Top Marketing Survey KPIs That Actually Matter

Marketers serious about understanding their customers can’t afford to treat surveys as a checkbox. Whether it’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), or broader Voice of Customer (VoC) programs, survey data should inform strategy — not just sit in a dashboard.

Below are the essential KPIs and stats that reveal how real companies are collecting, using, and acting on customer feedback today. These aren’t vanity numbers — they’re backed by research and chosen for their direct marketing relevance.

  1. “39% of companies don’t regularly ask customers for feedback about their interactions.”

    That’s nearly 4 in 10 businesses missing a crucial opportunity to listen and improve — a competitive disadvantage in today’s market.

    Source: Saleslion

  2. “On average, an industry’s Net Promoter leader outgrew its competitors by a factor greater than two times.”

    Top NPS performers don’t just have happier customers — they also grow significantly faster than average.

    Source: Bain & Company

  3. “Transactional surveys capture feedback for only five of 100 interactions.”

    Marketers must augment surveys with other channels to get a fuller Voice of Customer (VoC).

    Source: Forrester

  4. “Personalizing your survey can increase response rates dramatically – up to 48% in some cases.”

    Addressing customers by name or referencing their purchase significantly boosts engagement.

    Source: Qualtrics

  5. “NPS and customer experience are highly correlated, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.83.”

    Higher NPS generally implies better CX, making it a reliable loyalty metric.

    Source: Qualtrics XM Institute

  6. “NPS fell significantly for the majority of industries for both countries. NPS improved for only one industry in each country: airlines in the US and luxury auto manufacturing in Canada.”

    Most industries saw flat or falling NPS, indicating it’s harder to gain loyal customers today without focused CX efforts.

    Source: Forrester

  7. “41% of customer-obsessed companies achieved at least 10% revenue growth in their last financial year.”

    Investing in CX aligns with real business growth.

    Source: Zendesk

  8. “80 percent of leaders plan to increase customer service budgets over the next year.”

    Almost all firms recognize VoC/NPS programs as mission-critical.

    Source: Zendesk

  9. “73% of global consumers say they consider customer experience when making purchase decisions.”

    Nearly half say they’ve switched brands due to a single poor CX or service experience.

    Source: PwC

  10. “Organizations that demonstrate how customer satisfaction is associated with growth, margin and profitability are more likely to report customer experience success and are 29% more likely to secure more CX budgets.”

    Measuring and communicating NPS/CSAT impact on the bottom line helps justify resources for VoC initiatives.

    Source: Zendesk

  11. “Sending surveys immediately after interaction yields ≈40% more accurate feedback.”

    Timing matters; triggering surveys while the experience is fresh leads to better results.

    Source: Zendesk

  12. “Only ~4% of programs pretest their surveys with customers.”

    Pretesting is a known best practice for clearer questions, yet it’s rarely implemented.

    Source: Qualtrics

  13. “NPS scores provide a snapshot of your overall customer experience; if customers are more likely to recommend your business, that naturally points to a high level of customer satisfaction and a positive customer journey.”

    Marketers should compare their score to relevant industry norms.

    Source: Qualtrics

  14. “Promoters are significantly more likely than passives or detractors to exhibit all three key loyalty behaviors: purchasing more, trusting the company to take care of their needs, and forgiving the company if it makes a mistake.”

    Converting a detractor into a promoter has far greater revenue impact in some industries.

    Source: Qualtrics XM Institute

  15. “Customer effort is a great indicator of loyalty.”

    Reducing the amount of effort a customer has to do to get their problem solved is a higher indicator of customer loyalty than delight.

    Source: Qualtrics

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