10Fold, a leading B2B technology integrated communications and content agency, today released its latest research report, “The Communications ROI Reset: What B2B Leaders Measure, Trust and Act On,” revealing that marketing and communications teams are expanding how they measure public relations, content, social, digital and AI visibility programs, but many still lack the integrated reporting and connections to business systems needed to prove business impact for the CEO and board of directors.

The study, commissioned by 10Fold and conducted by Sapio Research, surveyed 400 B2B technology marketing and communications leaders. The findings show more than half the leaders responding now track a broader mix of business-impact signals, including website traffic, AI visibility, AI referral traffic and downstream actions. However, only about one-third (38%) measure pipeline or revenue influence correlated to these metrics. And fewer (just 35%), say they have fully integrated reporting across earned, paid social, content and digital channels.

“Marketing leaders are not short on metrics. They are short on connected metrics,” said Susan Thomas, CEO of 10Fold. “The C-suite does not need a longer dashboard. It needs a credible story that shows how visibility creates trust, how trust creates action and how action contributes to business growth. And, ideally, the communications metrics are aligned with other marketing programs, to support a fair attribution model. That is the communications ROI reset.”

AI Visibility Moves To an Executive Reporting Priority

AI visibility has quickly become part of the communications measurement mix. More than half of respondents measure AI search visibility or brand citations in AI-generated content, and the same percentage measure referral traffic from tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. In addition, 58% include an AI search or LLM visibility platform in their integrated reporting.

Now brands no longer compete for only page-one rankings. They compete to be referenced, summarized and cited by AI systems. This extends AI initiatives well beyond a lead generation program to a much broader corporate initiative that builds brand visibility and solidifies messaging to generate long-term stakeholder trust.

Executives Trust Business Outcomes More Than Communications Activity

The research found that 87% of marketing leaders agree their CEO or board mostly trust metrics aligned with business outcomes. Revenue impact is the most trusted metric (34%), followed by website traffic (27%), social engagement (25%), and leads generated, SEO and organic visibility, and AI visibility metrics at 24% each. Pipeline influence ranks lower at 16%, and share of voice ranks lowest at 11%.

Traditional communications metrics still matter, but the research suggests they are not enough on their own. Coverage volume, social engagement and share of voice become more powerful when they are connected to buyer behavior, AI discoverability, lead generation, pipeline influence and revenue impact.

Measurement Is Changing Budgets Before Data Confidence Catches Up

The study also found that communications measurement influences investment decisions. More than 80% of respondents agreed that measurement is changing strategy and budget decisions for paid social, paid media, digital, owned content, earned media, earned content and organic social. Yet only 49% of respondents are very confident in the accuracy and completeness of their communications data.

The gap suggests marketing and communications leaders may be making strategy and budget decisions based on reporting models that are not fully trusted.

Vertical Markets Show Different Communications ROI Priorities

10Fold’s companion vertical analysis shows that different B2B technology markets emphasize different proof points. Following are some data points by market segment:

  • Enterprise software companies may need to connect communications with revenue, buyer behavior and analyst influence.

  • AI and data companies likely need to show how discoverability creates authority, demand and market preference.

  • Cloud and infrastructure companies may have to turn a strong technology stack into integrated executive reporting.

  • Cybersecurity companies must make search and AI visibility more defensible.

  • Fintech / Health tech companies may likely need to add AI visibility to key metrics for greater trust with the C-Suite and board.

  • IoT companies may have to transform strong data into visible business impact.

The companion documents segmenting companies by revenue stages suggests:

  • Companies under $100M typically need to establish a small number of reliable growth and visibility indicators that can be accurately measured.

  • Companies between $101M–$999.9M need to integrate digital and AI signals into an executive-level business narrative.

  • Companies that are $1B+ likely need to simplify complex reporting into a scorecard that supports investment decisions that the board trusts.

The New Communications Scorecard

Based on this research, 10Fold recommends a connected, communications scorecard:

  1. Visibility: earned media, social audience growth, AI search visibility and share of voice.

  2. Engagement: content engagement, downloads, social amplification, website behavior and time on page.

  3. Authority: analyst or influencer inclusion, message pull-through, AI-generated answer citations and summaries.

  4. Action: click-throughs, form fills, demo requests, event registrations and newsletter signups.

  5. Business impact: leads, pipeline influence, revenue impact and multi-touch attribution.

The full report, “The Communications ROI Reset: What B2B Leaders Measure, Trust and Act On,” is available for download at: https://info.10fold.com/the-communications-roi-reset . Companion documents covered by the research are available based on geography, revenue size and industry segment.

Research Methodology

The research was commissioned by 10Fold and conducted by Sapio Research. The survey included 400 B2B technology marketing and communications leaders. Respondents represented multiple revenue stages, geographies and technology sectors. Percentages reflect total respondent results unless otherwise noted.

About 10Fold

10Fold is an integrated B2B tech communications agency that helps clients build brand value, increase market visibility and connect communications programs to measurable business improvement. The agency delivers integrated communications programs including public relations, content, messaging, media and analyst relations, social media, digital strategies, crisis communications and measurement for enterprise and high-growth technology brands. For more information, visit www.10fold.com and follow 10Fold on LinkedIn. (10Fold)

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