BlueDreamMeasuring what actually matters in marketing
Vanity metrics look good in a report and tell you nothing. Here is how we decide what to track.
Most marketing reports are full of numbers that feel good and mean little. Impressions climb, reach expands, engagement ticks up, and none of it answers the only question that pays the bills.
Did this make money?
Start from the customer, not the channel
Before spending anything, we work out what a customer is actually worth to you. Margin, repeat rate, how long they stay. Every target after that comes from that number, not from a channel benchmark.
Three metrics that survive scrutiny
- Cost per acquisition, measured against what a customer is worth rather than against an industry average.
- Blended return, across every channel at once, because customers do not experience your channels separately.
- Payback period, which decides how fast you can afford to grow.
What we stop reporting
Impressions, reach and engagement still get tracked, because they’re useful for diagnosis. They just stop appearing at the top of the report. You can’t spend them.
If a campaign cannot be connected to revenue, we would rather cut it than defend it.
None of this is complicated. It’s just unusual, because reporting on activity is easier than reporting on outcomes, and most agencies are never asked for the second one.
Ask for it.