Marketing reports can bury you in numbers: impressions, reach, clicks, click-through rate, engagement, bounce rate, and more. Most of them matter to the person running the campaigns, not to the person running the business. If you are an owner, you need a short list that tells you whether marketing is making you money. Here are six numbers to watch.
1. Spend
How much money went into marketing this period. Break it down by channel: Google, Facebook and Instagram, other platforms, and non-ad costs such as agency fees and tools. You cannot judge results without knowing the cost.
Watch for: unexpected jumps, and spend that does not match your plan.
2. Leads
How many inquiries came in: phone calls, form submissions, messages, and bookings. Break them down by source so you know which channels produce them. For an online store, the equivalent is orders.
Watch for: the trend over time, and the difference between total leads and qualified leads.
3. Cost per lead
Spend divided by leads. It tells you how efficiently marketing generates inquiries.
Watch for: rising costs, and big differences between channels. Remember that a cheap lead is not always a good one.
4. Close rate
The share of leads that become customers. This number usually lives with your sales or office team, not in the ad dashboard, and it is one of the most important and most often missing.
Watch for: declines, which may point to slower follow-up, lower lead quality, or missed calls. Our free Missed Call Revenue Calculator shows how unanswered calls hit this number.
5. Cost per customer
Spend divided by new customers. This is the number that connects marketing to business reality.
Watch for: whether it is below what you can afford to pay, based on customer value. Our free LTV and CAC Calculator helps you work that out.
6. ROAS (or MER)
Revenue from ads divided by ad spend, compared to your break-even point. If you use several channels, also consider MER: total revenue divided by total marketing spend.
Watch for: whether you are above break-even, and how much margin you have. Check yours with our free ROAS Calculator, which includes an optional MER section.
How to read them together
Looking at one number alone can mislead. Read them as a chain:
- Spend produces leads
- Spend divided by leads gives cost per lead
- Leads that close become customers (the close rate)
- Spend divided by customers gives cost per customer
- Customer revenue against spend gives ROAS
If ROAS is weak, find the broken link:
- Cost per lead too high? Look at targeting, ads, and landing pages.
- Close rate too low? Look at lead quality, response speed, and your sales process.
- Customer value too low? Look at pricing, upsells, and repeat business.
Numbers that are useful, but secondary
Impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and similar metrics help diagnose problems, but they are not the goal. If you want to go deeper, add:
- Conversion rate of your website. See our free Website Conversion Calculator
- Calls answered vs missed
- Lead response time
- Repeat customer rate
How to set up a simple dashboard
You do not need an elaborate tool. A simple monthly table works:
| Month | Spend | Leads | Cost per lead | Customers | Close rate | Cost per customer | ROAS |
|---|
Fill it in each month, add a row for each channel if you can, and add notes about changes you made. Over time the trends become clear.
If you want something more automated, ask your agency or a developer to build a live dashboard from your ad accounts, call tracking, and CRM.
Rhythm of review
- Weekly: quick check of spend and leads, and any problems
- Monthly: full review of the six numbers and decisions on budget and changes
- Quarterly: step back to look at trends, customer value, and your overall plan
Frequently asked questions
Start with what you have, then work to fill gaps, especially close rate and cost per customer.
Yes, so you can decide where to put money.
Ask them to explain how each number is calculated and to include these six.
What to do next
If you want help building a simple, honest dashboard for your business, book a free strategy call.
