Open your marketing dashboard and you’ll find no shortage of numbers. Impressions, reach, followers, click-through rate, engagement rate, cost per click. It’s a lot.
Some of these matter. Some of them are nice to know. And some are what people in the industry call vanity metrics. They look good but don’t actually tell you whether your marketing is doing its job.
Here’s a simple way to think about it.
The numbers that matter most
Enquiries and leads. How many people got in touch because of your marketing this month? This is the number that connects most directly to actual business outcomes. Everything else should be working towards this.
Cost per lead. If you’re running paid advertising, how much are you paying for each genuine enquiry? This tells you whether your ad spend is efficient and helps you compare what’s working against what isn’t.
Conversion rate. Of the people who visit your website or landing page, what percentage actually take action? A low conversion rate usually means something on the page isn’t working, not that you need more traffic.
Return on investment. Are you making more from your marketing than you’re putting in? This takes time to measure properly, but it’s the question that ultimately matters.
The numbers that are useful but not the whole story
Traffic. More visitors is generally good, but only if they’re the right people and they’re doing something when they arrive.
Click-through rate. A useful signal of whether your ad creative or messaging is resonating, but it needs to be paired with conversion data to mean much.
The numbers you can probably stop worrying about
Followers. A growing follower count feels good but doesn’t directly translate to business. Focus on whether your content is reaching new people and prompting action, not on the number on your profile.
Impressions and reach. Knowing your content was seen is useful context, but it’s not a result. Results come from people taking action.
The goal is simple. More of the right people finding you, getting in touch, and becoming clients. Keep your eye on the numbers that show whether that’s happening.
Need help making sense of your own marketing numbers? Get in touch.