ROI vs VOI: Why Your Marketing Needs Both Kinds of Metrics

Ever found yourself staring at a marketing report, wondering why that brilliant campaign didn’t “move the needle” on immediate sales?

Or maybe you’ve had the opposite experience – questioning why your team keeps investing in content that can’t be directly tied to revenue?

I was just on a call last week with a frustrated CMO who couldn’t understand why their perfectly-optimized ads weren’t building customer loyalty.

“We’re hitting all our numbers,” she told me, “but it feels like we’re on a treadmill – running faster just to stay in place.”

After digging deeper, we discovered they were measuring everything… except what truly mattered for long-term growth.

You see, most marketing teams are trapped in a numbers game that only tells half the story. They’ve mastered measuring what’s easy to track while completely missing what actually builds lasting brand value.

This classic ROI vs. VOI debate – Return on Investment versus Value on Investment – is at the heart of most marketing measurement challenges today.

I’ve Seen Both Sides of the Measurement Dilemma

Over the past decade running my agency, I’ve watched countless companies fall into one of two traps: either obsessing over short-term metrics that drive quick wins but long-term fatigue, or investing in “feel-good” marketing with no accountability for results.

One software client was generating impressive lead numbers, but their sales team was drowning in poor-quality prospects who weren’t ready to buy.

Another luxury brand client was creating gorgeous content that everyone loved internally, but couldn’t connect those efforts to any business outcomes.

Both were measuring the wrong things for their actual business goals.

Both needed a more balanced approach.

A New Framework You Can Actually Use

Today, I’m going to show you how to combine ROI (Return on Investment) with VOI (Value on Investment) to create marketing that drives both immediate results AND builds long-term brand equity.

This isn’t theoretical – you’ll get practical ways to measure both, clear examples from companies, and a framework you can implement immediately.

ROI: The Metric Everyone Thinks They Understand

Return on Investment seems straightforward:

ROI = (Revenue Generated – Marketing Cost) / Marketing Cost

When your email campaign costs $5,000 and generates $15,000 in sales, you’ve got a 200% ROI.

Executives love this clarity – it’s why performance marketing teams often win budget battles.

But here’s where it gets messy.

Let’s consider a hypothetical manufacturing company whose lead generation efforts are “working perfectly” according to their dashboards.

They might be generating leads at $37 each – well below industry benchmarks.

The potential problem?

Those leads might not be becoming customers.

If they dug deeper, they might discover they’re measuring the wrong ROI.

Their cost-per-lead could be low, but cost-per-qualified-opportunity might be astronomical because the content used to generate leads is attracting the wrong audience entirely.

ROI only works when you’re measuring the right thing at the right time.

For companies with complex products in healthcare technology, traditional ROI measurement for thought leadership programs might be counterproductive.

Why?

Because when your sales cycle is 12+ months, trying to attribute today’s revenue to specific marketing touches becomes an exercise in fiction-writing rather than measurement.

VOI: The Metrics That Build Your Future

Value on Investment captures the broader business impact that traditional ROI misses.

In today’s fragmented customer journey – where someone might hear your podcast, read your newsletter, see your social content, and finally convert through a Google search months later – VOI acknowledges marketing’s complete impact.

Consider what might happen if a cybersecurity company launched a community-building initiative.

Immediate revenue might not be the goal. Instead, they could track metrics like:

• Brand sentiment improvements: Using social listening tools to track increases in positive mentions and decreases in negative sentiment over time.
• Sales cycle acceleration: Monitoring whether the average time from first meeting to contract signing decreases for prospects who engage with community content.
• Competitive win rates: Tracking whether “win rates” against top competitors increase as prospects come in already familiar with the company’s unique approach.

None of these metrics would show up in a traditional ROI calculation, but they could ultimately drive significant revenue that might never materialize with a purely ROI-focused approach.

How to Actually Measure VOI (Without Getting Lost in the Weeds)

The biggest complaint about VOI is that it sounds nice but isn’t measurable.

That’s simply not true. Here are approaches that any company could implement:

Implement pre/post-campaign brand surveys: A financial services company targeting high-net-worth individuals could run quarterly brand perception surveys.

After a sustained thought leadership campaign, they might see their “perceived expertise” score increase significantly – a leading indicator for future business.

Track engagement depth, not just volume: A B2B software company celebrating their growing social following might discover their engagement rate is actually plummeting.

Shifting focus to measuring meaningful comments and content shares instead of vanity metrics could provide a more accurate picture of their content’s impact.

Measure content’s impact on sales conversations: An industrial equipment manufacturer could add one simple question to their CRM: “Did the prospect mention any of our content during the sales process?”

This might reveal that prospects who consumed their technical guides had a higher close rate and required fewer touchpoints.

Monitor search brand lift: A consumer electronics brand could track branded search volume alongside their unbranded campaigns.

While competitors see declining interest, their branded searches might increase year-over-year – a direct result of content marketing efforts that would have been cut under strict ROI measurement.

VOI isn’t some mystical, unmeasurable concept.

It requires different tools and approaches than ROI, but it’s just as concrete when measured correctly.

When to Prioritize ROI vs VOI

Different marketing initiatives require different measurement approaches.

Here’s a strategic framework for choosing the right measurement lens based on your specific business situation:

✅ = Primary measurement focus
⚠️ = Supporting measurement value
⚠️ = Limited measurement application

Here are three hypothetical scenarios to illustrate these concepts:

Scenario 1: Imagine a medical device startup burning through runway while trying to close enterprise deals.

