---
title: "It's time to move beyond vanity metrics"
url: https://sam-page.com/thinking/its-time-to-move-beyond-vanity-metrics
date: 2026-03-24
author: Sam Page
type: Post or article
categories: [Founder life and leadership]
reading_time: 2 min
summary: "It's time to move beyond vanity metrics, because in 2026, you need impact data to get board-level investment."
first_published: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Ashare%3A7442117289296039937
---

# It's time to move beyond vanity metrics

It's time to move beyond vanity metrics, because in 2026, you need impact data to get board-level investment.

![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/its-time-to-move-beyond-vanity-metrics-li1.webp)

The world of work has become more commercially focused over the past few months (and years). Every pound of spend needs justifying. And the CFO is increasingly the one deciding whether your digital budget survives.

That means if you are still reporting what happened rather than explaining why it matters, you've got a problem.

This is something we're seeing across pretty much every client conversation. The question has shifted from "what did you do last month?" to "what impact did it have on the business?"

Forrester's 2026 predictions suggest that agency partnerships unable to demonstrate pipeline performance will be cut. And 53% of organisations say they lack the specialised talent to implement their digital strategies.

So what's actually working?

From what we're seeing:

- Consultative partnership over account management

Clients don't need someone to manage a spreadsheet. They need someone to turn complexity into a prioritised roadmap.

- Impact over activity

Every work-stream framed around outcomes, risk reduction, or opportunity.

- Proactivity over firefighting

With in-house teams leaner than ever, your partners need to spot problems before you do.

Louise Colman has produced this really great write-up on this for 7DOTS ... link in comments.

Where are you feeling this shift most?