By Ally Akins and Sammy Fiorino
Bank marketing teams are under pressure to prove the effectiveness of marketing efforts, measure ROI and improve results. But not all measurement approaches are created equal. As marketing within the industry shifts from a primarily communications and brand-focused role to one of revenue, sales and lead generation, marketers are leaning on any available data to prove the effectiveness of their programs.
Current state of data usage
While most marketers (and bankers in general) know that data is critical for measuring results, the way bank marketers use data to evaluate the impact of marketing still varies. Marketing teams are more frequently using digital behavior and financial activity data to measure marketing and sales effectiveness.
When asked which data sources marketers use to measure their marketing’s effectiveness, digital analytics platforms such as Google Analytics or other paid digital ad platforms ranked first, followed closely by core banking/transaction data.
Marketers tend to gravitate toward digital advertising metrics to showcase results because they are easier and more direct to track than broader metrics such as traditional media, branch sales and brand studies. However, core banking and transaction data represent a wealth of opportunities for bank marketers – for identifying opportunities and targeting, but also for tracking sales and account data.
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Less than half of respondents rated their use of CRM/banker activity logs, indicating that many banks lack a consistent way to track lead flow, follow-up, appointments, and conversion paths — the exact data needed to attribute marketing to sales outcomes in a branch- or banker-led environment. This is a classic “marketing-to-sales handoff” blind spot. When CRM utilization is limited, marketing is forced to defend itself with clicks and traffic (upper funnel) or blunt outcome metrics (deposit growth), without a credible bridge between the two.
What data attributes marketers value
When asked to rank data attributes from most valuable to least in reporting and measuring marketing and sales results, bank marketers identified Product/Service Usage (accounts held, balances, transaction activity) as the clear top priority — 26.7% ranked it #1, and nearly two-thirds (62.8%) placed it in their top two. Sales activity (leads generated, banker interactions, appointments, conversions) ranked second with an average score of 3.10, and customer value and profitability followed closely at 3.58. Together, these three business outcome metrics dominated the rankings. By contrast, marketing spend and media metrics (impressions, reach, cost per lead, ROI) and customer demographics ranked lowest, with average scores of 4.10 and 4.02, respectively, and nearly half of respondents placed each in their bottom two.
The data points to a clear pattern: bank marketers place the greatest value on metrics that reflect direct business impact, with channel-level and spend metrics serving more of a supporting role in how results are reported and measured. This prioritization aligns with industry best practices, reinforcing a positive shift toward outcome-based measurement and a stronger focus on tying marketing efforts directly to revenue and growth.
Table 1: Overall Rankings Summary (n=86)
Table 2: Full Rank Distribution — Count (%) by Attribute (n=86)
Closing the gap
Despite the clear prioritization of business outcome metrics, significant gaps remain in marketers’ ability to act on them. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73.4%) rated their organization’s ability to link data to sales and marketing results as neutral to very dissatisfied, and more than half (56.5%) rated their confidence in the accuracy of the data they use daily as neutral to very uncertain. These figures point to a meaningful disconnect: bank marketers know what data matters most but lack confidence in both the data itself and the infrastructure to connect it to performance measurement.
This is particularly notable given that banking is one of the few industries where marketers have inherent access to deep, real-time customer behavior data. Transaction history, account balances, product holdings, and relationship tenure all live within core banking systems, giving bank marketers a level of customer insight that most industries can only approximate through third-party data or behavioral inference. The challenge is less about data availability and more about integration, as the path from core systems to marketing platforms and reporting tools remains underdeveloped in many organizations. The result is a measurement environment where easier-to-capture metrics like clicks and impressions remain in use not necessarily because they are valued, as evidenced by marketing spend and media metrics ranking last, but because the infrastructure to connect that rich customer data to marketing and sales outcomes has yet to be fully established.
Ultimately, the path forward for community bankers is not about collecting more data but utilizing the currently available data to its highest potential. The findings show that marketers value metrics tied to real business outcomes, yet many lack the systems, processes, and confidence to fully leverage them. Closing this gap requires stronger integration between core banking systems, CRM platforms and marketing tools, as well as more disciplined tracking of the marketing-to-sales journey. By building that connective infrastructure, banks can move beyond proxy metrics and more clearly demonstrate how marketing drives revenue, deepens relationships, and supports growth.
For Capital Performance Group, a strategic consulting firm, Ally Akins is the sales and marketing practice co-lead, and Sammy Fiorino is a marketing consultant and project manager.