Their marketing might be exclusively focused on thought leadership and category education—all VOI metrics showing “great engagement” but no sales.

What could help?

Potentially shifting half their resources toward ROI-focused activities: developing case studies with specific outcomes, implementing a demo request scoring system, and optimizing sales enablement content.

In this hypothetical case, such changes might help them close enterprise deals within a few months, potentially extending their runway.

Scenario 2: Consider a regional accounting firm obsessed with lead generation metrics—cost per lead, conversion rates, and pipeline velocity.

Despite “hitting their numbers,” they might still struggle with increasingly costly client acquisition.

The potential issue?

Their single-minded ROI focus could be eroding their market differentiation.

A solution might involve implementing VOI metrics around expertise perception and referral sentiment.

By investing in positioning their partners as industry experts rather than just service providers, they could potentially reduce client acquisition costs while simultaneously increasing their average client value.

Scenario 3: Picture a SaaS company preparing to raise Series B funding.

They might need to show category leadership, not just immediate revenue.

In this situation, prioritizing VOI metrics could be valuable—focusing on increasing their share of voice in industry publications, growing their podcast listenership, and building their founder’s thought leadership profile.

Such efforts might significantly impact their fundraising success—a business outcome that wouldn’t be measurable through traditional ROI.

The magic happens when both approaches are integrated: For instance, imagine a professional services firm connecting their thought leadership content (typically measured through VOI) directly to their lead generation system.

This could allow them to track how their authority-building content influences pipeline development, creating a direct link between VOI activities and ROI outcomes.

Why You Need a Balanced Measurement Approach

Let’s explore how an imbalanced approach to marketing measurement could create problems, and how a more balanced approach might solve them.

Hypothetical Scenario 1: The ROI-Obsessed Brand

Imagine a direct-to-consumer wellness brand that’s laser-focused on acquisition metrics.

Their paid acquisition numbers look fantastic on paper—they’re acquiring customers at costs well below industry benchmarks.

But despite these “successful” campaigns, they’re struggling with customer retention.

The potential problem?

Their relentless focus on ROI-driven acquisition tactics has optimized for customers who respond to discounts and promotions, not those seeking long-term value from their products.

Each new customer cohort might cost less to acquire, but also delivers less lifetime value.

A balanced approach might involve:

• Maintaining ROI metrics for acquisition efficiency
• Adding VOI metrics like customer satisfaction scores and repeat purchase rates
• Measuring content engagement beyond just conversion
• Tracking how brand perception shifts among both customers and non-customers

Over time, this balanced approach could potentially increase customer lifetime value while maintaining reasonable acquisition costs—the holy grail of sustainable growth.

Hypothetical Scenario 2: The VOI-Only Innovator

Consider a B2B technology company that’s invested heavily in thought leadership, innovative content, and category creation.

Their content gets shared widely, they’re invited to speak at major industry events, and their executives are quoted regularly in trade publications.

All their VOI metrics look stellar.

Yet they’re struggling to convert this industry recognition into actual revenue.

Their sales team is frustrated that all this “brand awareness” isn’t translating into closed deals.

A more balanced approach might include:

• Maintaining their thought leadership program but with clearer content journeys
• Adding conversion-focused elements to their previously awareness-only content
• Implementing lead scoring that values engagement with thought leadership
• Creating sales enablement tools that leverage their thought leadership positioning

This balanced strategy could potentially help them maintain their thought leadership position while actually converting that goodwill into revenue.

Taking Action: Building Your Balanced Scorecard

Ready to implement a more balanced measurement approach for your marketing? Here are steps you could take:

1. Create a two-column audit of your current metrics. List every marketing metric you currently track under either “ROI Metrics” or “VOI Metrics.” Is there a severe imbalance? Most companies discover they’re over-indexed on one side. (Timeline: Complete this week)
2. Identify your measurement gaps. For each major marketing initiative, identify at least one metric from each category that would provide meaningful insight. For instance, if you’re running thought leadership, don’t just track impressions – also consider how you might track sales team feedback on how it’s influencing prospect conversations. (Timeline: 2-3 hours)
3. Establish your measurement cadence. ROI metrics typically benefit from weekly monitoring, while VOI metrics often need monthly or quarterly review to show meaningful trends. Create a dashboard that respects these different rhythms. (Timeline: Set up within two weeks, then ongoing)
4. Connect the frameworks. For each VOI metric, identify the potential ROI impact, even if it’s not directly measurable. For example: “Improved brand sentiment should reduce customer acquisition costs by X% over Y months.” This creates accountability without forcing false precision. (Timeline: One strategy session to map relationships)
5. Adjust budget allocations based on balanced insights. Once you have both measurement frameworks in place, you can make more strategic decisions about where to invest. Instead of simply chasing what’s easily measured, you can build a marketing mix that drives both immediate results and long-term growth. (Timeline: Implement with next budget cycle)

Building a Marketing Engine That Lasts

For too long, marketing teams have been forced to choose between proving immediate impact and building long-term value.

The truth is, sustainable growth requires both.

ROI tells you how efficiently your marketing is converting today’s opportunities.

VOI shows you how effectively you’re creating tomorrow’s opportunities.

Together, they provide the complete picture you need to make truly strategic marketing decisions.

In today’s fragmented, privacy-first marketing landscape, the brands that win aren’t just measuring what’s easy – they’re measuring what matters.

And what matters most is both the immediate impact AND the enduring value your marketing creates.

Want to implement this approach in your organization? Reach out, we can help.

To your success,

– Audra ✌️