Measure which programs create pipeline
Events, webinars and campaigns compared on the meetings and pipeline they created, traced through the people who attended, engaged and then met, not on registrations.
The conversation
Sample accounts and numbers, for illustrationYouFor every event, webinar and campaign we ran this year, match the attendees and engagers to accounts, trace them to meetings and opportunities created within 120 days, and rank the programs by meetings and pipeline per attendee, showing first-touch and any-touch attribution side by side.
Unify3 checks · program lists, CRM and website activity
- Cleaned and matched the attendee and engagement lists for all eleven programs to accounts by domain; 140 rows stayed unmatched and are listed.
- Traced each matched account to meetings and opportunities created within 120 days of the program in Salesforce.
- Attributed pipeline to the first program that touched each account and, separately, to every program that touched it.
Eleven programs this year, 3,100 attendees and engagers matched to 1,480 accounts. They led to 212 meetings and $3.4m of pipeline within 120 days. Two webinars beat the flagship conference per attendee.
- 11
- programs 3,100 attendees and engagers
- 1,480
- accounts matched 140 rows unmatched, listed
- 212
- meetings within 120 days
- $3.4m
- pipeline created 78 opportunities
- FebruaryRouting webinar · 340 attendees38 meetings, $610k. Highest meetings per attendee of the year.
- AprilFlagship conference · 1,100 attendees61 meetings, $1.3m. Largest total, fifth per attendee.
- JuneSupport ops webinar · 290 attendees29 meetings, $480k. Second per attendee.
- SeptemberRegional dinners · 4 events, 120 attendees22 meetings, $520k. Small, and the best pipeline per attendee.
Attendance, meetings and pipeline are read from the lists and the CRM. The 120-day window is a choice, shown on every row, and the unmatched rows are counted rather than dropped.
YouRank them two ways and tell me where first-touch and any-touch disagree.
UnifyThe ranking holds under both views except for the conference, which looks stronger on any-touch because it re-touched accounts the webinars had already reached.
- 1Regional dinners$4,300 per attendee
- 2Routing webinar$1,800 per attendee
- 3Support ops webinar$1,650 per attendee
- 4Flagship conference$1,180 per attendee
- 5Paid content campaign$210 per attendee
- Where the views disagree
- The conference gains $800k on any-touch, almost all from accounts a webinar reached first. It closes deals the webinars opened, which is a reason to keep both, not to credit one.
- What did not work
- The paid content campaign: 430 engagers, six meetings, $90k first-touch. It re-touched nothing and opened little.
YouJust the webinars: rank them by meetings per attendee, and which topics produced pipeline and which only produced registrations?
UnifyFour webinars this year. The two on a working problem produced pipeline, and the two broad ones filled seats and little else.
| Webinar | Attendees | Meetings per 100 | Pipeline | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routing webinar | 340 | 11.2 | $610k | A working problem; the attendees were operators |
| Support ops webinar | 290 | 10.0 | $480k | Same pattern, smaller list |
| Roadmap preview | 160 | 2.5 | $30k | Mostly existing customers |
| AI in support panel | 380 | 1.6 | $60k | Largest sign-up of the four; many vendors and students |
Pipeline here is first-touch within 120 days, the same window as the rest of the read.
YouTake the flagship conference: which attending accounts reached a meeting or an opportunity within 120 days?
UnifyThe 1,100 attendees came from 520 accounts, and 54 of those reached a meeting. Twenty-nine opportunities worth $1.3m count for the conference on first-touch, and 47 worth $2.1m on any-touch.
- 1Northwind Labs$180k opportunity
- 2Halden Robotics$140k opportunity
- 3Merridian Systems$95k opportunity
- 4Lumen FreightMeeting, no opportunity
Booth scans and the attendee list were matched by domain. Forty-six rows had a personal address and sit in the unmatched list.
YouPut this in a form I can take to the budget meeting, and keep it running.
UnifyThe ranking is one page with both attribution views, deal counts and the window on every line. It reruns monthly as new programs land.
Best pipeline per attendee under both views. Four events; the case is for eight.
Routing and support ops both beat the conference per attendee. The topics that converted are the ones to repeat.
Largest total and the strongest closer of webinar-opened accounts. Judge it on any-touch, and on what it costs per meeting.
Six meetings from 430 engagers. Pause unless the next run targets the winning segments.
Set up
- Monthly attribution New program lists are matched and traced on the first of each month; the ranking is written to the reporting view with both views.
- Cost added when supplied Upload a cost per program and the ranking adds pipeline per dollar and cost per meeting.
