Are 498 Sessions From ERP Software Blog Impressive? Look at the $2 Million Pipeline.

If I told you that ERP Software Blog sent 498 sessions to a member's website over the course of a year, would you be impressed? Probably not. I wasn't, at first.

But then Amanda Sherry, VP of Marketing at Western Computer, showed us what happened after those people got to their website. Those 498 sessions were connected to $2 million in Dynamics 365 sales pipeline.

Now 498 sounds a lot more impressive.

Amanda shared these numbers during a presentation I attended at Directions North America this year. She actually put up a slide comparing what she called the "Old Metric View" with the "New Metric View," and I thought it was a great way to show how easy it is to underestimate the value of a marketing channel.

Here is what Google Analytics showed for ERP Software Blog from April 2024 to April 2025:

• 498 total sessions from 327 users
  

• 331 engaged sessions
  

• 69% engagement rate
  

• 4.6-minute average session
  

• 6 contact form fills
  

• 0 demo form fills
  

Amanda's slide described the traditional verdict from those numbers as: "A modest referral source, easy to deprioritize."

I can see why.

But Western Computer didn't stop at Google Analytics. They connected that traffic to their HubSpot pipeline data, and suddenly they were looking at very different numbers:

$2 million in total pipeline generated and more than $4,000 in pipeline per session.

Would You Keep Spending Money on 498 Sessions? 

Amanda pointed out that the ERP Software Blog membership cost at the time was around $175 per month. She asked, "Would you pay $175 a month to turn that into $4,000 in pipeline per session?"

Her answer was that it was a "little bit of a no-brainer." I would agree.

But I think there is a bigger lesson here, especially for marketers.

We spend a lot of time looking at the numbers that are easy to see: traffic, clicks, impressions, pageviews, form fills and leads. Those numbers absolutely have value, but if you stop there, you might make the wrong decision.

In this case, the analytics dashboard was basically telling Western Computer that ERP Software Blog was a relatively minor referral source.

Their pipeline data was telling them something completely different.

Are You Tracking Far Enough?

Western Computer has good tracking in place. They were able to follow visitors from ERP Software Blog through their marketing automation and CRM and connect those visitors to leads, MQLs, sales opportunities and ultimately pipeline.

Amanda also made the point that even the number of deals created can be misleading. One marketing source could generate several opportunities that add up to $5,000 in pipeline. Another source could generate just a few opportunities that add up to several hundred thousand dollars.

If you are comparing those sources based only on traffic, leads or number of opportunities, you could easily decide that the wrong one is performing better.

This is especially important in the Microsoft Dynamics channel. One qualified prospect can represent a very significant ERP or CRM project. We don't necessarily need thousands of people clicking through to a member's website. We want the right people clicking through.

I know what happens on my side of the equation. I can see how many people read an article on ERP Software Blog, which articles are popular and how many people click through to a member's website. But then they disappear from my view. I don't know if that visitor leaves 30 seconds later or eventually turns into a large Dynamics 365 opportunity.

The member needs to track that.

And that is why this statement Amanda put on her slide really stood out to me:

"Never cut or deprioritize a channel based on traffic volume alone. Always connect it to pipeline first. Our analytics dashboard called ERP Software Blog a minor referral source. Our pipeline data says it's one of our highest-value channels."

I think that is the real story here.

I Am Not Promising You $2 Million

I should probably say this before every ERP Software Blog member emails me asking where their $2 million is. I am not promising that an ERP Software Blog membership will generate $2 million in pipeline.

Does every member get these results? No. But clearly, it is possible.

Western Computer is one of the most recognized Microsoft Dynamics partners in our channel, and Amanda and her team run a sophisticated marketing operation. They create good content and, just as importantly, they have the tracking in place to know what happens after someone clicks on that content.

They have also been doing this for a long time. Western Computer has been an ERP Software Blog member since 2016. In 2025, they published 22 articles. That is consistent, but not excessive.

View Western Computer profile on ERP Software Blog

And two of the articles that continue to generate some of their strongest impressions and clicks today were originally published in 2021. I love that part too.

We tend to look at a blog post when it is first published and decide whether it worked. Did people read it? Did they share it? Did it get clicks that month? But a good article doesn't disappear after 30 days. It can keep showing up in search, sending people to your website and building your company's authority for years. 

Before You Decide a Marketing Channel Isn't Working

For our existing ERP Software Blog, CRM Software Blog and ERP Cloud Blog members, I think Amanda's example is worth paying attention to.

If you look at your analytics and see that your ERP Software Blog post had 100 impressions over the past year, you might not be very impressed. I understand.

But don't stop there.

• Do you know what happened to those people after they arrived on your website? 
  

• Did they become leads? 
  

• Did they turn into opportunities? 
  

• How much pipeline did those opportunities represent?
  

Western Computer's analytics dashboard looked at ERP Software Blog and saw a minor referral source.

Their pipeline data saw one of their highest-value channels.

Same 498 sessions. Very different conclusion.

If you are an existing member and don't know what happens to the visitors we send you, I think that is a very good question to ask your marketing team.

If you are a group blog member and want to get a review of your current stats, book a call.

If you are not a group blog member yet, sign up now.