How to Create A Marketing Benchmark

Do you feel like you’re business is lagging behind your peers but can’t pinpoint where? 

Do you want to find best practices or ways to improve your organization but don’t know how to start?

Do you want to get the most out of each dollar you spend on marketing?

If you said yes to any of those questions, benchmarking is for you.

Benchmarking is pivotal to tracking your progress in marketing over time.

In this article, I’ll explore how benchmarks can be used in marketing, the types of marketing benchmarks to consider, and tips on how to benchmark for optimum results. 

Let’s get right into it. 

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What is a benchmark in marketing?

A marketing benchmark is a baseline that you can use to measure your marketing performance. It can help you to identify areas where you are doing well and areas where you need to improve.

Benchmarking is a technique where you evaluate an organization’s performance by comparing against best practices or practices by leading organizations, competitors, and aspirational brands.

Organizations also use benchmarks to see if they’re adhering to compliance standards. 

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Where is benchmarking used? 

Benchmarking is used in a variety of ways. For example, if you own an ecommerce store, you can use benchmarking to analyze your processes with another ecommerce store.

If you have a new brand, you can benchmark your brand against the top-performing brands in the same industry.

You can also benchmark yourself with another brand using specific metrics (customer service, SEO, paid search, etc.) or industry benchmarks. 

What are the types of benchmarking?

External Benchmark

External benchmarking is the process of comparing a business or organization to its direct and secondary competitors and aspirational brands. 

This type of benchmarking involves a SWOT analysis to determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to a business.

Internal Benchmark

If external benchmark compares one to competitors or entities outside a company or organization, internal benchmarking meanwhile is concerned with improving a business or organization’s processes or strategies. 

You can also compare different departments within an organization or different company branches. 

Functional Benchmark

Functional benchmarking involves comparing a business or organization with successful businesses or organizations in other industries or sectors.

Though these are indirect competitors, businesses will still gain a lot of insights that they can implement in their marketing or business strategies. 

For example, Starbucks famously conducted functional benchmarking against Toyota’s assembly lines. 

Integral Benchmark

Integral benchmarking is a combination of the previous three benchmarks. It provides you with information to analyze areas for improvement and identify your strengths. 

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Why is benchmarking important?

Benchmarking lets you see in concrete terms where you are versus where your competitors are. You can use the information you gain by filling the gaps between you and your rivals.  

But those are the not the only benefits. Other benefits include:

• You can identify areas where you are doing well and areas where you need to improve.
• You can track your marketing progress over time.
• You can make more informed decisions about your marketing strategy.
• You can attract cost-effective leads.
• You can differentiate your brand from your competitors.
• You can improve your ROI and create effective campaigns.

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Marketing Benchmark Metrics to Track

The metrics you track depends on your industry or business. Here are some examples of valuable metrics you can start with in your benchmark. 

A tip: track your performance metrics week by week, at the very least, and conduct a year-to-date review as well.

Big Picture Benchmarks 

Sales

Sales numbers and what percentage of your goal that is

Leads

Number of leads and what percentage of your goal that is

Website

Number of sales and leads you get from your website

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Core Benchmarks

Website

• Total site visits
• Global rank
• Visit duration
• Pages visited
• Number of backlinks
• Cart abandonment stats
• Visitors
• Top visited pages
• Bounce rate

Blog

• Number of visitors
• Duration
• Pages visited
• SEO rankings for target keywords
• Domain authority

Podcast

• Episodes
• Number of listeners

Emails

• Number of emails sent out
• Subscribers
• Opens
• Clickthroughs
• Conversions

Press Releases

• Number
• Views
• Posts
• Clicks to site

Articles you are featured in

• Number
• Circulation

Social Media Benchmarks

X/Twitter 

• Tweets
• Followers
• Retweets and mentions
• Audience likes

Facebook

• Views
• Likes
• Followers
• Reach
• Engagements

YouTube

• Subscribers
• Views
• Unique views
• Likes
• Comments
• Shares

Pinterest

• Followers
• Pins
• Repins
• Likes
• Comments

Social Media Ads

• Audience
• CPO
• $ Spent

Digital Paid and Affiliate Marketing

• Cost
• CTR
• CPC 
• Sales

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How to conduct a marketing benchmark analysis step by step

Define your objectives

Start with the end in mind. Your objectives will guide your benchmarking process. Select the most relevant metrics or the metrics that are meaningful to you.

KPIs can differ in each aspect of marketing. You’ll have different KPIs for PR versus social media versus paid ads. Tailor your objectives accordingly. 

Remember, benchmarking is not about gloating about being the best or beating yourself up for lagging. It’s a tool that spots your shortcomings so you can improve on them.

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Identify the competition

Know who you’re up against. Identify your key competitors, both direct and indirect, to set up a good foundation for your analysis. 

Alternatively, you can conduct an industry benchmark instead using aspirational brands or compare your past performance with your current performance.

Measure KPIs

Next, you need to gather the data from the competitors or companies you’ve selected. Organize the data and classify them to make patterns more apparent and to make your analysis easier.

Analyze the information

This is the part where you compare your performance against those benchmarks and determine what aspects of your marketing you can improve on.

Synthesize the information and apply it to the context of your business, keeping your objectives in mind. 

Remember, benchmarking is not about gloating about being the best or beating yourself up for lagging. It’s a tool that spots your shortcomings so you can improve on them.

Apply benchmark results

Finally, you have to act on the insights you’ve collected. Formulate a plan then implement it in your processes and strategies. 

However, it doesn’t end there. After a certain period (usually every six months), remeasure your KPIs to see if your plan is working. 

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Benchmark your marketing regularly

Benchmarking is a powerful strategy to evaluate your marketing performance, identify gaps, and discover opportunities for growth. 

By understanding the different types of benchmarking—external, internal, functional, and integral—you can tailor your approach to meet specific business goals. 

Tracking key metrics, analyzing data, and applying insights to improve your strategies will help you stay competitive and drive better results.

Remember, benchmarking isn’t just a one-time process; it’s an ongoing effort to ensure your business evolves with the market.

Start small, measure your progress regularly, and adjust as needed.

Tools like Panoramata can simplify the process, giving you access to personalized reports and industry benchmarks.

Take the first step today and make benchmarking an integral part of your marketing success!

FAQs

1. What is a marketing benchmark?

A marketing benchmark is a baseline used to measure your marketing performance against competitors or industry standards. It helps you identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to improve your strategy.

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2. Why is benchmarking important for marketing?

Benchmarking is essential to understanding where your business stands compared to others in your industry. It helps you make informed decisions, optimize performance, and improve ROI.

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3. What are the key steps to conduct a marketing benchmark analysis?

Start by defining your objectives and identifying competitors or industry leaders to benchmark against. Measure relevant KPIs, analyze the data, and implement actionable insights to improve your marketing strategy.