PHOTO: Adobe In marketing, efficiency may involve increasing conversion rates while reducing the costs of acquisition, whereas effectiveness may involve supporting a wider range of marketing objectives while contributing to the greater good and ROI of the organization. While each goal is not mutually exclusive of the other, where do marketers draw the line between efficiency and effectiveness? What Do We Mean By Efficiency and Effectiveness? The first obvious question is, what is meant by efficiency, in relation to marketing? The adjective efficient means, quite simply, âachieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort, time, or expense,â so efficiency would relate to maximally productive marketing efforts with minimum wasted expenses, time, or effort. Metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and other measurable means are used to demonstrate marketing efficiency. Efficiency tends to be focused on less spend or greater savings. Inefficiency is more challenging to pinpoint, because it takes a greater understanding of the processes and procedures that are going on to know which are inefficient.