Advertising metrics glossary
Most wasted ad spend starts with a misread number rather than a failed campaign. These are the metrics your dashboard shows every day: what each one means, its formula, and how to tell whether your figure is good by reading it against your own business — with no invented market averages.
Terms
Return on ad spend
How much tracked sales value came back for every unit of currency you spent on advertising.
Read the detailBreak-even ROASBreak-even point
The point where what you earn from an order equals what you paid to win it: below it you profit, above it you spend more than comes back.
Read the detailCPACost per result
What you actually pay for one result — an order, a booking or a conversation — depending on the event you chose to measure.
Read the detailCPLCost per lead
What you pay to get one prospect — their details or their message — not one paying customer.
Read the detailAOVAverage order value
What a customer pays on an average order — the figure that decides how much you can pay to win one.
Read the detailCVRConversion rate
The share of people who completed the action you wanted — a purchase, or sending their details — out of everyone who reached your page.
Read the detailCPMCost per thousand impressions
What you pay for your ad to be shown a thousand times — the price of reaching an audience, not the result of reaching it.
Read the detailCPCCost per click
What you pay for one click on your ad.
Read the detailCTRClick-through rate
The share of people who clicked your ad out of everyone who saw it — a signal about the message and the offer.
Read the detailFrequencyFrequency
The average number of times a single person has seen your ad.
Read the detailAttribution windowAttribution window
The period in which a platform credits an order to its ad after a click or a view.
Read the detailWant someone to read your account's numbers with you?
I review the account and the figures, tell you what they actually say, and what to change before the budget goes up.