Measure What You Must

That means anything that matters: leads generated, website traffic (such as page views and site visits), number of blog subscribers, and the number of "likes" and "retweets" via social media, Garcin advises.

Gail Blount, marketing and communications manager at JDL Technologies, a solutions provider based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., suggests that metrics can help drive decisions. "Be data driven in assessing which programs are worth your time and budget, and which ones may not be paying the sought-for dividends any longer," she said in a recent email to ITBesOfBreed.