The ABC’s of Marketing Measurement: A Future Ready Framework

Marketers are hoarders. No, not of branded swag or email subscribers—but of data.

We pile up metrics and KPIs, dashboard after dashboard, convinced that more data means better decisions. Yet, when it’s time to make a call, all those numbers just sit there—staring back at us, refusing to give a straight answer, let alone produce any magical insights.

A staggering 77% of marketers aren’t confident they’re tracking the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), according to Harvard Business School’s Business Insights Blog.

The problem? Most marketers are measuring what’s easy, not what’s important.

We believe that measuring what’s important requires a focus on the human behaviors behind the numbers, a way to look at–and understand your data–especially what it’s telling you about how customers interact with your business. A framework if you will.

That’s why we developed the ABC’s of Marketing Measurement: A smarter, human-first approach, built for measuring how people interact with AI-enhanced marketing.

Are you still measuring success through antiquated models and vanity metrics? You might be missing the bigger picture. Seer’s founder, Wil Reynolds called this out in his blog post Why 2020's SEO KPIs won't work in 2024 in a GenAI & Data Scarce world. 

Continue reading below to learn how to apply our ABC framework to measuring your marketing success. 

Why Traditional Measurement Models Fall Short

The Fallacy of the Funnel

For years, marketers have been duped into believing that customers follow a predictable journey:  awareness → consideration → conversion. But let’s be honest, when was the last time you made a purchase by neatly following a funnel? 

In reality, you probably started your research online, asked friends and followers for recommendations, visited multiple websites, maybe you even consulted an LLM to help identify options, then ultimately you made a decision.

The funnel isn’t a linear path.

Customers today don’t move in straight lines; they zigzag between devices, browse multiple platforms, and make decisions influenced by friends, followers, and downright strangers far more than just marketing messages.

The typical funnel oversimplifies this reality, leading marketers to optimize for a journey that doesn’t exist.

The Problem with Funnels: Linear Thinking in a Nonlinear World

Marketers who rely on traditional marketing funnels to measure success are blind to critical information. Today’s customer journeys are fragmented; here’s some reasons why:

• AI-driven search and chatbots redirect users before they even reach your website.
• Zero-click searches and AI-generated answers change how people interact with brands.
• Personalization and retargeting allow customers to skip steps in the funnel or move back and forth unpredictably.

➡️ Key Message: The funnel assumes a predictable, step-by-step process. But today’s buyers are influenced by AI-powered recommendations, chat-driven decisions, and multi-platform experiences that don’t fit neatly into a linear path.

The Reality of Modern Customer Journeys

To establish effective measures of marketing success, we must look at the customer journey in a new light. From a customer's perspective, they want a seamless experience (across all channels) that gets them to answers and products and/or services in the easiest manner possible. As marketers, we need to translate this journey into strategies that accommodate smooth experiences. 

This should force you to think about what matters at each stage of the journey -- and -- how you can measure that.

For example:

• Let's assume that one of your marketing objectives is to build awareness for your brand. If AI is providing answers and information about your brand before users even visit your website, how are you measuring success? You need to begin tracking AI-driven brand exposure, how you appear in AI Overviews, and how you can optimize for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). 
• Next, what about those links and citations that appear in AI searches? Are they driving people to your website? Does this traffic engage more readily than organic or paid traffic? You should know this to be able to build strategies around how to meet your objectives while also allowing customers to act the way that they want to. 

➡️ Key Message: Website traffic alone is no longer a reliable indicator of marketing success. AI is shaping customer interactions before they even visit your site, and traditional conversion paths are being disrupted.

The Need for a New Approach

Rather than forcing customers into a linear model, we need a measurement framework that reflects the fluid, multi-touch nature of digital interactions.

The ABC’s of Marketing Measurement provides a more dynamic approach, allowing marketers to measure outcomes throughout each stage of the customer journey based on what marketers are trying to achieve.

Outcomes should be organized into customer lifecycle stages:

• • Awareness
  • Behaviors
  • Conversions
  • Loyalty

These stages mirror how customers engage today. By moving beyond the funnel and embracing a flexible, human-first model, marketers can gain a clearer picture of what actually drives success.

• Think of ABC’s as an evolution of the funnel, where instead of forcing customers into rigid stages, we measure real engagement—wherever and however it happens.
• Funnels assume a predictable path. The ABC’s recognize that AI, chatbots, and smart recommendations let customers move in and out of stages unpredictably.

➡️ Key Message: The ABC’s don’t fully replace traditional KPIs, but they adapt measurement to fit today’s AI-powered customer journey—where engagement, intent, and conversions happen beyond a single website or app.

The ABC’s of Marketing Measurement – A Framework for Action

So you’re probably asking yourself, what’s so different about this new ABC framework? Since marketers seem to love the concept of a funnel, we didn’t throw that out entirely.

Instead, we evolved the funnel stages to include a loyalty loop, which accounts for customers who make repeat purchases as well as those who advocate on behalf of a brand to help generate more awareness. This isn’t new either, but it is an evolved way of thinking about how customers truly behave and how marketers can reach them more effectively.  

