Measuring what matters in marketing

Why measuring impact matters

Marketing has never been more complex. More channels, more data and more touchpoints create endless possibilities — but also confusion. With hundreds of KPIs in use, the question is not if we should measure, but what we should measure. Growth depends on showing how marketing delivers value in business terms that resonate in the boardroom.

A clear distinction: effectiveness versus efficiency

The UBA whitepaper Measuring What Matters makes an essential distinction. Effectiveness is about doing the right things: aligning marketing with business goals, building strong brands and creating value over the long term. Efficiency is about doing things right: using resources in the smartest way possible. The new KPI framework focuses on effectiveness first, ensuring that marketing activities are directly linked to business growth.

A structured KPI framework

Adopted from the Swedish Effectiveness System 2.0, the UBA framework introduces 36 prioritised KPIs. They are grouped into three strategic pillars:

• Business strategy: KPIs such as sales revenue, market share and customer value that connect marketing directly to company performance.
  
  
• Brand strategy: long-term brand health indicators, including awareness, trust, relevance and willingness to pay.
  
  
• Communication strategy: campaign metrics such as recognition, liking and attribution, complemented by media, investment and digital KPIs. 

This structure offers marketers a common language to discuss impact across teams and with senior management.

Answering three critical questions

The framework is designed around three questions every marketer faces:

1. Why do we do marketing? To strengthen brand positioning and drive profitable growth.
   
   
2. How much marketing communication should we do? By balancing long-term brand building with short-term activation, and setting the right investment levels.
   
   
3. How well does our communication work? By testing campaign effectiveness and linking results back to business outcomes.

From measurement to growth

The key message is clear: growth does not come from measuring everything, but from measuring what matters. With this KPI framework, marketers can prioritise, report with clarity, and prove how communication builds stronger brands and sustainable business results.