjust in real-time.
Table of contents
Open Table of contents
What Are Output Metrics?
Output metrics are the results and outcomes of your marketing activities. These represent what actually happened as a consequence of your inputs.
Typical output metrics include:
-
Website traffic
-
Lead generation numbers
-
Conversion rates
-
Revenue attributed to marketing
-
Brand awareness metrics
-
Customer acquisition cost
-
Email open and click-through rates
-
Social media engagement
Output metrics tell you whether your marketing efforts are working, but they don’t directly tell you what to do next. They’re lagging indicators—by the time you see poor output metrics, the damage is often already done.
The Output Metrics Trap
Many marketing teams fall into the trap of only focusing on output metrics. They celebrate when website traffic is up and panic when conversion rates drop. But this reactive approach means you’re always playing catch-up.
Output metrics are essential for measuring success, but they’re not great for day-to-day decision making. You can’t directly control your conversion rate—you can only influence it through the inputs you control.
How Input and Output Metrics Work Together
The magic happens when you understand the relationship between your inputs and outputs. This creates a predictable system where you can adjust inputs to influence outputs.
Here’s a practical example:
| Input Metric | Output Metric | Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Blog posts published per month | Organic website traffic | Each blog post generates ~200 monthly visitors after 3 months |
| LinkedIn ad spend | Demo requests | Every £100 spent generates 2-3 qualified demo requests |
| Email campaigns sent | Pipeline generated | Weekly nurture emails increase pipeline conversion by 15% |
Once you establish these relationships, you can work backwards from your goals. If you need 100 demo requests next month, and you know your LinkedIn ads generate 2.5 demos per £100 spent, you need to allocate £4,000 to LinkedIn ads.
Building Your Input-Output Framework
Start by mapping your current activities to outcomes:
-
List all your regular marketing activities (inputs)
-
Identify which outputs each input influences
-
Measure the relationship over time
-
Look for patterns and establish benchmarks
-
Test changes to inputs and measure impact on outputs
This process takes time, but it’s incredibly valuable. You’ll start to see which activities actually drive results and which ones are just keeping you busy.
Balancing Input and Output Metrics
The best marketing teams use both types of metrics strategically. Here’s how to balance them effectively:
Use Input Metrics for Planning and Execution
Input metrics should drive your day-to-day decisions and weekly planning. They help you stay consistent and maintain momentum even when output metrics fluctuate.
Set input-based goals like:
-
“Publish 8 blog posts this month”
-
“Send 3 email campaigns per week”
-
“Spend £2,000 on paid ads weekly”
-
“Conduct 5 customer interviews monthly”
These goals are entirely within your control and create consistent marketing momentum.
Use Output Metrics for Strategy and Optimisation
Output metrics should inform your strategic decisions and help you optimise your approach. They tell you what’s working and what isn’t, but at a higher level.
Review output metrics to:
-
Assess overall marketing performance
-
Identify which channels are most effective
-
Spot trends and seasonal patterns
-
Make budget allocation decisions
-
Report progress to stakeholders
The 70/30 Rule
A useful framework is to spend 70% of your time focused on input metrics and 30% on output metrics. This keeps you action-oriented while still measuring results.
Your weekly routine might look like:
-
Monday: Review last week’s input metrics and plan this week’s activities
-
Tuesday-Thursday: Execute planned activities, tracking inputs daily
-
Friday: Review output metrics and assess what’s working
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Focusing Only on Outputs
Teams that only track output metrics become reactive. They’re constantly firefighting rather than proactively driving results. You end up with great hindsight but poor foresight.
Ignoring the Time Lag
Most marketing activities have a delay between input and output. SEO content might take months to rank. Email nurture sequences need time to build relationships. Don’t panic if outputs don’t immediately reflect input changes.
Not Establishing Baselines
Without understanding your normal input-to-output ratios, you can’t make informed decisions. Spend time establishing baselines before making major changes.
Optimising Inputs Without Measuring Outputs
Some teams become so focused on hitting input targets that they forget to check if those inputs are actually driving results. Regularly validate that your input activities are still producing the expected outputs.
Practical Implementation
Here’s how to implement this approach in your marketing team:
Week 1-2: Audit Your Current Metrics
List everything you’re currently measuring and categorise each metric as input or output. You’ll probably find you’re tracking mostly outputs.
Week 3-4: Identify Missing Input Metrics
For each major marketing activity, define measurable input metrics. If you run content marketing, track posts published, words written, and hours spent on promotion.
Week 5-8: Establish Tracking Systems
Set up systems to track your input metrics consistently. This might mean updating your project management tools, creating new dashboards, or establishing new reporting routines.
Month 2-3: Map Input-Output Relationships
Start collecting data on how your inputs relate to outputs. This takes time, so be patient and consistent with your tracking.
Month 4+: Optimise Based on Data
Once you have enough data, start making informed adjustments to your inputs based on which ones most effectively drive your desired outputs.
“The best marketing teams predict their results rather than just measure them. Input metrics give you that predictive power.”
Tools and Systems
You don’t need expensive tools to implement this approach, but having the right systems helps:
-
Project management tools: Track input metrics like content published, campaigns launched, and activities completed
-
Analytics platforms: Monitor output metrics like traffic, conversions, and revenue
-
CRM systems: Connect marketing inputs to sales outputs
-
Dashboard tools: Visualise the relationship between inputs and outputs
The key is consistency rather than sophistication. A simple spreadsheet updated regularly is better than a complex dashboard that gets ignored.
Making It Stick
Changing how your team thinks about metrics requires consistent reinforcement:
-
Start team meetings by reviewing input metrics first
-
Celebrate hitting input targets, not just output wins
-
When output metrics disappoint, immediately look at recent input metrics
-
Make input-output relationships visible to the whole team
-
Train team members to think in terms of controllable actions
Understanding input versus output metrics fundamentally changes how you approach marketing. Instead of hoping for good results, you create systems that predictably generate them. You move from reactive to proactive, from hoping to knowing.
The teams that master this approach don’t just measure their marketing impact—they engineer it. They know exactly which levers to pull to hit their targets, and they can predict their results weeks or months in advance.
Take a look at your current metrics dashboard. How many of those metrics can you directly control? How many represent activities versus results? Start there, and build your way to a more balanced and actionable approach to measuring marketing impact.
Growth Method is the only AI-native project management tool built specifically for marketing and growth teams. Book a call to speak with Stuart, our founder, at https://cal.com/stuartb/30min.