Ross Graber

VP, Principal Analyst

Forrester Bio

Author Insights

Blog

The State Of B2B Marketing Measurement In 2023: Five Key Observations

Ross Graber November 27, 2023
When it comes to insight-driven decision-making, too many B2B organizations are simply falling short. Forrester survey data points to opportunities for improvement.
Blog

Planning Season Is The Time To Revisit Your CMO Dashboard

Ross Graber November 8, 2023
Planning season is that time of year when B2B marketing objectives get set, tweaked, and reestablished. It’s also the perfect time to revisit your CMO dashboard to ensure that it’s up to the task — here’s how.
Blog

2024 Planning: Revenue Operations And Four B2B Must-Do’s

Ross Graber August 9, 2023
With 2024 planning season rapidly approaching, preview Forrester’s four B2B revenue operations “must-do’s” to drive customer value and business growth.
Video

Predictions 2023: Winning B2B Organizations Refocus Around The Customer

Ross Graber October 26, 2022

Blog

Overcoming The Insights Gaps Of The B2B Revenue Engine

Ross Graber October 21, 2022
Advanced insights-driven B2B orgs are 2.2 times more likely to drive growth of 10% or more than peer organizations. Find out why in this preview of our Data Strategy & Insights event.
Blog

B2B Marketers: It’s Time To Ditch Sourcing Metrics

Ross Graber March 11, 2022
Marketing sourcing metrics aren't meeting the needs of B2B marketing organizations and continue to fall out of favor. Here's why to ditch them and move on to something better.
Blog

What B2B Marketing Leaders Are Measuring: Five Key Takeaways

Ross Graber January 15, 2021
Instead of asking leaders which metrics they feel are most important, we asked which metrics actually appear on their top-level dashboards. Here's what we learned.
Blog

Marketing Operations Leaders: Be Ready for These Four Disruptions

Ross Graber April 29, 2020
  • While the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt throughout the economy, a series of predictable effects will be felt within B2B marketing functions
  • Marketing operations leaders who anticipate these eventualities will be well positioned to help their organizations respond to challenging situations with speed and agility
  • Marketing planning, budgeting, and performance measurement are the expected areas in which marketing operations teams can make the largest impacts
Blog

Does Measuring Marketing Sourcing Still Matter?

Ross Graber November 5, 2019
  • The number of B2B marketing organizations consistently reporting on marketing-sourced pipeline and revenue is declining
  • A handful of key trends are driving this shift — but is it wise to move away from reporting on marketing sourcing?
  • With a more precise context setting, marketing-sourced revenue remains a valuable performance measure for B2B marketing organizations
Blog

Great B2B Marketing Measurement Doesn’t Happen by Accident

Ross Graber December 4, 2018
  • B2B marketing leaders rely on a solid system of measurement to drive better decision-making
  • Great measurement must be developed to answer key business questions for a properly understood audience of stakeholders
  • By following a well-defined process, organizations can achieve aligned measurement that drives better performance
Blog

Is Marketing Claiming Victory While Sales Are in the Red?

Ross Graber December 4, 2017
  • To be viewed as an accountable business contributor, marketing must report in a way that’s aligned to business performance
  • Misalignment is commonly the result of marketing focusing on performance timeframes that are not matched with the purpose of a specific review meeting
  • Marketing leaders must balance reporting to reflect end-of-quarter requirements of stakeholders and the longer time horizons required to run marketing
Blog

Three Keys to Making Your Audience-Centric Marketing Approach Stick

Ross Graber June 19, 2017
  • Shifting from a product focus to an audience focus is a top priority of marketing leaders
  • Audience-centric approaches depend upon organizational buy-in to become sustainable
  • Audience-centric measurement and operations are essential to making audience-centricity stick
Blog

What’s the Story on B2B Attribution Technology?

Ross Graber August 23, 2016
  • Marketing attribution technologies are best used to drive a deeper understanding of performance
  • Look for attribution model flexibility to ensure that the right questions can be answered
  • Demand Waterfall reporting is a fundamental component of some marketing attribution technologies
Blog

Measuring Campaigns: Perspectives From Around the Table

Ross Graber July 15, 2016
  • Most companies don’t have a process for understanding what tactics or even programs are supposed to do
  • Tipping-point models focus on the most successful tactics for reaching qualification thresholds
  • Companies are facing a series of operational issues that need to be worked through, but a lot of progress is being made
Blog

Marketing Pipeline Metrics: Restoring Balance

Ross Graber April 27, 2016
  • Marketing sourced pipeline is a common but incomplete way to demonstrate marketing’s contribution
  • Measuring marketing’s influence is a reliable way to show that marketing is making a difference
  • Influence measurement loses credibility when not linked to business value – but this is correctable
Blog

A Truth About Marketing ROI

Ross Graber October 26, 2015
  • B2B marketers are under pressure to demonstrate how their efforts contribute to the business
  • Marketing leadership needs a means to evaluate effectiveness of their marketing’s functions
  • Evaluate each function based on whether it achieves its customized function goals and helps reach business objectives
Blog

Keys to Building Great B2B Measurement

Ross Graber June 16, 2015
  • Best-in-class B2B measurement is the product of a deliberate, process-driven approach
  • Using the SiriusDecisions 2015 Summit Measurement Program of the year winner, Dell, we highlight keys to success
  • Dell’s case study proves the necessity of custom-fit strategies and best practices to develop measurement programs
Blog

Is Your Marketing Measurement Undermining the Buyer’s Journey?

Ross Graber October 15, 2014
One of the best developments that I’ve witnessed in B2B marketing is the number of organizations now planning marketing approaches around their buyers’ journeys. By working to understand the buyer personas they’re targeting and these personas’ decisionmaking requirements at different points in the buying process, marketers are more effectively connecting with their prospects. Juggling multiple […]
Blog

Understanding Your Buyer’s Journey: The Most Important Thing You’re Not Doing

Ross Graber November 25, 2013
As B2B marketers, we’ve come a long way. We understand our role as helping buyers progress through their buying process. We know that we’re more successful when we align marketing efforts with the ways our prospects prefer to buy as opposed to the ways we want to sell. And to do this, we know we […]
Blog

Marketing Analytics: Beware the Black Box

Ross Graber April 23, 2013
One of the most positive developments in B2B marketing is an increased emphasis on data-driven decisionmaking. Growing numbers of marketing organizations are relying more on data and facts to make their decisions. While many organizations are not as far along as they’d like to be, I’m finding that most marketing leaders’ intentions are in the […]
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