How do you measure marketing's contribution to expansion revenue?
Track influenced expansion pipeline, attribute upsell revenue with multi-touch models, and connect product usage to renewal and expansion outcomes.
What to measure for marketing-driven expansion
- Influenced expansion pipeline: Expansion opportunities with verified marketing touches.
- Influenced expansion revenue: Closed-won expansion where marketing supported progression.
- Sourced expansion revenue: Expansion opportunities created by marketing programs.
- Adoption lift: Higher feature or seat adoption among engaged accounts.
- Renewal conversion lift: Improved renewal rates tied to lifecycle engagement.
Core metrics and how to calculate them
| Metric | Formula | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Expansion Pipeline Influenced | Sum of expansion opp value with marketing touch | Segments impact without overstating credit |
| Expansion Revenue Influenced | Closed-won expansion with marketing touch | Connects engagement to realized revenue |
| Expansion Revenue Sourced | Closed-won expansion from marketing-created opps | Shows marketing-created growth motion |
| Net Revenue Retention (NRR) | (Starting Rev + Expansion − Churn) ÷ Starting Rev | Lifecycle scorecard finance trusts |
| Adoption Lift | Adoption rate (engaged) − adoption rate (control) | Explains why expansion happened |
A simple measurement process that holds up to scrutiny
| Step | What to do | Output | Owner | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Align definitions for expansion, touch rules, and stage dates | KPI glossary and touch policy | RevOps + Finance | 1–2 weeks |
| 2 | Instrument data (CRM opp fields, MAP campaign IDs, product usage) | Unified data model | RevOps | 2–6 weeks |
| 3 | Choose attribution for expansion (recommended: multi-touch) | Attribution rules | RevOps + Marketing | 1–2 weeks |
| 4 | Report sourced vs influenced, plus adoption and renewal lift | Lifecycle dashboard | Analytics | 2–4 weeks |
| 5 | Review monthly; tune programs based on lift and conversion | Optimization backlog | Marketing + CS | Ongoing |
What "good" reporting looks like
- Separate sourced vs influenced expansion in every report
- Clear touch rules (time window, valid channels, exclusions)
- Account-level view that ties engagement to opportunity progression
- Segmented results by customer tier, product, and lifecycle stage
- Finance-aligned reconciliation to booked expansion revenue
Want a baseline first? See Revenue Marketing Assessment.
Why The Pedowitz Group (TPG)
- Platform-agnostic lifecycle measurement across Marketo, Eloqua, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Pardot (MCAE), HubSpot, and Microsoft ecosystems
- Revenue attribution design that connects engagement, product usage, and CRM opportunity reality
- Governance-first RevOps approach: KPI glossary, change control, and audit-ready reporting
Explore: Revenue Marketing Assessment • Data & Decision Intelligence
Frequently Asked Questions
Expansion revenue where marketing engagement occurred during the opportunity lifecycle and supported progression or conversion.
Sourced means marketing created the expansion opportunity; influenced means marketing supported an opportunity created elsewhere.
Use governed touch rules, separate sourced vs influenced, and validate reporting with RevOps and finance.
At minimum: CRM opportunity data, marketing automation campaign data, and ideally product usage signals in a unified reporting layer.
Net revenue retention (NRR) is the clearest roll-up because it reflects expansion and churn together.