Hot take (gentle one):
Not everything in marketing needs a spreadsheet.
But some things absolutely do.
ROI isn’t about killing creativity.
It’s about knowing when to measure — and when not to.
Here’s the line I see working best 👇
ROI matters deeply when:
• You’re scaling spend
• You’re repeating a campaign
• You’re asking for more budget
• You’re tying activity to revenue or pipeline
If you can’t explain why it worked, it’s luck — not strategy.
But…
ROI matters less when:
• You’re testing a new channel
• You’re building brand memory
• You’re creating human moments
• You’re doing something deliberately different
Not everything valuable converts instantly.
Some things compound quietly 🧠
The mistake?
Treating all marketing like performance marketing.
The smarter move?
Run two tracks at once:
• One that’s measurable, predictable, defensible
• One that’s human, emotional, memorable
Both are needed.
One just needs patience.
The best marketing leaders I speak to don’t ask:
“Did this convert?”
They ask:
“What role did this play in the bigger picture?”
That’s where ROI becomes useful — not restrictive.
Written at Rockkt, a UK company building software for sending physical post to sales prospects. How we research and write, including where AI comes into it: our editorial policy.
Rockkt finds the address, writes the letter and builds the page it points at. Studio Free is five fully worked prospects a month, by invitation.