What Is Time to Value (TTV) and How Do You Measure It?

What is time to value (ttv)?

Time to value (TTV) is the time it takes for your company to get value from investing in a product or service. This concept is valuable for evaluating the tools and services you use for digital marketing.

Would you rather invest in a tool that takes a month or a year to start providing value for your company?

The answer is clear — businesses want to choose software and tools that provide the greatest value in the shortest amount of time.

Factoring in TTV when purchasing software, tools, or services can help you maximize and justify your spend.

In this post, we’ll cover:

• What is time to value (TTV)?
• Types of TTV
• How to measure TTV 
• How to evaluate TTV when making marketing service and technology investments

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What is time to value (TTV)?

TTV is the time it takes for your business to see returns after purchasing a service or product. This idea is essential to making sure that the technologies and services you use produce quantifiable outcomes.

Focusing on TTV allows you to determine which investments are worthwhile and which are not generating the expected results. This strategy enables a more strategic allocation of resources and a more effective use of time, eventually resulting in higher success.

Understanding different types of TTV

Let’s break down five different types of TTV to better understand the concept.

1. Immediate time to value
2. Time to basic value
3. Short time to value
4. Long time to value
5. Time to exceed value

1. Immediate time to value

Immediate time to value refers to investments that yield quick or “immediate” returns. It’s defined by an emphasis on maximizing quick outcomes and short-term goals.

2. Time to basic value

Time to basic value refers to how long it takes to produce initial results or accomplish a primary goal. You can use the time to basic value as a benchmark for upcoming campaigns or investments, enabling you to choose options that yield the best results.

3. Short time to value

As the name implies, short time to value refers to quick returns for your business.

A short time to value enables your company to seize new possibilities and keep ahead of rivals in the cutthroat digital environment. Regularly tracking and improving your company’s digital marketing strategies can optimize its ROI and promote long-term growth.

4. Long time to value

Long time to value is when it takes longer for effort to produce quantifiable returns.

Remember that your business, industry, and level of competition can impact the time it takes to see results. It can take longer to establish momentum and provide quantifiable results in highly competitive marketplaces.

5. Time to exceed value

Time to exceed value is the time it takes for your company to realize an unanticipated advantage of adopting a digital good or service that exceeds its original expectations. This indicator is essential to determining a digital marketing strategy’s overall efficacy and worth.

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How to measure time to value

To measure TTV, you’ll want to consider:

• Onboarding time: After demoing and purchasing a tool or product, how long does it take to start using it for your company? Does it come with training or support?
• Time to upgrade from free to paid features: How long does it take to upgrade your subscription from free to paid services? Is there additional set up required?

• How long it takes to achieve your goal ROI: How long does it take your business to achieve desired returns from using the product or service?

How to evaluate TTV when making marketing service and technology investments

Applying the following three TTV guiding principles is essential for making wise investments in digital marketing tools and services:

1. Clearly define your goals and objectives
2. Evaluate the potential value and impact
3. Research and compare different options

1. Clearly define your goals and objectives

It’s essential to grasp your goals before investing in digital marketing tools or services. Setting precise goals and objectives that align with your larger business objectives is part of this.

2. Evaluate the potential value and impact

TTV necessitates evaluating the possible benefits and influences a digital marketing tool or service could have on your company. Consider elements like:

• The potential ROI
• The scalability of the solution
• Its ability to address your specific business challenges

By assessing its potential value and effect, you can decide if a digital marketing service or technology aligns with your overall business strategy and objectives. This stage is essential to ensuring your resources are allocated to the best solutions to achieve the intended outcomes.

You should also consider a digital marketing service or tool’s potential ROI. Analyzing possible cost savings or revenue increases that result from using the solution is a crucial part of this process. Making educated judgments about whether products or services are worthwhile investments requires carefully evaluating the prospective financial rewards.

3. Research and compare different options

After defining your objectives and assessing the potential benefits and impacts, it’s time to look into and contrast various digital marketing services and tools.

To acquire a solid grasp of the possibilities, conduct in-depth market research, read reviews, and seek recommendations from industry professionals. That way, you can select the digital marketing tools and services that best suit your requirements and maximize your returns.

Search for service providers with a successful track record, provide various services tailored to your needs, and have received good feedback from previous customers.

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To make sure a choice fits within your budget and can expand with your company, consider how much it will cost and how much it can scale.

You can make a well-informed choice that will position your digital marketing efforts for success by doing extensive research and weighing your options.

Experience quicker TTV for your company

Want to learn more about investing in the tech and services that drive the best results for your business?

Check out our video and guide on building a custom martech stack, and reach out to our team to learn more about our digital marketing solutions.