- Unmatched rows to marketing ops The 140 unmatched attendees are listed with the reason, so the next list arrives cleaner.
Pipeline created is what the CRM supports. Closed revenue is labelled separately where the cycle allows it, and not claimed where it does not.
Program attribution, with and without Unify
Registrations are easy to count. Meetings and pipeline are what the program was for.
| Without Unify | With Unify |
|---|---|
| Programs are judged on registrations and attendance, because that is what the tool reports | Each program's attendees and engagers are matched to accounts and traced to meetings and opportunities in the CRM |
| The attendee list and the CRM never meet, so pipeline from an event is a story a rep tells | Pipeline per program is read from the CRM, with deal count and the window between program and deal |
| An account that attended two programs is credited to whichever one someone remembers | Multi-touch accounts are shown under first-touch and any-touch attribution, side by side |
| Next year's budget repeats this year's, with the biggest event kept because it is the biggest | The comparison ends in a ranking of programs by meetings and pipeline per attendee, and per dollar if you add cost |
Start from this prompt
Make it your own in Unify, then review the results.
For every event, webinar and campaign we ran this year, match the attendees and engagers to accounts, trace them to meetings and opportunities created within 120 days, and rank the programs by meetings and pipeline per attendee, showing first-touch and any-touch attribution side by side.
What else you can ask for
The walkthrough is one path through this workflow. These are the turns people take most often.
- One eventFor the June conference, which attending accounts reached a meeting or an opportunity within 120 days, and how much pipeline is that?Try in Unify
- Webinars onlyRank this year's webinars by meetings per attendee, and show which topics produced pipeline and which only produced registrations.Try in Unify
- With costHere are the costs per program; rank them by pipeline per dollar and cost per meeting, with deal count beside each.Try in Unify
How it changes by who you sell to
- Software
- Software marketing runs many programs at once, so the same account attends two and reads a third. Ask for pipeline attributed to the first program that touched each account and to every program that touched it, side by side.
- Financial services
- Bank and insurer programs are few and expensive, a conference or a roundtable. Ask for pipeline per program with deal count and cost per meeting, since one large deal can justify or condemn a whole event.
- Healthcare
- Health-system programs convert months later. Ask for a 180-day window from program to opportunity, and for attribution by department, because the attendee is often not the buyer.
- Manufacturing
- Trade shows dominate manufacturing marketing. Ask for pipeline by show, and for the plants that attended one show and later entered pipeline through a rep, so the show gets its share.
- Professional services
- Firms buy through partner-level relationships built at small events. Ask for pipeline by program for partner personas only, and for the programs that produced introductions rather than meetings.
Next in pipeline intelligence and coaching
+2Activity versus fitCheck whether reps work the right accountsActivity is easy to count. Whether it landed on accounts that fit the ICP and showed intent is the question, and the answer is different for every rep.
+2Coverage gapsFind pipeline coverage gapsCoverage by rep, segment and territory against the number, and the accounts that could fill each gap, so the fix is a list of names rather than a bigger target.- +2Pipeline driversFind what drives outbound pipelinePipeline broken down by signal, persona, segment, channel and rep, from the CRM and the outreach records, so the next quarter is planned on what worked rather than on what felt busy.
Connect what this workflow uses
Each guide covers the connection, what Unify reads and writes, and what to check before the first run.
- Connect SalesforceAuthorize Salesforce in Unify, configure CRM field mappings, and choose when to enable writing.
- Connect HubSpotConnect HubSpot to Unify, map Company and Person fields, and plan CRM exclusions and supported write-back.
Connect SegmentSend supported Segment events into Unify through Webhook (actions).- Connect GmailConnect Gmail to Unify for sequence emails and replies.
Questions about this workflow
What counts as a program touch?
Attending an event, registering for or attending a webinar, or engaging with a campaign, as recorded in the list you upload or sync. Website visits from the same account are shown alongside but are not counted as a program touch on their own.
Why two attribution views?
Because accounts attend more than one program. First-touch credits the program that reached the account first; any-touch credits every program the account touched. Showing both avoids an argument about which is right.
Does it measure closed revenue?
It measures meetings and opportunities created within the window, which the CRM supports. Closed revenue can be added when the sales cycle is shorter than the window, and it is labelled separately when it is.
What if the attendee list is messy?
It is cleaned on upload: names and companies normalised, duplicates merged, and people matched to accounts by domain. Unmatched rows are listed with the reason rather than dropped, so the match rate is visible.