If you’re a B2B marketer, you’re probably caught in a frustrating cycle: You know brand marketing matters. You’ve even made it a top priority. But when budget time rolls around, demand gen initiatives tend to get priority. Why? Because those are the initiatives you can easily measure. This creates a vicious cycle where short-term metrics drive long-term strategy. But how do you break the cycle? And how do you fill in that brand measurement gap? 

On our Best Story Wins podcast, we talked to Victoria Gamlen, CMO at Boundary Analytics, about navigating this crisis. As the leader of a company dedicated to measuring B2B brand marketing, she knows what B2B companies are facing and, most importantly, how marketers need to shift their mindset around measurement. 

This is more important than ever, as Victoria points out there is a serious split in what marketers know they need to do and what they’re actually doing.

The Brand Measurement Disconnect

According to Boundary’s 2025 State of B2B Marketing report, creating net new demand is the number one priority for marketers, yet that same report found that marketers’ actual spending tells a different story.

B2B marketers spend 67% on demand capture/lead generation and 33% on demand creation/brand marketing. —Boundary 2025 State of B2B Marketing report

This isn’t surprising. When 73% of the buyer journey happens in the “dark funnel,” and that dark funnel is difficult to measure, marketers are less eager to invest in an unknown. But if you want to make better marketing moves, it’s time to address the brand measurement crisis directly and identify ways to close the gap. These are Victoria’s biggest tips to do that. 

1. Recognize the limitations of current measurement tools.

Attribution isn’t bad; it’s just limited. It was designed to track conversions, not to measure the entire marketing ecosystem.

“Attribution has always measured last touch. It never promised anything more,” Victoria says.

The problem comes when we try to stretch attribution beyond its capabilities. It’s like trying to measure temperature with a ruler. It’s the wrong tool for the wrong job.

Tip: Audit your current measurement framework and assess what percentage of your marketing activities can actually be captured through attribution. If you’re like most B2B companies, it’s probably only capturing about 20% of your marketing impact.

2. Connect brand metrics to business outcomes.

Marketers often celebrate upper-funnel brand awareness metrics like share of voice, branded search, and PR mentions, which can be valuable internally, but they won’t impress your CEO unless you can connect them to business outcomes. 

Tip: Look for “high-intent inbound” as a practical metric that bridges brand and business outcomes. This measures visitors who land on your homepage from natural search and convert on high-value assets like demo requests. These actions directly connect branded search to pipeline and can show the impact of your brand investments retroactively.

3. Account for time lag in your brand measurement analysis.

Unlike demand gen activities that might show results within days or weeks, brand marketing often takes months to impact pipeline. (And remember that the average B2B buying journey spans 13 months, with first vendor contact typically happening around 9.5 months.)

Without accounting for time lag, marketers might abandon brand initiatives too quickly or misattribute their impact.

Tip: When analyzing marketing impact, look at correlations over different time periods. Some tactics may show strong correlation to pipeline after one month, while others might take six months to demonstrate their full impact.

4. Adopt multiple measurement approaches. 

You can’t put all your eggs in one basket (e.g., relying solely on attribution, brand metrics, or any single measurement approach). 

Remember: When businesses make a big purchase, it’s a big deal. It takes a lot of people to sign off on that purchase, and their buyer journeys are complex. Hence, there’s no single “right” measurement model for B2B marketing. You need to take a zoomed-out look at various activities. 

Tip: Complement your existing measurement tools with correlation modeling to understand relationships between marketing activities and business outcomes. Look at how different tactics correlate to pipeline over time, even without direct attribution.

Beyond Brand Measurement: Build a Better B2B Marketing Approach

Successfully measuring brand impact isn’t just about having the right tools; it’s about adopting the right mindset. The companies that get this right share a common trait: patience backed by strategic clarity. And it’s crucial to remember that effective brand marketing starts with having something meaningful to say.

“You don’t just turn on brand marketing,” Victoria says. You need a strong point of view about the solution you provide and clarity about your target audience.

Understand how your buyers actually buy, then align your measurement approach accordingly. 

And with the right measurement framework, you can finally bridge the gap between brand investment and business impact.

To learn more about how to transform your approach to B2B marketing measurement, check out our full conversation with Victoria on the Best Story Wins podcast.