The ABC’s of Marketing Measurement framework begins by making you think about the ways in which humans interact with your marketing and aligns that to the objectives and goals you have as an organization.

Re-Fitting to the ABC’s Framework

To help your marketing team measure what matters in a practical way using the ABC’s of Marketing Measurement, you need a structured approach. You can do this by evaluating KPI selection based on business goals, industry, and marketing objectives.

Here's how to approach it:

1. Start with Objectives: Ask the business "What are you trying to accomplish?". Align on what matters most to the business to develop a strategy that captures data to answer key business questions and provide performance measurement. While this may sound easy, oftentimes it’s not. You’ll need to really dig in and ask your stakeholders what they are trying to achieve with their marketing.

 Every business has unique objectives, so start by aligning their core marketing goals with the ABC’s framework.

➡️Action Step: Ask your marketing peers: “What is the primary business outcome you’re trying to achieve?” Then, assign an ABC category and a KPI that best tracks progress.

2. Customize KPIs: Measures of success should be customized for each unique business. Just because a KPI works for one business doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work for you. 

Use the ABC's framework to organize metrics in a way that is measurable and reflects reality. Once you’ve selected the right KPI for each category, standardize how it’s measured using a structured format.

➡️ Action Step: Provide your marketing teammates with a structured KPI worksheet where they define each metric using a scalable format.

3. Determine Actions: It is important to go beyond the measures of success to determine the actions to take. By being prescriptive, you can suggest actions to take when a metric is going in a specific direction. 

A KPI is only valuable if it guides decision-making. Encourage marketers to ask:

• “What will I do differently if this KPI changes?”

• “How does this KPI influence the specific outcome I’m hoping to achieve?”

• “Does this KPI reflect my true business success, or is it just a vanity metric that doesn’t reflect how humans behave?”

Tie KPIs back to business action:

• If Awareness (A) is too low, invest in brand-building campaigns (PR, influencer marketing, etc.).

• Is Behavior (B) is changing, determine if AI-Agents are visiting your website on behalf of customers and if so evaluate your UX, optimize content, or adjust navigation.

• If Conversions (C) are lagging, review pricing strategies, improve checkout experiences, or refine ad targeting.

• If Loyalty (L) is weak, improve post-purchase engagement, offer loyalty programs, or personalize experiences.

➡️ Action Step: Build a decision tree that helps marketers interpret KPI changes and take action instead of just reporting numbers.

4. Prioritize a Few Key Metrics: Companies should focus on a small handful of metrics and think through the implications. Instead of trying to keep up with a ton of different metrics, companies should just pick a few that really matter for their goals. By focusing on just a few KPIs, you can use devoted resources to understand what really makes you successful.

This strategic approach lets you dig deeper into what each metric means, so they can make smart decisions and take the right actions.  Plus, prioritizing a few key metrics makes it easier for everyone in the organization to be on the same page, since everyone knows what the most important measures of performance are and what they should do about them.

Apply the “No More than 3 KPIs Per Category” Rule

To avoid metric overload, pick no more than 3 KPIs per ABC category—or just focus on 2-3 categories based on the goal.

➡️ Pro Tip: Instead of tracking dozens of metrics, pick 1-3 that best represents success in each category for your business.

Use the “What Will I Do With This Data?” Test

A metric is only valuable if it leads to actionable decisions. Ask:

❓ “What will I do if this metric goes up or down?”
❌ If there’s no clear next step, it’s probably not a meaningful KPI.

Example:

• If Engagement Rate (B) drops, should you redesign content or improve CTA placement?
• If Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate (C) drops, should you adjust onboarding, improve pricing, or change messaging?

If a metric won’t lead to a clear action, drop it.

Prioritize Metrics Based on Decision Impact

Not all metrics are equal—some are vanity metrics, while others drive real business impact.

Use this framework to prioritize metrics:

➡️  Pro Tip: Focus 80% of attention on high-impact KPIs and use medium/low-impact ones only as supporting indicators.

Funnels Were Built for a Different Era—The ABC’s are Built for an AI-Powered World

The days of relying on outdated funnels and vanity metrics are over. AI has fundamentally reshaped how customers interact with brands, and traditional measurement models no longer capture the full picture.

By adopting the ABC’s of Marketing Measurement—Awareness, Behaviors, Conversions, and Loyalty—you gain a flexible, actionable framework that aligns with how humans truly engage with your marketing in 2025.

Instead of drowning in metric overload, focus on the KPIs that matter most: the ones that drive real business impact and lead to smarter decision-making. Whether you’re refining your brand visibility, optimizing engagement, increasing conversions, or building long-term customer loyalty, this framework ensures you’re measuring what truly moves the needle.

Some key takeaways to get you started:

• Prioritize high-impact KPIs over vanity metrics
• Adapt measurement to AI-driven customer journeys
• Use data to drive action—not just reporting

Ready to transform your marketing measurement strategy? Let’s talk about how Seer can help you build a data-driven approach that’s built for today and the future.

Get in touch with our team today to take your marketing measurement to the next level.