Vanity metrics are the “but everyone else does it” of marketing. They are easy to get, look nice and have no connection to business outcomes. They stick around because higher-ups want to see them, because that’s what they’re used to seeing.

It’s time for a bonfire of the vanity metrics. Editorial Director Mike Pastore has seven metrics that need to die now and seven replacement metrics that will bring your marketing back to life.

Constantine von Hoffman
Managing Editor

 
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B2B marketing

7 vanity metrics marketers should avoid, and 7 to replace them

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Forget the low-hanging fruit and reach for the numbers that tell you what's really working.

B2B marketing

How AI flipped the funnel and made GTM tactics obsolete

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Traditional GTM was optimized for a different era. AI search changed the medium — and core tactics fell apart. Here’s what replaces them.

Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)

6 brands taking a stand against AI content

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AI images are showing up in an increasing number of advertisements. Consumers are pushing back, and so are these brands.

Sponsored Content

Marketing is broken. Privacy can fix it.

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Data-driven strategies fueled a golden era—until they didn’t. It’s time to rebuild marketing on trust, not tracking.

Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)

Beyond ChatGPT: How AI agents actually work (and why your business needs them)

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While most companies are still figuring out ChatGPT, a new category of AI is quietly transforming customer experience: AI agents.

Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)

The latest AI-powered martech news and releases

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Mark Zuckerberg wants to be big in AI more than he's wanted anything ever in his whole life. "It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off."

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Marketing technology

How to get started with AI optimization (and explain it to your leadership)

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AI-powered search means it’s time to fundamentally rethink your brand visibility. We’ll show you how.

Optimization

26 A/B testing ideas

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These 26 A/B test ideas help marketers improve what happens after the click—from landing pages to CTAs and conversion flows.

Content marketing

How to build B2B authority in the AI search era

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With AI shaping buyer research, content must earn trust at first glance. Explore how to structure, distribute and elevate content in this new landscape.

What else we're reading

Good reads and conversations to help good marketers get better.
 

MarTech research

Surveys and research reports to make you a more-informed marketer
  • NEW! Get the 2025 State of Your Stack Survey report by downloading the PDF, flipping through a carousel, listening to a discussion of the results or watching the keynote session from the Spring 2025 MarTech Conference — all without registration.

MarTech Intelligence Reports are in-depth, independent and indispensable. They’re designed to help marketers navigate the martech landscape with questions to ask during the buying process, vendor profiles and more.

Download your Intelligence Report today:

 

What they're saying

  • GTM scaled tactics optimized for the wrong medium. AI changes the medium. The tactics turn inward and collapse. You don’t win a jujitsu match by punching harder. You win by making the other person fall on their own punch.” – Mark Stouse in How AI flipped the funnel and made GTM tactics obsolete.
  • “Forward-thinking companies are capturing cost reductions and revenue increases where they’ve deployed AI. These results come from those who recognize implementation as a transformation journey requiring significant investment in people, processes and technology, not a quick fix.”  – Gene De Libero in Why AI-powered customer engagement projects fail before they start
 

From Search Engine Land