What Belongs at Each Level of the Marketing Metrics Hierarchy?

The defining principle is that metrics belong at the level of decision they support. The CEO works with the marketing team to define which metrics are appropriate to each level of decision — tactical, operational, or strategic — and how the tactical and operational metrics align upward to the organization's strategic metrics. Strategic metrics, the KPIs, represent the most important measures of business performance and sit at the top.

To place a metric correctly, ask three questions. What does the metric report, and at what granularity — is it a detailed measure of a single channel, or an aggregated view at the campaign, business-unit, market, or organizational level? Who is the most appropriate audience, given that granularity, and how often should they see it? And what decisions should it support — executive leadership decisions, or operational and tactical planning and activation? Aligning the metric's visibility to the responsibilities of its audience ensures it's appropriate for the people viewing it.

The laddering is what makes it a hierarchy rather than a list. Tactical and operational metrics must connect upward so that their impact on strategic outcomes — and the relationships between metrics at each level — can be seen. A marketing plan with multiple activities lets the CEO trace how each activity influences tactical, operational, and strategic results.

Tailoring matters too: the hierarchy should fit the organization's specific audiences and the decisions staff make, defined in collaboration with neighboring functions like sales and services. Placing each metric at the level where it drives a decision, with clear ladders connecting tactics to strategy, is what makes the hierarchy ensure the right people see the right measures at the right time.

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