Are B2B Vanity Metrics Really That Useless?

Marketing teams often toss around vanity metrics with a hint of disdain. They’re surface-level measurements like page views, social media followers, email list size, etc., that are typically dismissed as shallow indicators of marketing success. That’s not entirely incorrect. Impressions and pageviews don’t usually reflect leads and opportunities and these metrics shouldn’t be your north star, however they can still provide some valuable insights and context.

What Are Vanity Metrics?

Vanity metrics are easy-to-measure, often impressive-looking numbers that don’t necessarily correlate with business outcomes. Those 4,367,194 impressions on your paid LinkedIn campaign might look impressive, but did they translate to business results? Vanity metrics often feel good without necessarily impacting your bottom line.

Common vanity metrics include:

·         Page views

·         Social media followers

·         Email list size

·         Content download numbers

·         Generic click-through rates

The criticism of vanity metrics makes sense. These metrics don’t directly indicate quality engagement or buying intent; however, their simplicity and accessibility can be an asset when used thoughtfully. 

What B2B Vanity Metrics Are Good for

Although they shouldn’t be your primary measurement of success, vanity metrics can provide some valuable insights:

1.      Early Interest Indicators: Sudden spikes in page views or follower counts can signal emerging trends or interest in specific topics, which can inform your content strategy

2.      Brand Awareness Measurements: If your business objective is to grow the company’s brand awareness, follower counts, page views, and impressions can indicate that your brand is gaining traction.

3.      Team Motivation: Even if your team isn’t on board with vanity metrics, they can still be powerful motivators. Seeing tangible growth can boost morale and drive further efforts.

4.      Top-of-Funnel Health: Yes, conversions are crucial, but you need to fill the top of your funnel, too. Vanity metrics can give you a quick sense of your audience growth and content resonance

5.      Social Proof: You or your boss or CEO might not like it, but some customers and prospects will judge you by your follower count or content popularity. These numbers can build credibility during initial conversations.

6.      Audience Insights: Patterns in page views or social engagement can help you identify potentially high-value audience segments and refine your targeting strategy.

7.      Content Strategy Optimization: Understanding what types of content and topics drive high page views or shares can inform your overall content approach, even if it’s just a starting point. 

Effective Vanity Metrics Integration

You should not solely rely on vanity metrics; they can be integrated into your overall measurement strategy.

1.      Support Key KPIs: Vanity metrics can provide context for more substantial measurements. For example, a spike in website traffic could explain a sudden increase in qualified leads.

2.      Create Composite Metrics: You could combine vanity metrics with engagement data to create more nuanced indicators. You could measure “engaged followers” by integrating your follower count with average engagement rates.

3.      Trend Tracking: Vanity metrics are a good way to measure trends over time. Instead of focusing on hitting a specific number of followers, look at consistent growth over time.

4.      Use as Starting Points: Initial interest indicated by vanity metrics can help drive deeper engagement. You can develop strategies to convert casual readers into newsletter subscribers or social followers into webinar attendees. 

Best Practices for Leveraging Vanity Metrics

To make the most of vanity metrics without falling into their traps, make sure you set appropriate expectations with your team and stakeholders about the metrics' role and illustrations. They should be a part of the story and not the entire narrative. Use industry benchmarks and historical trends to give meaning and context to your numbers that help tell the story. For example, a 5% increase in page views might be significant in a niche B2B sector.

You’ll also want to balance vanity metrics with outcome-focused metrics. As mentioned earlier, vanity metrics can look impressive and feel good, but make sure you’re pairing them with impactful business outcome measurements. Views are great, but conversions pay the bills.

You can also use B2B vanity metrics for testing and optimization. Leverage this easily gathered information for quick A/B tests on content, email subject lines, or social posts. 

Take a Balanced Approach

Vanity metrics should be part of your marketing toolkit. They’re not replacements for robust, revenue-focused analytics, but they can provide quick insights, guide early-stage decisions, and offer easy-to-grasp indications of your marketing efforts’ reach.

However, the challenge in B2B marketing is to find the right balance. Recognize the strengths of vanity metrics—quick feedback, trend indication, and broad performance indicators—while maintaining a firm focus on metrics that directly relate to business outcomes.

By taking a balanced approach, you can extract valuable information from these vanity metrics without losing sight of your ultimate goals. Every bit of data has its place (and sometimes that means not using it at all—more on that another time). But even the sparkly, shiny surface-level numbers of vanity metrics can provide valuable insights and context that support the more impactful data supporting your bottom line.