Efficiency illusion
When pipeline metrics don’t tell the whole story
A CEO I spoke with recently showed me their pipeline metrics.
"We've got 4x our sales goal sitting in the pipeline,” they said.
On paper, everything looked great:
MQLs (high-intent leads) were up, deals were flowing, and leadership was happy.
But something didn’t add up.
They were optimizing for volume, not efficiency or revenue impact.
I recognized it immediately because early in my career, I made the same mistake.
And even now, working with double-digit ARR B2B companies, I see too many teams making the same mistake.
The metrics trap
I recently came across Benchmarkit's latest B2B Marketing Benchmarks report (2025), and it put numbers behind what I’ve seen firsthand:
They asked marketing teams to name their top three metrics for measuring performance.
Here’s what they said:
Pipeline generated (62%)
Opportunities generated (51%)
New ARR bookings (36%)
What surprised me is how few marketing leaders prioritize efficiency-focused metrics:
Only 18% track Cost per Opportunity
Just 16% look at Pipeline Conversion Rates
And only 15% measure their Marketing CAC ratio
But the thing is, these are exactly the metrics that show you if your pipeline and revenue sources are efficient, and help you adjust your GTM so you’re not just inflating pipeline volume or doubling down on the wrong channels/efforts.
How to keep your marketing accountable
It’s easy to default to standard budget benchmarks- spending 10%, 15%, or even 20% of revenue on marketing.
But benchmarks alone won’t tell you if your spend is actually driving efficient growth.
To get real clarity, you need to ask two key questions:
How efficiently does our marketing spend turn into actual revenue?
How quickly do we earn that investment back?
That’s exactly what the Marketing CAC Ratio + CAC Payback are all about.
Marketing CAC Ratio shows exactly how much you’re spending to win every dollar of new revenue.
Pair it with CAC Payback- the time it takes to recoup that spend- and you can quickly see whether your GTM is sustainable or quietly draining profitability.
Not just that, but these metrics also make budgeting simple, like in these examples:
To achieve $25M in New ARR at a CAC Ratio of 0.50, you'd need a $12.5M marketing budget.
To hit a $100M Pipeline target at a CAC Ratio of 0.15, you'd need a $15M marketing budget.
And you're probably wondering: What’s considered a good CAC ratio?
Just for reference, many high-growth SaaS companies aim for a Marketing CAC ratio between 0.4 to 0.8, meaning $0.40 to $0.80 spent for every $1 of new ARR.
But I have to say, there’s no one-size-fits-all number, as long as you’re not losing money. What’s “good” depends entirely on your margins, growth strategy, and payback goals.
So, my point is: know your number, and make sure it's moving in the direction you want it to.
Getting CMOs and CFOs on the same page
You’ve probably been there yourself.
CMOs often struggle to secure budgets for things that don’t immediately show ROI like brand-building.
But CFOs respond best to clarity and predictability.
In my 17 years of experience, here’s what I’ve learned about bridging this gap:
→ Clearly separate short-term strategies (like demand capture and lead generation) from long-term strategies (like brand building).
→ Show how consistent short-term results give you the runway for long-term strategies, and how those make short-term wins easier.
→ Set clear expectations upfront- explain what pays off quickly, what builds long-term value, and the timelines for each.
→ Use benchmarks and real-world examples from peers or companies who've successfully balanced short-term wins and long-term investments.
In the end, it’s about clearly communicating how marketing really works, so you get buy-in not just from your CFO, but from your CEO too.
Between the lines
This whole topic reminds me of something Gong did back in 2022.
They ran a Super Bowl ad:
Yes, a B2B SaaS company, not B2C.
Most B2B companies avoid brand-building plays like that. The ROI isn’t immediate. You can’t tie it directly to CAC or pipeline metrics overnight.
But Gong understood something critical:
Long-term brand strength makes future pipeline easier, cheaper, and more sustainable.
The result?
Their largest-ever sales pipeline
Record inbound opportunities within a week
Massive buzz across sales calls and social channels
Interestingly, Gong’s long-term brand play drove immediate results, too.
But the point is—they weren’t optimizing for short-term efficiency metrics.
They focused on building something bigger. And sometimes, those long-term bets pay off faster than expected.
And beyond that, it shows something else I strongly believe if you want to win:
Different is better than better.
But that’s a topic for another newsletter.
Thanks for reading & see you next Saturday!
Alon
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