> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Measurement model **Last reviewed:** 2026-08-30 · **Reading edit:** 2026-09-12 Analytics can show a recorded click path, while buyers may tell you a different story about how they found you. Keep both views. Use tracking for what it can observe, ask buyers directly, and use experiments for questions that attribution cannot settle. What tracking records; Read the differences; What buyers tell you *Reading guide: what tracking records · read the differences · what buyers tell you.* ## Use this when * Last-click ROAS is how brand, podcast, and founder posts get defunded. * Marketing and sales each have a “source” field and they disagree on every deal. * Leadership wants “full-funnel attribution” before anyone asked buyers how they heard. * Capture campaigns look like heroes and creation looks like waste. ## Do not use this when * Lifecycle words are undefined. You will measure noise. Define [shared lifecycle stages](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/lifecycle-stages) first or at least the [lead-scoring](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/lead-scoring) actions. * You need a test design. That is [experimentation](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/experimentation). * You need next year’s capacity math. That is [GTM planning](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/gtm-planning). * The request is to implement a vendor’s multi-touch model as the source of truth. ## A few useful terms | Word | Meaning here | | ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Creation scoreboard** | Memory and future cash flow: reach, evenness, HDYHAU, sales mentions—on a long clock | | **Capture scoreboard** | In-market response: qualified conversations, sales-accepted pipeline, close—on a short clock | | **Software attribution** | What cookies, UTMs, and CRM source fields can see | | **Self-reported (SRA)** | What the buyer says, in their words, when asked | | **Hybrid** | Read both. Do not average them into one fake ROAS | ## Keep this in mind **Software measures capture paths; humans measure creation paths; neither alone is the budget.** If you only have UTMs, you will over-fund search and retargeting. If you only have stories, you will fund vibes. Ask on the high-intent form, keep the UTM, and refuse to pick a winner with one column. ## How to do it ### Step 1: Keep channel tracking and buyer feedback separate Write which weekly review reads **capture** (qualified conversations, accept rate, capture CAC you actually believe) and which quarterly review reads **creation** (category reach/evenness if you pay for it, HDYHAU mix, branded search, sales “I have been seeing you”). The [CMO Scorecard](https://business.linkedin.com/advertise/resources/b2b-institute/cmo-scorecard?ref=b2b-playbook) is the public version of “creative and media inputs, long-horizon outcomes.” You do not need their product to refuse a 14-day CPL on a memory campaign. Kellblog-style board metrics (pipeline coverage, CAC payback, NRR) stay **company** numbers. Do not let a channel dashboard impersonate them. ### Step 2: Ask buyers how they found you On [demo request](../07-website-and-conversion/demo-request.md) and other hand-raises: mandatory **free text**, no dropdown, no “Google / LinkedIn / Event” hints. Categorize after—string-match or a human pass. Prompting the list biases the study. Do not put HDYHAU on every content gate. You will train “idk” and you will think you measured demand. ### Step 3: Be clear about what software records UTMs: first meaningful marketing touch **and** the session that converted—both stored, neither holy. Source = the offer or destination when that is more predictive than the referring hostname (a Refine Labs ops note, not a law). Sales may overwrite with a human source only through a written rule; silent edits are how two truths appear. Last-touch and first-touch are **diagnostics**. They are not the budget. ### Step 4: Investigate differences between the two views Hybrid means: *software says X, buyers say Y, here is what we will fund anyway.* Refine Labs’ public study (620 declared-intent conversions, twelve months, software vs SRA) reported a large gap on dark social—podcast was a majority of *their* self-reported revenue and \~0% of *their* software credit. That is **their** tape. Your mix will differ. The method is the mismatch review, not their 90%. ### Step 5: Use experiments for causal questions “Does this channel work?” on a small, new buy is [experimentation](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/experimentation): hypothesis, kill date, decision. Multi-touch models will not save a campaign that never defined the job. Incrementality tests and holdouts beat another attribution schema when the spend is large enough to justify them. ## Worked example (illustrative) Sales-assist. Founder posts. Light search capture. No