Your client just asked about profit margins on their PPC campaigns and you showed them ROAS instead. That’s like answering “what’s the temperature?” with “it’s cloudy.” You’re measuring the wrong thing.
In 2025, successful PPC management requires tracking 15-17 essential metrics across three categories: traditional performance indicators, profit-focused measurements, and predictive analytics. This guide breaks down exactly what to measure, why each metric matters, and how to implement them in your campaigns starting today.
Why Traditional PPC Metrics Are Failing Your Agency
The metrics we’ve relied on for years are becoming less relevant. Not because they’re wrong, but because the questions have changed. Your clients aren’t asking “how many people clicked?” anymore. They’re asking “how much profit did we make?” and “would these sales have happened anyway?”
This shift requires a complete rethinking of how we measure success. Let’s explore why the old metrics fall short and what you need to track instead.
The Problem with Surface-Level Metrics
Think about your current reporting. You’ve got clicks, impressions, CTR, and ROAS all lined up in beautiful dashboards. Everything’s green, arrows are pointing up, and yet your clients keep asking harder questions.
Sound familiar?
The truth is, those metrics were designed for 2015 when we just needed to prove digital marketing worked. Today? Your clients want to know if it’s the most efficient use of their capital. Big difference.
We’re living in a multi-device, privacy-first, AI-influenced world where traditional metrics just don’t cut it anymore. But they don’t tell you the solution isn’t more metrics. It’s the right metrics.
What Modern PPC Measurement Actually Requires
The best agencies in 2025 aren’t the ones with the most data. They’re the ones who understand which data actually predicts business success. This means moving beyond platform-provided metrics to calculated insights that show true business impact.
You need metrics that answer three fundamental questions: Are we profitable? Is our impact incremental? Can we scale efficiently? Everything else is just noise.
17 Essential PPC Metrics to Track
Why It’s Critical: Shows actual profit generated, not just revenue. Transforms how you optimize campaigns.
What Does It Measure: Real business impact accounting for profit margins.
Example: Campaign A: $70K revenue, 20% margin = 140% POAS vs Campaign B: $40K revenue, 50% margin = 200% POAS. Campaign B makes more actual money.
Replaces: Traditional ROAS as your primary success metric.
Why It’s Important: Accounts for long-term customer value, not just first purchase cost.
What Does It Measure: Acquisition cost vs. total customer lifetime worth.
Reality Check: $85 first-month CPA might seem like a loss, but if that customer has $560 LTV over 8 months, it’s actually highly profitable.
Why It’s Important: Shows PPC’s impact on overall marketing performance, not just direct attribution.
What Does It Measure: How PPC lifts your entire marketing ecosystem.
Executive Language: “Before PPC, your MER was 3.2:1. With PPC running, it’s now 4.7:1. That means PPC lifted your entire marketing efficiency by 47%.”
Why It Matters: Captures what platform metrics miss – customers who click your ad, leave, then return through organic search.
Why It’s Important: Traditional metric for measuring revenue return on ad investment.
What Does It Measure: Revenue generated per dollar spent.
Best For: Diagnostic tool to understand campaign mechanics.
2025 Reality: “That’s like answering ‘what’s the temperature?’ with ‘it’s cloudy.’ You’re measuring the wrong thing.”
Why It’s Important: Measures the cost of achieving a specific action, such as a sale or lead.
What Does It Measure: Efficiency of converting prospects into customers.
Strategic Approach: Know your client’s allowable CPA, work backwards to set targets, optimize everything else to hit those targets.
Why It’s Important: Indicates how effectively ad traffic leads to conversions.
What Does It Measure: The percentage of users who take a desired action after clicking the ad.
Optimization Secret: Stop sending traffic to homepage. Match landing page to ad message exactly. Remove every distraction.
Why It’s Important: Tracks how much you pay for each click on your ad.
What Does It Measure: The cost of driving traffic to your website or landing page.
Strategic Question: Would you rather pay $2 for a click that never converts or $10 for a click that becomes a $5,000 customer?
Why It’s Important: Indicates the percentage of users who clicked your ad after seeing it.
What Does It Measure: Ad engagement and appeal.
Use As: Health check, not a goal. High CTR can attract curious clickers, not buyers. Low CTR with good conversions means serious prospects.
Why It’s Critical: Most customers start small and grow over time. First purchase value is misleading.
What Does It Measure: Total value a customer brings over their entire relationship.
PPC Reality: Your PPC customers might have completely different LTV than organic customers. Track separately.
Why It’s Critical: Proves what revenue wouldn’t exist without your campaigns.
Reality Check: Most campaigns only drive 40-60% incremental revenue. The rest would have happened anyway.
Method: Geo-holdout testing – pick 20% of markets, turn off all PPC for 4-6 weeks, compare revenue changes vs. control markets.
Scary but Necessary: Knowing your true impact transforms optimization. Low incrementality on brand campaigns? Shift budget to prospecting.
Why It’s Critical: Predicts performance of your next dollar spent. Like having a crystal ball.
What Does It Measure: Return on the next dollar invested, not blended averages.
Method: Increase spend 20% for a week and measure incremental return.
Action: Cap that campaign and invest elsewhere. Prevents scaling past efficiency point.
Why It’s Important: Tracks how many times, on average, a user sees your ad.
What Does It Measure: Ad exposure to individual users and potential fatigue.
Why It’s Important: Indicates interest in your product and intent to purchase.
What Does It Measure: Mid-funnel performance – the bridge between clicks and purchases.
Why It’s Important: Tracks how much of your video users actually watch.
What Does It Measure: Engagement with video content and creative effectiveness.
Optimization: Low completion rates result from weak hooks or irrelevant content. First 3 seconds are critical.
Why It’s Important: Impressions show total ad views; reach indicates unique users.
What Does It Measure: Ad visibility and audience coverage.
How to Calculate: Reach is calculated by Facebook based on unique user views; impressions are the total number of views.
Why It’s Important: Indicates the average value of transactions driven by your ads.
What Does It Measure: Quality of conversions, not just quantity.
Why It’s Critical: Tells you when an audience is tapped out before performance crashes.
What Does It Measure: How much you can scale current targeting before hitting diminishing returns.
• Under 50: Plenty of room to scale
• 50-100: Start testing expanded targeting
• Over 100: Must expand or accept declining returns
Strategic Impact: Transforms audience decisions from gut feel to data-driven strategy.
The Foundation: Core Metrics That Still Matter (But Not How You Think)
Before we dive into advanced metrics, let’s be clear about something. Traditional metrics aren’t useless. They’re diagnostic tools that help you understand campaign mechanics. The mistake is treating them as success metrics rather than health indicators.
Think of it like this: checking your heart rate is important, but it doesn’t tell you if you’re healthy. It’s one data point among many. Same with CTR, CPC, and the rest. Let’s explore how to use them properly.
Click-Through Rate (CTR) as Your Diagnostic Tool, Not Your Success Metric
CTR tells you what percentage of people who saw your ad actually clicked it. Simple math: divide clicks by impressions and multiply by 100. But most agencies get it wrong.
A high CTR doesn’t mean success. I’ve seen campaigns with 10% CTRs hemorrhage money because they attracted curious clickers, not buyers. And campaigns with 1% CTRs that printed money because they only attracted serious prospects.
According to Promodo’s 2025 benchmarks, the average CTR for Google search ads is 3.17%, while display ads average 0.47%. Microsoft Ads typically sees slightly lower CTRs than Google, averaging around 2.83% for search campaigns.
So what should you actually do with CTR? Use it as a health check, not a goal. If your CTR suddenly drops, something’s wrong. If it’s stable but conversions are poor, your targeting needs work.
Cost Per Click (CPC) and Why It’s Not About Getting It Lower
Everyone obsesses over reducing CPC. But let me ask you something: would you rather pay $2 for a click that never converts or $10 for a click that becomes a $5,000 customer?
Promodo’s 2025 benchmarks reveal these CPC averages:
- Google Search: $2.69 average across all industries
- Display ads: $0.63 average
- Legal and finance industries see much higher CPCs due to competition
But these numbers mean nothing without context. A law firm gladly pays $50 per click because one client might be worth $50,000. Meanwhile, an e-commerce store selling $20 products can’t afford $5 clicks even if they convert well.
The real question isn’t “how do I lower CPC?” It’s “what CPC can I afford based on my client’s unit economics?”
Conversion Rate as The Bridge Between Traffic and Revenue
This is where things get interesting. Conversion rate shows what percentage of your clicks actually do something valuable. And valuable means whatever action makes your client money.
Promodo’s data confirms search ads average 3.75% conversion rate, while display ads average 0.77%. similar ranges, with e-commerce typically seeing 2-3% conversion rates.
But what matters more than hitting benchmarks? Are you improving month over month? A jump from 1% to 2% doubles your client’s efficiency. That’s the story you should be telling.
Want to boost conversion rates? Stop sending traffic to homepage. Match your landing page to your ad message exactly. Remove every distraction. Make the next step blindingly obvious. Test everything.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) and Where Reality Hits
CPA is simple. How much does it cost to get a customer? Total spend divided by conversions. Done.
But this is where many agencies realize they’ve been celebrating too early. That $50 CPA looks great until you realize your client only makes $40 on their first sale. Oops.
CPA provides clearer business insight than CPC because it accounts for conversion efficiency.
Think about CPA strategically:
- First, know your client’s allowable CPA (what they can afford)
- Then work backwards to set your targets
- Finally, optimize everything else to hit those targets
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) as The Misleading Metric
ROAS has been the king of PPC metrics forever. Spend $1, make $4, claim 400% ROAS. Simple, right?
Wrong.
The problem with ROAS is it treats all revenue equally. A campaign generating high revenue from low-margin products might look amazing by ROAS standards but actually lose money. Meanwhile, a lower ROAS campaign selling high-margin products could be highly profitable.
This is why ROAS is overdue for a demotion. It ignores profit margins, customer lifetime value, and whether that revenue is incremental.
The Game-Changing PPC Metrics for 2025
Now we get to the metrics that actually drive business decisions. These aren’t just numbers to track – they’re insights that transform how you optimize campaigns and prove value to clients. Each one answers a specific business question that traditional metrics can’t touch.
The shift from vanity metrics to value metrics isn’t just semantics. It’s the difference between looking busy and being effective. Let’s explore each one and see why they matter more than anything else you’re tracking.
Profit on Ad Spend (POAS) as The Metric That Transforms Everything
POAS happens when you stop playing games and start talking real business. Instead of celebrating revenue, you’re optimizing for actual profit.
The formula is straightforward: POAS = (Revenue × Gross Margin %) ÷ Ad Spend
Let me show you why this matters with a practical example:
| Campaign | Spend | Revenue | ROAS | Margin | Profit | POAS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign A | $10,000 | $70,000 | 700% | 20% | $14,000 | 140% |
| Campaign B | $10,000 | $40,000 | 400% | 50% | $20,000 | 200% |
Campaign A looks better on paper. Campaign B makes more money. Which one would your client prefer?
POAS is advertising cost divided by gross profit, and it’s becoming the standard for sophisticated PPC management.
Want to implement POAS? Start here:
- Get margin data from your client (even rough estimates work)
- Use tools like ProfitMetrics or build a simple spreadsheet
- Restructure campaigns by margin tiers, not just product categories
- Set ROAS targets based on what POAS you need
The conversation with your client changes completely. Instead of “we achieved 500% ROAS,” you’re saying “we generated $2.50 in profit for every dollar spent.” That’s a language CEOs understand.
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and Playing the Long Game
Truth bomb for you. If you’re only looking at first purchase value, you’re probably killing your client’s growth.
Think about it. When did you last buy something expensive from a brand you just discovered? Probably never. Most customers start small and grow over time. LTV captures that full journey.
But your PPC customers might have completely different LTV than organic customers. Maybe they’re higher quality because you’re targeting better. Maybe they’re lower because you’re attracting deal-seekers. You won’t know unless you track it separately.
Let’s say you’re running PPC for a subscription business:
- First month CPA: $85
- First month value: $70
- Traditional view: Losing $15 per customer
But track those customers for six months and you might find:
- Average lifespan: 8 months
- Total value: $560
- Actual view: Paying $85 for a $560 customer
Suddenly that “losing” campaign is your biggest winner. How many opportunities like this are you missing?
Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) as The Executive Metric
MER is deceptively simple but incredibly powerful:
MER focuses on providing a more comprehensive view of how campaigns contribute to overall business success.
Why should you care? Because MER captures what platform metrics miss. That customer who clicked your ad, left, then came back through organic search? Platform metrics give organic the credit. MER shows the real story.
Use MER in client conversations:
- “Before PPC, your MER was 3.2:1”
- “With PPC running, it’s now 4.7:1”
- “That means PPC lifted your entire marketing efficiency by 47%”
See how different that sounds than defending individual campaign metrics?
Incremental Revenue and Proving Your Real Impact
This is the hardest metric to measure but the most powerful for proving value. Incremental revenue is the money that wouldn’t exist without your campaigns.
Most campaigns only drive 40-60% incremental revenue. The rest would have happened anyway. claim that most campaigns only drive 40-60% incremental revenue is a common observation in marketing.
How do you measure it? The geo-holdout method works best:
- Pick 20% of your markets
- Turn off all PPC for 4-6 weeks
- Compare revenue changes vs. control markets
- The difference is your incremental impact
Scary? Sure. But knowing your true impact transforms how you optimize. Low incrementality on brand campaigns? Shift budget to prospecting. High incrementality on certain audiences? Double down even if traditional metrics look worse.
Advanced Predictive Metrics
The metrics we’ve covered so far tell you what happened. These next metrics tell you what’s about to happen. They’re the difference between reactive management and proactive optimization.
Most agencies wait for performance to decline before making changes. Smart agencies see problems coming and fix them before they impact results. Join the second group.
Marginal ROAS as Your Early Warning System
Marginal ROAS answers a simple question: what return will I get on my next dollar spent? It’s like having a crystal ball for campaign performance.
Calculate it this way: increase spend 20% for a week and measure the incremental return. If your overall ROAS is 400% but marginal ROAS is only 200%, you’re hitting diminishing returns. Time to cap that campaign and invest elsewhere.
Calculate how each additional dollar spent impacts return, rather than relying on blended averages. This prevents the classic mistake of scaling campaigns past their efficiency point.
Creative Fatigue Indicators
When your CTR drops, it’s already too late. You need leading indicators that predict when creative will stop performing. Track these weekly:
- Frequency above 3-4x: Performance typically declines here
- Engagement rate trending down: Compare this week to the first week
- New user percentage below 60%: You’re recycling the same audience
- Rising CPAs with stable volume: Hidden fatigue indicator
When three of four flash red, refresh creative immediately. Not next week. Now.
Audience Saturation Metrics
How do you know when an audience is tapped out? Most agencies guess. You can measure it:
- Under 50: Plenty of room to scale
- 50-100: Start testing expanded targeting
- Over 100: Must expand or accept declining returns
This transforms audience decisions from gut feel to data-driven strategy.
Platform-Specific Implementation Strategies
Each platform has its quirks, limitations, and hidden opportunities. Generic best practices will get you generic results. Platform-specific optimization based on how each system actually works? That’s where the difference happens.
Let’s dive into what actually moves the needle on each major platform in 2025.
Google Ads Beyond the Obvious
Everyone knows about Quality Score. But according to Google, “advertisers who use AI-driven tools can improve their performance by 10-13%.” The catch? Only if you feed it the right data.
What actually moves the needle:
- Pass different values for new vs. returning customers (1.5-2x for new)
- Assign values to micro-conversions (email signup = 30% of average order)
- Use store visit values if applicable (typically 50% of average transaction)
- Let marginal ROAS guide your scaling decisions
The key is consistency. Whatever system you choose, apply it everywhere. Mixed signals confuse the algorithm and hurt performance.
Microsoft Ads Taking Advantage of Lower Competition
Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) often gets overlooked, but that’s exactly why it’s valuable. With 36% market share in desktop search and typically 20-30% lower CPCs than Google, Microsoft Ads offers unique advantages for savvy advertisers.
Key Microsoft Ads strategies:
- Import and optimize: Import Google campaigns but customize for Microsoft’s audience (older, higher income, more B2B focused)
- LinkedIn Profile Targeting: Microsoft’s exclusive LinkedIn integration lets you target by company, job function, and industry
- Lower competition on expensive keywords: Legal and B2B terms often cost 30-40% less than Google
- Better dayparting opportunities: Microsoft users show different search patterns, often converting better during work hours
Microsoft’s automated bidding has caught up to Google’s in 2025. Use Enhanced CPC and Target ROAS with the same value-based signals you’re feeding Google. The platform’s smaller data pool means you need slightly longer learning periods, but the efficiency gains are worth the wait.
Meta Ads Working with Limited Data
Privacy changes hit Meta hard. Significant shifts in Meta tracking capabilities, requiring focus on:
- Landing page views, not just link clicks
- Cost per landing page view as your true traffic cost
- Conversions API for accurate tracking
- Value optimization over volume optimization
With only eight conversion events available, prioritization becomes critical. Focus on the events that actually predict business success, not just engagement metrics.
LinkedIn Making Premium Prices Profitable
At $5+ per click, LinkedIn demands a different approach. You need to focus on quality over quantity.
The secret? Lead scoring passed back as conversion values:
- High-quality lead (enterprise prospect): $500 value
- Medium-quality (mid-market): $200 value
- Low-quality (small business): $50 value
This trains LinkedIn to find more enterprise leads, justifying those premium CPCs through actual pipeline impact.
How to Choose the Right PPC KPIs for Your Campaigns
Selecting the right KPIs isn’t about tracking everything possible. It’s about identifying the 3-5 metrics that actually predict success for each specific campaign. Here’s a framework that works:
The SMART Framework for PPC KPIs
Make your KPIs SMART:
- Specific: “Increase conversions” is vague. “Increase form submissions from Google Ads” is specific
- Measurable: Choose metrics you can accurately track
- Achievable: Based on historical data and market conditions
- Relevant: Tied directly to business objectives
- Time-bound: Set weekly, monthly, and quarterly targets
The KPI Selection Matrix
Use this decision matrix to choose your primary KPIs:
| Business Goal | Primary KPI | Secondary KPIs | Avoid Focusing On |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profitability | POAS | AOV, LTV, CAC | Clicks, Impressions |
| Scale | Incremental Revenue | Marginal ROAS, Market Share | Vanity metrics |
| Efficiency | MER | CPA trends, Quality Score | Raw volume metrics |
| Brand Building | Impression Share | Reach, Frequency, Lift | Direct conversions |
Factors to Consider
Budget Size: Smaller budgets need efficiency metrics (POAS, CPA). Larger budgets can focus on scale metrics (incremental revenue, market share).
Business Maturity: Startups need customer acquisition metrics. Established businesses need efficiency and profitability metrics.
Competition Level: High competition requires share-of-voice and impression share tracking. Low competition allows focus on pure efficiency.
Sales Cycle Length: B2B with long cycles needs pipeline metrics. B2C with instant purchases needs transaction metrics.
Common Mistakes in PPC Metrics Tracking (And How to Avoid Them)
After auditing hundreds of accounts, certain patterns emerge. Here are the most critical metrics tracking mistakes that cost agencies clients and campaign performance.
Mistake #1: Tracking Everything, Optimizing Nothing
The Problem: Dashboard paralysis. You’ve got 50 metrics updating in real-time, but no clear action plan for any of them. More data doesn’t mean better decisions.
The Fix: Implement the “Rule of Five” – track only five primary metrics per campaign. If a metric doesn’t directly inform an optimization decision, move it to a secondary dashboard.
Mistake #2: Wrong Attribution Windows
The Problem: B2B companies using 1-day attribution miss 90% of their conversions. E-commerce using 30-day windows might double-count across channels.
The Fix: Match attribution windows to actual customer behavior:
- B2B/High consideration: 30-90 day windows
- E-commerce impulse buys: 1-7 day windows
- Always use the same window across channels for fair comparison
Mistake #3: Platform Metrics Tunnel Vision
The Problem: Platforms overreport their own success. Facebook claims credit for sales that would have happened anyway. Google ignores assisted conversions.
The Fix: Implement independent tracking through UTM parameters, compare platform data to backend systems, and run incrementality tests quarterly.
Mistake #4: Mixing Branded and Non-Branded Metrics
The Problem: Branded search naturally has high CTR and conversion rates. Mix it with non-branded and your averages become meaningless.
The Fix: Always separate branded and non-branded campaigns, report on them independently, and use non-branded metrics for true performance analysis.
Mistake #5: Not Accounting for Seasonality
The Problem: Your 30% revenue drop in January isn’t a failure if it happens every year. Your 50% increase in December isn’t genius if the market grew 100%.
The Fix: Compare year-over-year, not just month-over-month. Track market share, not just absolute metrics. Create seasonality indices for accurate forecasting.
Key Takeaway
The agencies winning in 2025 aren’t tracking more metrics – they’re tracking the right ones. Focus on:
- POAS over ROAS: Profit matters more than revenue
- LTV over CPA: Long-term value beats short-term costs
- MER over platform metrics: Holistic impact proves real value
- Incremental revenue: Know what wouldn’t exist without you
Your next step? Pick one client, implement POAS this week, and watch how the conversation changes from cost-cutting to scaling. That’s when you know you’re tracking metrics that actually matter.
PPC Metrics FAQ
Direct answers to the most searched questions about PPC measurement and optimization
A good ROAS is 4:1 for e-commerce and 2:1 for services, but ROAS alone doesn’t guarantee profitability.
However, focus on POAS (Profit on Ad Spend) instead. A 300% ROAS with 60% margins generates 180% POAS, while 400% ROAS with 30% margins only generates 120% POAS.
Average CPC varies by industry: $2.69 for Google Search, $0.63 for Display. But focus on profitability, not low CPC.
A $10 click that converts to a $5,000 customer is better than a $2 click that never converts. Optimize for profit per click, not cost per click.
Search ads average 3.75% conversion rate, display ads 0.77%. E-commerce typically sees 2-5%.
Boost conversion rates by matching landing pages exactly to ad messages and removing all distractions from the conversion path.
CPA is the cost to acquire one customer. Divide total ad spend by number of conversions.
Your target CPA should be below your customer lifetime value. If your average customer is worth $500 and your CPA is $200, you’re profitable.
CTR measures what percentage of people click your ad after seeing it. Good CTRs: Google Search 3.17%, Display 0.47%.
High CTR doesn’t always mean success. Use CTR as a health check – if it suddenly drops, investigate. Low CTR with good conversions means you’re attracting serious prospects.
POAS (Profit on Ad Spend) measures actual profit generated, not just revenue. It accounts for product margins and real business profitability.
Example: Campaign A has 700% ROAS with 20% margins = 140% POAS. Campaign B has 400% ROAS with 50% margins = 200% POAS. Campaign B makes more money.
Explain that without margin data, you’re optimizing for revenue that might lose money. Most clients understand immediately.
If they’re hesitant: Offer to sign additional NDAs, use industry benchmarks as placeholders, or request quarterly margin reviews instead of real-time data.
LTV is the total profit a customer generates over their entire relationship. Most customers start small and grow over time.
Real Example: $85 CPA seems expensive for a $70 first purchase. But if that customer averages $560 over 8 months, the $85 investment is highly profitable.
MER shows how PPC affects your total marketing performance, capturing indirect impacts that platform metrics miss.
MER captures customers who click your ad, leave, then return through organic search. Platform metrics give organic the credit; MER shows PPC’s true contribution.
Use tools like ProfitMetrics, Google Analytics calculated metrics, or simple spreadsheets with margin data integration.
Implementation Options:
• Automated: ProfitMetrics, Triple Whale, or similar profit tracking platforms
• Manual: Spreadsheet with campaign data + margin percentages
• CRM Integration: Add margin fields to your customer data
• Google Analytics: Custom calculated metrics for POAS
Incremental revenue is sales that wouldn’t exist without your PPC campaigns. Most campaigns only drive 40-60% incremental revenue.
How to measure: Run geo-holdout tests by turning off PPC in 20% of markets for 4-6 weeks and comparing revenue changes.
Low incrementality on brand campaigns means shift budget to prospecting. High incrementality justifies increased investment.
Marginal ROAS predicts the return on your next dollar spent, not blended averages. It prevents scaling past efficiency points.
How to calculate: Increase spend 20% for one week and measure the incremental return on that additional investment.
This metric is like having a crystal ball for campaign performance – it shows what will happen before you spend.
Track when your audience is tapped out using saturation scores before performance crashes.
Score Interpretation:
• Under 50: Plenty of room to scale
• 50-100: Start testing expanded targeting
• Over 100: Must expand or accept declining returns
Monitor these early warning indicators weekly to catch fatigue before performance drops:
• Frequency above 3-4x: Performance typically declines here
• Engagement rate trending down: Compare current week to launch week
• New user percentage below 60%: You’re recycling the same audience
• Rising CPAs with stable volume: Hidden fatigue indicator
Match attribution windows to your actual sales cycle, not platform defaults.
| Business Type | Recommended Window |
|---|---|
| E-commerce impulse buys | 1-7 days |
| Subscription services | 14-30 days |
| B2B/High consideration | 30-90 days |
| Big-ticket items | 60-180 days |
Platforms use different attribution models, tracking methods, and counting rules. Discrepancies of 10-20% are normal.
Common reasons for differences:
• Google Ads uses last-click attribution; Analytics uses various models
• Different conversion counting (unique vs. total)
• Tracking delays and data processing differences
• Ad blockers affecting one platform more than another
Facebook often overreports conversions by 20-30% compared to backend systems. Use for optimization, verify with independent tracking.
Why Facebook inflates numbers:
• Aggressive view-through attribution
• Different user identification methods
• Modeling for iOS privacy changes
• Statistical attribution vs. direct tracking
High ROAS doesn’t guarantee profitability if you’re selling low-margin products or not accounting for all costs.
Hidden costs affecting profitability:
• Product costs and shipping
• Payment processing fees (2-3%)
• Returns and refunds
• Customer service costs
• Fulfillment and warehousing
Low conversion rates usually indicate a mismatch between ad promise and landing page delivery.
Quick fixes:
• Match landing page headline exactly to ad copy
• Remove navigation and other distractions
• Make the call-to-action prominent and clear
• Use the same keywords from ads on the landing page
• Test mobile experience separately
Dashboard paralysis – tracking 50+ metrics but optimizing for none. More data doesn’t equal better decisions.
Other critical mistakes:
• Mixing branded and non-branded metrics
• Using wrong attribution windows for business type
• Trusting platform metrics without verification
• Ignoring seasonality in comparisons
Check performance daily for alerts, optimize weekly for tactical changes, and analyze monthly for strategic decisions.
Optimal checking frequency:
• Daily: Spend pacing, critical alerts, major performance drops
• Weekly: Keyword optimization, bid adjustments, creative performance
• Monthly: Strategic analysis, budget allocation, audience insights
• Quarterly: LTV analysis, incrementality testing, attribution review
Stop tracking vanity metrics. Start measuring profit with Swydo’s PPC reporting tools.
Start Your Free Trial Today