Why Proving Marketing ROI Is So Hard - And What To Do Instead

One of the biggest frustrations for marketers today, particularly in complex sectors like mortgage lending, is this:

You can be doing a lot of good work, but still struggle to prove the real impact of your marketing. That is because marketing does not work in straight lines, there is so much in your "loop". However, Boards want clear numbers. Businesses want fast results. You are under pressure to prove your value. Here I will quickly explain why ROI is hard to prove, share a diagram to support this and why ROO works better.

Why ROI Is So Hard to Prove

In theory, marketing ROI should be simple. You spend money. Generate revenue. Measure the return.

In reality, it is rarely that straightforward.

In the mortgage market, decisions are shaped by multiple influences - as shown by this diagram.

You will be sending out messages to your target market. Some will resonate more than others. Your messages will be sent in different ways and through different channels. It takes time for your messages to sink in and for memory structures to be formed. You will be working hard to create awareness and get your brand front of mind. The Outputs When your target audience is ready to use your services, they will need to think about your brand., They will do some comparisons. And they may supply you some business. But what was the driver? Was it the price? The brand? Your messages? And what were the biggest drivers? Was it the ads or events? Or your LinkedIn post? It's complicated. And unless you have a powerful CRM with attribution modelling, proving genuine ROI won't happen. That is why, for many teams, trying to prove perfect ROI can feel like measuring the wind with a ruler.

A More Practical Approach: Return on Objectives

Rather than linking every marketing activity directly to revenue, many organisations are adopting a more practical approach.

They focus on Return on Objectives (ROO).

Instead of asking “Did this campaign generate revenue?”, the question becomes:

“Did this activity achieve/contribute to the objective it was designed to deliver?”

You create goals and have desired outcomes, so marketers can use these to prove their worth.

For example, your goals may include:

• increasing brand awareness and brand salience

• increasing audience engagement

• strengthening brand awareness

• improving customer satisfaction or NPS levels

• increasing recommendation levels
  

These outcomes are measurable, meaningful and much easier to link to business progress, because they all correlate to growth.

So for example, your goal is to increase brand salience (a key metric BTW) and you determine ways to deliver this. Over time, brand salience increases so you are delivering great ROO.

The Role of Lead Metrics

To support this approach, marketing teams can track lead metrics — indicators that show movement toward these objectives. For example, you may track website engagement as a way of measuring brand awareness in between getting actual brand awareness scores.

Why This Approach Works

When marketing teams move away from ROI and instead focus on clear objectives, several things happen.

Conversations with the board become easier. Measurement becomes more realistic. Frustration reduces. And most importantly, marketing becomes more clearly aligned with business outcomes.

Final Thoughts

In complex markets like mortgage lending, proving marketing’s value will always require judgement as well as measurement.

The most successful teams don’t rely solely on rigid ROI models. That opens the door to chaos. Instead, they focus on clear objectives, meaningful indicators and a broader understanding of how marketing influences growth.

When that happens, marketing moves from being questioned to being recognised as a genuine driver of business performance.