podcast yet. | Field | Fill | | ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Capture review | Weekly: sales-accepted from search + demo form. Owner: demand lead. | | Creation review | Quarterly: HDYHAU categories + founder-mention rate in first meetings. Owner: founder + marketing. | | SRA surface | Demo form only, open text | | Software we keep | First UTM, last UTM, campaign on the converting session | | We will not do | One ROAS to rank founder posts vs branded search | | Mismatch we expect | Direct / unknown in CRM; “your LinkedIn” / “a colleague” in HDYHAU | ## Copy: measurement card (fill) * Capture metrics, owner, cadence: * Creation metrics, owner, cadence: * HDYHAU: which forms, open text (yes/no), who categorizes: * Software fields we will trust—and only for what: * Board metrics we will not let a channel dashboard impersonate: * Disagreement rule (what we fund when SRA and software fight): * What we will test instead of attributing: Working file: [measurement-model.md](../../templates/measurement-model.md). ## Before you start * [ ] Two scoreboards are written; one weekly meeting does not mix them without a label. * [ ] HDYHAU is open text on declared intent. * [ ] UTM/source rules are written; sales edits are governed. * [ ] Creation campaigns are excluded from 14-day CPL kill decisions. * [ ] A mismatch review exists (even a spreadsheet). * [ ] Privacy/consent owner knows what you store. This page is not that review. * [ ] No vendor model is the single source of truth. ## Metrics The model *is* a metric policy. Use this table as the refuse list: | Allowed as a decision | Not allowed as the decision | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | Capture: qualified conversations, accept, win rate on captured demand | Platform ROAS on a creation campaign | | Creation: HDYHAU mix, evenness, branded search, sales mentions | Last-click pipeline % as “marketing did this” | | Hybrid mismatch notes | A blended “influenced” number nobody can audit | | Experiment result with a kill date | Another attribution schema when the job was undefined | ## Common mistakes * Buying HockeyStack / Dreamdata / a CDP to postpone asking buyers. * Dropdown HDYHAU. * One source field to rule them all. * Firing the podcast because Salesforce said Organic. * Treating Refine Labs’ 90% as your KPI. * Asking attribution to answer a strategy question. ## What to read next The form that collects SRA is [demo request](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/07-website-and-conversion/demo-request). The buys that need two scoreboards are [paid media](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/04-channels-and-distribution/paid-media) and [LinkedIn organic](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/04-channels-and-distribution/linkedin-organic). Tests that can change the plan are [experimentation](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/experimentation). Whether next year’s number is possible is [GTM planning](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/gtm-planning). Person-level routing stays [lead scoring](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/lead-scoring). Use [funnel model](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/funnel-model) and [pipeline model](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/pipeline-model) for progression, cohorts, and commercial planning. ## Sources and evidence boundary This is an owner-maintained operating synthesis. * **Two clocks: capture the 5, create among the 95; creative and media as inputs.** LinkedIn B2B Institute [95-5](https://www.linkedin.com/business/marketing/blog/research-and-insights/why-you-should-follow-the-95-5-rule?ref=b2b-playbook) and [CMO Scorecard](https://business.linkedin.com/advertise/resources/b2b-institute/cmo-scorecard?ref=b2b-playbook). * **Open-text HDYHAU on declared-intent forms; software = capture, SRA = creation; read both.** Refine Labs [Attribution Mirage](https://www.refinelabs.com/blog/attribution-mirage?ref=b2b-playbook) and [Hybrid Attribution Framework](https://www.refinelabs.com/blog/hybrid-attribution-framework?ref=b2b-playbook). Sample sizes, \$21.5MM, and the 90% figure are **their** study. Method only. * Board-level SaaS metrics: Kellblog as a **company** scoreboard voice—not as channel attribution. * Multi-touch SaaS products are tools. They are not this method. [Attribution](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/attribution) explains model math while retaining the distinction between tracked paths, buyer reports, and causal evidence. *** Copyright © 2026 Ivan Xu. All rights reserved. See the [copyright and reuse terms](https://github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook/blob/main/LICENSE). Canonical source: [github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook](https://github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook)